Tørbjorn Røed is known by most folks as Toby. Perhaps that’s because he’s spent so much of his life in the USA, that his Norwegianness is starting to ebb away?
“No, I am definitely a Norwegian,” he says, firmly.
But it has been a while. The 28-year-old first moved to Colorado for college. He was following his older brother, and attracted by the US’ strong collegiate racing scene, with opportunities to compete in multiple disciplines while also balancing his studies.
“I ended up doing road, track and mountain bike in college,” he recalls.
Toby initially found his way to cycling after bouncing off of soccer.
“I wasn't that good at soccer, and I didn’t really like it. I don't know exactly how, but I ended up going to mountain biking when I was about 10.
“I made a really good friend on the way there. And we became best friends for the next twenty years.”
They grew into a small crew of kids who, Toby says, rode together all through elementary, middle and high school.
Alongside summers on the MTB, Toby was also racing cross-country ski events in the winter. He did this until he was about 15, building up that impressive endurance engine that has seen him do so well in gravel racing since his debut season in 2023.
The breakthrough moment came that year at the Belgian Waffle Ride (BWR) in Arizona.
“I was down training in Tucson in 2023, and then I borrowed a bike from a teammate and just signed up for BWR. I got third behind [Christopher] Blevins and Keegan [Swenson] and then I was like, ‘oh, I should do more gravel’.”
After such an encouraging first result in high-performance company, it must have felt like he’d found his niche.
“I had definitely had it in the back of my mind throughout the 2022 season that gravel could be interesting. I honestly feel like I didn't know that gravel really existed for a very long time.”
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense.
“It seemed to perfectly fit my skill set because I had such a big road background, with the long endurance and I really liked volume. But I also had ridden a lot of mountain bikes, so I had the technical skills inside.”
The third string to Toby’s bow came to the fore later in the 2023 season, when he upgraded his Arizona podium to a victory at Big Sugar. In the final, he won the sprint from a group of ten, which included names like Swenson, Lachlan Morton and Alexey Vermeulen.
“I can't sprint on the road, but I can sprint on the gravel,” he says, wryly.
Since winning Big Sugar and Mid South 2024 – which also came from a sprint – Toby says his belief in his ability to outperform his own expectations has grown.
“I'm kind of baffled every time, but I'm confident in it. In a way, I'm confident in being surprised again.”
And of course, sprinting after 100 miles of full-gas off-road racing is a far cry from sprinting on the road, or even during training.
“I definitely feel a lot more confident in the sprint knowing that I normally have the legs after 100 miles. It's all about the fatigue resistance and it just works.”
This season, Toby has a laser focus on the US racing scene. He will compete in Lifetime GP events, and mentions Unbound as his major target. His first attempt at the race in Kansas in 2024 was marred by crashes – but despite that he took 11th.
“Definitely my goal is looking at that top step. Winning is the biggest thing that's on my mind.”
He also says he’ll skip the UCI Gravel Worlds and qualifying events, unless the rescheduled Championships wind up in his home country.
“I think it’s virtually certain I am not doing Worlds. Unless they put it in Norway and then I really can’t miss it.”
It was announced in March that UCI Gravel World Championships are being relocated after plans to organise the event in Nice broke down.
Like fellow MAAP Privateer, Russell ‘Finsty’ Finsterwald, Toby rides for the Trek Driftless team. This makes them natural allies in any race situations that present themselves. Toby says he also has links with Cobe Freeburn, recently announced as part of the MAAP Pro FWD programme.
This meshing of competitive aims – alliances in and across ‘teams’, where nobody is anybody else’s domestique – is an emerging change in gravel.
“You definitely all look to play off each other. Not necessarily help, or maybe it’s better to say we won't necessarily sacrifice for each other.”
For Cobe, Toby and Finsty – their shared sponsors bring them together, but so does their shared history. Not just racing, but time away from the bike.
When it comes to the kind of racer he is, Toby is sure of one thing.
“I do really like the challenge. Racing is a bit of a game, and you got to play it well to end up on top. And I also just really like suffering. I’m good at suffering. That's a skill of mine.”
