the Tour of the Basque Country — the race where he nearly ended his career in a nasty crash in 2015 — as well as the Vuelta a España and Amgen Tour of California.

In between his day job, he was having some real fun. And it was out there on the dusty roads, bashing his bike in a mix of pain and elation from California to Colorado to Kansas, that he began to imagine a different future.

What he loved perhaps more than anything was the vibe and sense of camaraderie between racers and fans at the gravel races. On the WorldTour, fans are held at a distance behind barriers and the pros hide inside team buses. On the gravel scene, pros like Stetina race the same roads asme having a long and strong road season culminating with a great Vuelta and Guangxi, and I had big success in gravel.”

So Stetina was in a quandary. Should he stay in the WorldTour — the absolute pinnacle of professional racing — or jump off the cliff? He chose the latter.

After hashing it over with close associates, friends and family, and most importantly his wife, Stetina decided to branch out on his own.

He wanted to write his own script, on his terms, with his gravel and endurance ambitions at the center of everything.

Stetina worked closely with his longtime agent Martijn Berkhout of SEG Cycling, and put out feelers. Teams might have been hesitant to sign on for this unorthodox calendar, but sponsors loved it. He’s still pulling together the