Stetina: I had to hit WorldTour level watts to take Grasshopper win

Peter Stetina tackles a gravel sector at the Low Gap round of the Grasshopper Adventure Series
Peter Stetina tackles a gravel sector at the Low Gap round of the Grasshopper Adventure Series (Image credit: Brian Tucker)

Peter Stetina collected his first win of the 2020 Grasshopper Adventure Series this weekend at Super Sweetwater in California, but it was a hard-fought victory for the 32-year-old who raced 12 seasons on the road professionally before moving to gravel and adventure racing this year.

"Looking at the numbers, it was very much like riding in the break at a WorldTour stage," Stetina told Cyclingnews. "I averaged, as a lightweight guy, around 270 watts for around three hours. The numbers were high, and those were the sort of numbers I’ve seen in WorldTour stages. It was frigging hard."

Although the 145km race took place mostly on pavement after the final gravel climb had to be scrapped because of road closures, there were plenty of challenges to live up to the "adventure" label.

Growing up in Missoula, Montana, Pat competed in his first bike race in 1985 at Flathead Lake. He studied English and journalism at the University of Oregon and has covered North American cycling extensively since 2009, as well as racing and teams in Europe and South America. Pat currently lives in the US outside of Portland, Oregon, with his imaginary dog Rusty.