Petr Vakoč (Canyon) completes a trifecta of US races this weekend at Belgian Waffle Ride California, and he is in top form headed to defend his Traka 200 title on May 3.
Vakoč decided to re-create himself after years on the WorldTour and struck gold in 2023, winning twice in the UCI Gravel World Series at Gravel Adventure in Poland and La Monsterrato in Italy. On his debut at Unbound Gravel that year, he finished second. Last year, he made his first appearance at BWR California and placed third, and then went on to win The Traka.
"The Traka, it's absolutely amazing how it's growing. Unbound has the history, and it will, at least for a while, stay the most important race. The Traka – it has a huge advantage that the area is beautiful, the riding there is just incredible, the city, Girona, is incredible," Vakoč said.
"What I don't like about Unbound is that there's a very high chance you will be out because of bad luck. At The Traka, there are parts of very fast gravel, some steep climbs, long climbs, some technical stuff, so a mix of different terrains. And obviously the scenery is also beautiful. For me, it's way more enjoyable to race there.
"I definitely want to win Unbound. I was close, and then I was unlucky last year. I hope it will be a good here for me," Vakoč told Cyclingnews after a course recon on Friday for the BWR California race.
Like last year, the former Czech road champion came to the US to compete at the Sea Otter Classic, The Growler and BWR California with the advantage of family living in California. One of his two younger brothers lives in San Francisco, so he had a base for the first two races, then relied on his sponsor Canyon for racing in the southern part of the state.
"I have two brothers, and both of them live in the US, one is at university at Yale on the East Coast and the other lives in the San Francisco area. For me, that was a no-brainer to come for these races. And then I've really enjoyed this trip so far.
"Now I'm here on my own, but I have the support from Canyon, because they have the HQ here," he said with only a slight Czech accent and near-perfect English.
On the start line with him Sunday are past BWR California winners Peter Stetina, Alexey Vermeulen, Russell Finsterwald and last year's champion Matt Beers. He has seen them all at Sea Otter and The Growler, so another match at BWR California makes it seem like a stage race.
This contest takes place on a new 106.5-mile route from the Del Mar Polo fields with close to 7,500 feet of elevation gain, tricky descents, a water crossing and 25 different 'unroad' sectors that make up just over 40% of the terrain.
However, while the sequence of races for Vakoč is the same this spring, the equation is more complicated. Last year, he was invited to compete in the Life Time Grand Prix, but this year he has to fight for re-entry in the new wildcard formula.
"I had quite a bit of bad luck last year with two punctures at Unbound, and slicing my tyre there, and at Leadville, I broke my rim. So, I was pretty much checked out of two races and wasn't able to compete," he recalled.
He said he applied to compete in the Life Time Grand Prix again, but was not selected for 2025. Three wildcard selections were later announced based on race results at Sea Otter Classic Gravel and Unbound 200, so Vakoč decided to add his name to the wildcard hunt. With his fourth place in Monterey earlier in April, he leads the wildcard standings for elite men.
"Since I was not selected for the Life Time Grand Prix, I signed up for some exciting races, like The Rift in Iceland in July. But if I do The Rift, which I already booked and paid for the whole trip, I cannot do altitude camp for Leadville.
"So for me, especially living in Europe, to wait for June to decide what I want to do is impossible," he said and added he would decide what to do once he completed Unbound, with the final four events stacked in the US between August and October.
"I cannot wait until June to figure out what to do, so I planned travels, signed up for some races. It will be difficult."
The 32-year-old has faced bigger difficulties, however. After stacking up wins at the Czech Cycling Tour GC, a stage at the Tour of Britain and De Brabantse Pijl in his first years of racing, he missed the entire 2018 season after fracturing six vertebrae when a driver of a truck hit him and several of his teammates while they were training in South Africa.
He had multiple surgeries and had to learn to walk again, then returned to racing bikes.
He considered himself lucky to race again, saying later that his return to the elite level of road racing was "what I truly consider my biggest victory of all". Gravel has given him new inspiration to pursue victories, with Unbound Gravel still the ultimate goal.
