Thomas De Gendt spent years making the peloton suffer from the front. Now he’s swapping breakaways for gravel races. In this episode of Life in the Saddle, we talk training data, nutrition “rules,” risk management, and what it really means to race The Traka 360 when there’s no team car, no “easy” hour, and nowhere to hide.

Thomas De Gendt’s gravel chapter isn’t new — it’s evolving

Thomas De Gendt earned the “King of Breakaways” nickname the hard way: long days off the front, calculated suffering, and a career that included stage wins across the Grand Tours. Now he’s channeling that same curiosity into gravel — not as a rookie experiment, but as a serious second act with a clearer purpose.

He already spent last season racing gravel, learning (quickly) that the level is high and the “it’ll settle after an hour” myth doesn’t hold up. This year, the story shifts again: he’s lining up at The Traka with Powerplus Gravel Team — a project he’s helped build and now runs, shaping everything from partners to race choices.

The Traka 360: same badge, different number

Let’s clear up the headline detail: it’s still called “Traka 360,” but this year the route is closer to ~325 km. The name stays, the reality adjusts — and riders plan for the route they’re actually racing.

Why does that matter? Because when you’re flirting with ultra distance, a “small” difference on paper changes the pacing math, the fueling schedule, and how you decide when to burn matches. It also nudges the event into a familiar comparison point for fans: a long day that sits in the same conversation as the famous 200-mile benchmark across the Atlantic (hello Unbound).

Gravel is brutally honest (and that’s the appeal)

De Gendt’s read on gravel racing is refreshingly direct: it’s “honest.” After the opening chaos, you tend to end up where your legs belong — unless luck intervenes.

That’s one of the reasons The Traka works so well as a test. It’s based in Girona, where the terrain invites speed, sharp accelerations, and constant focus — but it doesn’t hand you anything for free. If you miss a split early, you can spend hours doing expensive solo work. If you overcook the first third, you’ll pay interest later.

And unlike road racing, the risk equation changes. In the peloton, risk often feels mandatory — position, speed, bodies everywhere. On gravel, Thomas frames it as a choice. If he backs off a sketchy descent, it’s his result that takes the hit — not a team’s season. That’s not a lack of competitiveness; it’s a veteran deciding what’s worth it.

No team car, no excuses: mechanical self-reliance is performance

One of the most practical threads in the episode is how gravel forces you to be your own service course. No convoy. No instant wheel swap. If something fails, you stop and fix it — quickly — or you watch groups disappear.

Thomas even talks about intentionally learning mechanics during his pro years so he could handle more himself later. In the gravel context, that’s not a hobby. It’s racecraft.

If you’re prepping for long gravel, here’s the unsexy checklist that wins time:

• Practice plugging a tyre fast (not “eventually”)
• Know your tools and where they live
• Rehearse what you’ll do when you’re tired, stressed, and hungry

Data, watts, and the breakaway brain

Even in gravel, Thomas is still Thomas: he likes control, and he likes knowing why something works. Early in his gravel transition he backed away from structured training, then felt the drop — a reminder that fitness is specific.

When the conversation turns to breakaways, the nerdy gold appears: effort control, timing, and the kind of power you need to make a move stick. Not “hero numbers for Instagram,” but the repeatable kind that survives a day where the race starts hard and never truly lets go.

Strategy talk with Arno: aero, tyres, and surviving 360 km

The second half of the episode brings in Arno Van Den Broeck, and it becomes a practical Girona garage session: bike setup, energy savings, tyre width trade-offs, weight management over an ultra distance, and the unglamorous reality of long-race logistics (sleep, prep, and feeding).

It’s also where the story clicks for us as a brand: performance isn’t one magic component. It’s a system. And the contact points—especially the saddle—need to disappear from your mind so you can focus on pacing, fueling, and staying sharp late in the race.