Torbjørn Røed emerged on the US road racing scene in 2022 when he began to post a number of results with a Canadian Continental-level team and a collegiate programme. The next year he surged to the forefront on gravel, winning Belgian Waffle Ride Kansas and Big Sugar Gravel, and now people know how to pronounce his name, sort of.
Røed won a stage at the Tour of the Gila for the small Yoeleo Test Team p/b 4MindProject and finished third overall two years ago. Later in 2022 he would accumulate five gold medals across three disciples at US collegiate nationals riding for Colorado Mesa University, including the road race national title. He also added a fifth overall at the UCI 2.2 Joe Martin Stage Race.
In 2023 Røed finished third overall at Tour of the Gila and was third in the mountains classification at Tour of Norway, riding for the Norwegian national team. His name began to pop up in gravel results, such as third at Belgian Waffle Ride Arizona, third place, and FNCL GRVL, 13th.
Who was the Norwegian rider, nicknamed Toby for easy English pronunciation? He answered that question rather emphatically with the BWR Kansas and Big Sugar victories, and getting noticed by the Life Time Grand Prix.
“I think that one [Big Sugar Gravel] did the trick,” he said about getting noticed and landing an invitation to race the Grand Prix off-road series in 2024; his application was not accepted in 2023.
“I think the biggest thing for me was definitely that I did gravel races. Before last year, I haven't done a single gravel race, and I hadn't done any of the marathon mountain bike races, either.
“Even though I had skills from both sides, I think just doing some of the events is very important. They seem to look at their own events results first. And then of course, winning one of their events is very, very helpful.”
To start his gravel schedule this year, Røed finished third at Belgian Waffle Ride Arizona and then won The Mid South gravel race, taking the sprint from a six-rider lead group after 100 miles of racing on the red dirt of Oklahoma. With a fifth place at the BWR Utah race, he is now in second place in the men’s standings, eight points behind Tripel Crown leader Peter Stetina. The decisive third round of the Tripel Crown is Sunday at BWR California, where the top riders in the Waffle-length races will battle for a share in the $25,500 prize purse.
“It’s one of the spring objectives, for sure, and preferably in the top three overall,” he told Cyclingnews.
While Røed returned to a week of road racing at Redlands Bicycle Classic, earning a pair of top 10s as a guest rider for Above and Beyond Cancer Cycling Team, he has used extra time in southern California to recon the BWR course and get his new setup with the Trek Driftless team dailled in.
His teammates on the Trek Driftless off-road team are Russell Finsterwald, Haley Smith and Paige Onweller. The team aspect of gravel racing has generated momentum from the earlier days of only ‘privateers’, and Røed was looking forward to the new adventure, especially since all four are in the Life Time Grand Prix.
“I think it's really good strength to have Russell. I definitely come from a stronger road background, so I might know more tactics. But he knows pretty much all the gravel races and mountain bike races that we're doing this year. It's really good to have our combined experiences and then we'll be able to make a really good plan,” he said about riding with a rider like Finsterwald who comes from a mountain bike background and is one of the veterans in Grand Prix races.
The Norwegian moved to the US when he was 20 years old, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Eivind Andreas Røed, who also attended Colorado Mesa to race mountain bikes. A visit to see his brother in the small town of Grand Junction was his first trip to the US, and it made a big impression. He now uses Colorado as his home base, and the elevation is a key to his success on gravel.
“It was a place that I was looking for. I wanted mountains. I wanted to be able to ride 365 days a year. It's just a beautiful area for anything you want to do outside. You can go skiing all winter, and you can also ride in town the same day,” Røed said, who grew up racing cross-country MTB as a youth in Norway. He picked up track and some cyclocross while in college.
“I do love the adventure aspect and you're able to like do both road and trails, just kind of go out there and don't worry too much about the surface. You'll you'll get through it.”
Once the Tripel Crown of Gravel is decided this weekend, Røed turns his attention to the Life Time Grand Prix. At the series opener at Sea Otter Classic’s Fuego XL 100k, he endured a few falls and a late puncture to finish 14th overall, and 11th among the series competitors. His full attention is on a first appearance at Unbound Gravel 200 on June 1.
“I was invited to race Tour of Norway with the national team at the end of May, but I ended up declining that because it's so close to Unbound. That’s a big target for me.”
