Gravel cycling has a bit of a reputation for being the preferred retirement of former WorldTour professionals who are looking for a bit of fun after a tough career on the road. In the case of Petr Vakoč, that’s both true and also entirely unfair. Let us tell you why.
Petr spent the best part of this ten-year road career with the legendary classics team Quick Step, back in the days when Lidl was a logo on the blue train’s powerful backsides rather than a title sponsor in its own right. Ten years ago, he was rubbing shoulders with the likes of Niki Terpstra, Yves Lampaert, Zdeněk Štybar and the King of the Classics himself, Tom Boonen.
But Vakoč was no wallflower. He showed his grit with impressive early-season results, aged only 23, at the French double header of La Drôme Classic and Faun-Ardèche – winning both back-to-back – and the Flemish classic Brabantse Pijl. Better yet, these victories were made in the national champions' jersey, and the latter came after a set-up by swashbuckling teammate Julian Alaphilippe. How’s that for class?
“I used to have this mindset where everything has to be perfect, otherwise I cannot win. But one thing I realised, racing on the road, is that I could win even when things didn’t go to plan. I got rid of this idea that everything has to be perfect.”
With road results and more than a little perspective, Petr found his ambitions lay increasingly outside of the remit of a pro cyclist – that is, training, resting and racing. To the surprise of many, he decided to call it a day aged 29, aiming to fulfil a dream of taking part in the Cape Epic mountain bike race. Although he missed out on racing in South Africa in the first instance, it was the fitness he built here that laid the way for his first big result on the gravel scene: second place at Unbound, one of the premier gravel races in the United States, if not the world.
But in those days especially, you’re out there on your own – you go from having little autonomy to having full control over every aspect of your schedule. Your calendar, your training, your nutrition, everything is up to you. And come race day, there’s no team car to call for when things go wrong on the course, or in your head. The safety net is completely gone.
“Maybe I’d have a flat tyre, or I’d lose a bottle, or I just didn’t feel good. But when you learn to push through, you say: Okay, just fix it and go forward. Accept it as part of the process. I've had a lot of trouble with sleep, for example. And maybe I perform better when I don't have a perfect night than when I have a great night.”
There’s a learning curve, and even if it looks like things come together, it might be the result of stacking lots of those moments. Unbound bears a lot of the hallmarks of a road classic but at around ten hours of racing, it’s a hell of a lot longer to be out there on surfaces that veer between lunar and outright ludicrous. Petr’s first attempt was in 2023, and it came with its share of trials.
“I had two flat tyres and a mishap in the aid station. It took me too long to clean the mud from the bike. I was on the back foot, but I thought, okay, it's 300 kilometres. Just keep riding. Maybe they have to slow down in the front?”
Unbound has been on the radar for those of us interested in gravel for several reasons, not least because it’s a very visible example of the shift from a pure grassroots event to a more and more performance-oriented gravel tentpole. It’s grown massively in popularity over the last few years, and it’s the scene of some of the WorldTours first forays into a brave new world. But now the field is more often stacked with names fans of road racing would recognise, which was true of Petr’s first outing – Lachlan Morton, Ian Boswell, Laurens Ten Dam, Peter Stetina are all in attendance. All came from the road, and all of them have podium results at Unbound.
“I went from hanging on the group to thinking, okay, there are seven of us, I can do top 10. That's a good result. Closer to the finish, I thought: okay, I can probably beat these guys in a sprint. So I can manage top five. If I can do top five, maybe I can also do podium.”
Going through the mental checklist under pressure is easier said than done. It comes with years of experience, years of trying and trying again. And on this day, it paid off with a podium result: second place at his first outing.
“I worked with a couple of really good mental coaches during my career. One thing that really stuck with me: you can never keep your focus. You can only get it back.”
Where is Petr’s focus for 2026? First up, he’s looking at switching from Traka 200 – where he won in 2024 and finished fourth in 2025 – to the longer distance Traka 360 (likely to be a little shorter this year).
“I’m not one hundred per cent sure on switching yet, but I think the new course looks cool. It's got more climbing, it looks really exciting. I think my advantage is long, hard races, so I think I can do, do really well there.”
There’s also an Unbound comeback on the cards.
“ I’ve been really close. I came back better prepared in 2024, in some of the best form I've ever been in, but I was pretty unlucky. I hope this time it'll click.”
Lastly, another event that always gets a reaction on social media: The Rift, in Iceland.
“ Such a beautiful location, such a beautiful course. I would say it was my favourite race last year. I stayed for three more days with my wife and we explored Iceland afterwards, it was just so beautiful. And I finished third. So I want to win this one.”
Best of luck for the year ahead, Petr. See you out there.
