The US experiment: Connor Sens' year as a gravel privateer

It's been a long 12 months for Connor Sens.

Ever since winning the elite men gravel national championships last year, he has been on quite the journey on the bike.

“Being a gravel privateer was always very appealing to me since I was a U23 so once I won in Tassie a big goal of mine was to bring it to life, by attracting sponsors and planning my own calendar,” Sens said.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to get a huge amount of support from my major sponsors Ekoi, Cervelo, Creative Carbon wheels, Shimano and Schwalbe.

“I also wanted to prove myself by putting my hand up in the air at least once and that came sooner than I thought at my first race, The UCI Gravel World Series, Gravelista held in Beechworth just a few months after.”

Connor Sens wins Gravelista at Beechworth

The 24-year-old has taken the green and gold kit around the red, white and blue of America competing in major races namely the Triple Crown of Gravel during their Spring.

He would finish eighth overall.

"The series was held on some very challenging courses and was something I really had to train for, he said.

“I was always a good time trialist and strong in a breakaway on the road, so I didn’t find my legs were a weakness of mine, it was more-so how technically good I was.”

Connor Sens racing in the United States

Sens' overseas stint will come to an end with the almighty Unbound Gravel epic over 301km in a few weeks.

The “US experiment” as he calls it was better than he had imagined.

“The atmosphere has been great.

“Gravel racing has always been a lot more social than other disciplines and I’ve met a lot of mates along the way.

“It’s also been great to connect with my sponsors from the USA and put faces to all the emails,” the Victorian said.

But soon enough the days of enjoying the American spring will turn to preparing for the Australian winter and the winding backroads around Derby, Tasmania for the 2024 AusCycling Gravel National Championships in June.

“I’ll be able to adapt the skills and experience I’ve learnt over here into my performance as I’ve worked on so many of my weaknesses.

“I think my stint of racing here has been quite long, but I’ve had plenty of rest between events and I’m sure I’ll be able to carry this form for another couple of months.”

As well as the National Championships, Sens has penciled in the Gravel World Championships in October to be held in Belgium, and one of his favorite races the Dirty Warnny, but is not getting carried away.

“Currently I’m happy with where I am at,” he said.

“I’ll keep trying to improve to achieve more results but I'm loving what I’m doing, who I’m working with and the sponsors behind me.

“Racing is the best part of gravel, so I’ll just keep showing up to more.”

You can enter the 2024 AusCycling Gravel National Championships here.

Photo Credit: Connor Sens/The Devils Cardigan