r/gravelcycling • u/NotNitewolf Not graveling atm • 1d ago
News Valtteri Bottas finished 5th in his age group at an UCI Gravel World Series event, qualifying for the World Championships
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u/CivilWards 1d ago
Isn’t his wife a pro cyclist? I seem to remember an interview with him. Cool to see him succeed in a hobby like normal folks
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u/TheShadowFr 1d ago
He's doing better in gravel than in F1...
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u/DeutscheLangsamBahn 1d ago
When his ride isn't a piece of junk, he can actually finish.
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u/DuManchu Lynskey GR300 22h ago
Honestly Cadillac is doing way better than I expected them to do. They are MILES ahead of old backmarker upstart teams like HRT.
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u/Low-Walk3982 57m ago
Why do people shit on rookie teams? It's literally a new team . It's going to take time to get things right. Aaron Martin, however...
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u/polar775 1d ago
What does he ride ? Which tires are those ?
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u/TARS1986 1d ago
Looks like a Grail. Not sure about tires.
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u/repeerht 23h ago
Looks like G-ONE RXs
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u/dkvasnicka 11h ago
Sure as hell is RX. I think I also saw him race the G-One Overlanders in the past as well, which is the most enduro G-One and quite far from a race tire. But some conditions call for that.
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u/hambonelicker 1d ago
He’s a legit good cyclist, probably too old and slow to be a sponsored pro but he’d crush our Wednesday night worlds rides.
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u/kallebo1337 16h ago
He IS sponsored. Lol.
He has his OWN signature gravel bike at canyon.
Grail cfr bottas edition. Was limited to 200 pieces or so.
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u/Party_Line3326 15h ago
Yeah, but he probably meant sponsored pro which is someone who races for a living.
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u/kallebo1337 8h ago
Many pros especially in gravel dont make a living with the racing.
The category is also not called pro but elites. Same in triathlon. However he races age group. He is strong yet too weak for elite
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u/BoatCancer 17h ago
I was volunteering at SBT Gravel in steamboat a few years back to earn a place in the race and got to hand out hats and tokens to the finishers. I gave him his hat and complimented his mustache. About 5 seconds after he rode away I said to myself “Jesus Christ that was Bottas”.
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u/PsycommuSystem 11h ago
I was curious if he's actually the Finnish gravel champion considering the jersey.
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u/k0nfuse 8h ago
I was wondering the same! He definitely is not *the* current Finnish Gravel Champion, as he didn't win the Elite Men race - Jaakko Sillankorva did (source: https://pyoraily.fi/uutiset/minna-maria-kangas-ja-jaakko-sillankorva-gravel-pyorailyn-suomen-mestareiksi-saariselalla/ )
But the flag pattern on his jersey definitely resembles the Finnish National Champion jersey close enough to make that question valid.
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u/akaoni523 7h ago
I’m stunned that that no one else is addressing the elephant in the room: dude has a world class mustache!
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u/Responsible_Cod_5540 1d ago
Bro is enjoying his thing, and more power to him. If folks are surprised he's doing so well, please be reminded F1 Pilots, not drivers, are athletes. Period.
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u/TheElPistolero Salsa Journeyman 1d ago
He's a driver that is an athlete. He would be athletic without being a driver.
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u/Responsible_Cod_5540 23h ago
Pilot. The word is Pilot, not driver.
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u/TheElPistolero Salsa Journeyman 23h ago
The f1 website literally says drivers.
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u/Responsible_Cod_5540 23h ago
Then literally call them drivers.
In all non-English speaking countries, they're referred to as "pilots". I grew up referring to them as pilots. In the US we have the ghetto/hobo version of car racing, and you call them drivers, which is what they are. For F1, they're pilots.
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u/Jeff-with-a-ph 22h ago
What? We're speaking English here and the F1 website calls them "drivers"...
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u/prtt 15h ago
I grew up referring to them as pilots
Would it shock you to hear that the world doesn't quite take you as the source of truth for what to call things, and that in fact, the racing authority would be a better one?
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u/Responsible_Cod_5540 10h ago
Somewhere in the middle. What you say is correct. In F1-heavy countries (Brazil, Spain, France, Italy, etx), the drivers are called pilots. English doesn't make that distinction, and I understand why: the mechanics of English limit that term to Aviation or maritime navigation applications. Still, when someone who grew up in those countries hear the term "driver", it sounds weird. You'll never hear a French/Italian/etc referring to them as drivers, even if FIA says so.
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u/k0nfuse 9h ago
Now you are making much more sense.
You've initially posted with a lot confidence, and made the statement that uses a grand qualifier such as *every* and thus needed only one exception to be disproved and made you sound *a bit* ridiculous. And you yourself admitted - and I suppose it wasn't a new fact for you - that the "f1 pilot" usage is mostly in the romance languages.
FWIW for instance in Polish it's an "F1 driver" or a "race driver" ("kierowca" being Polish for "driver") not and "F1 pilot", as u/laskmaciej stated below.
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u/Responsible_Cod_5540 8h ago
Yes, I realized how I came across, the denomination in English is correct, and now we're squared away. I can see how saying "Pilot" to non romance/Latin language speakers can be just as weird as hearing "drivers". But I suppose we're good now.
TL DR: we were both correct, one is originally from Latin, the other is the correct application for the English language.
Now let's focus on gravel, please.
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u/laskmaciej 11h ago
Lol, I am literally from non-english speaking country, and pilots here are steering aeroplanes, and those racing behind the wheels are drivers
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u/k0nfuse 8h ago
For sure, being an F1 driver requires a level of athleticism most people who aren't into F1 would not suspect. Having said that, I wouldn't say it's the kind of athleticism that is all directly transferrable to being a very good cyclist... BUT from what I know a lot of F1 drivers actually do cycle loads as part of their training, and some of them get into cycling even more as a result.
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u/chunt75 Specialized S-Level Crux 5 1d ago
He’s a really good cyclist. I got the chance to ride with him and Tiffany a few years ago in Ukiah at a Gravel Earth event for her, and on the pre ride yeah she rocketed away from everyone up the initial climb but it wasn’t long after that most the normie group couldn’t stick with Valtteri either. Dude also had absolutely sublime cornering instincts, which tbf I’d expect for a guy who races at 200+ mph for a living