Mads Wartz Schmidt made the leap from World Tour success to gravel racing, and this conversation pulls back the curtain on what actually matters when making that transition. You'll discover that much of the gear debate is overblown, learn how to structure training when you're racing infrequently, and find out what supplement is genuinely changing his performance on race day.
Key Takeaways
- 45mm tyres are sufficient for 90% of European gravel riding—the obsession with wider tyres is largely driven by pro racing at high speeds where puncture risk increases, not because amateurs need them
- 90% of gravel training should happen on the road bike to build speed and high cadence; gravel-specific work should focus only on technical skills and descents
- Treat hard training sessions like race days: carb-load the day before, consume 120-150g carbs per hour during the ride, and test nutrition strategies in training before racing
- Off-bike activation (20 minutes daily of mobility, glute activation, core work) is non-negotiable for injury prevention and efficient power transfer, especially for riders transitioning from road
- Building long uninterrupted training blocks without frequent races allows for cumulative adaptation and significant performance gains that race calendar interruptions prevent
- Nomio (broccoli sprout extract) measurably reduces lactate buildup and allows for better effort repetition in hard sessions, with noticeable effects from the first use
Expert Quotes
"Speed wins races, not power. It's not about pushing the most power, it's about going fastest."
"When you're a pro, you get to a certain point where you can't push it anymore. Like then you have to do a lot of fat max training."
"I would have been extremely disappointed in becoming second. But then you can also look at it—if you did your best race, you couldn't do anything anymore, you pull off the race of your life and you get second. You can be disappointed with the race but still be proud of the process."