This 12 months, Formula 1 will host 23 races in 20 international locations around the globe. The calendar is intense for groups and drivers because it packs in back-to-back races, lengthy journey and numerous time zones. To unwind in the course of the “hectic” schedule, Alfa Romeo racer Valtteri Bottas has discovered solace within the saddle and spends hours using his bike every time he can.
The Finnish racing driver has been noticed out on his gravel bike numerous instances in recent times. He’s typically spied using the monitor forward of a grand prix and has spent his spare time enterprise some wild races around the globe.
“For me, it comes to the balance in things,” says Bottas once we caught up over Zoom forward of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. “[Cycling] is a great tool to disconnect.”
This 12 months alone, Bottas has lined greater than 5,500 miles, and he’s spent a complete of just about 14 days within the saddle. Along the way in which, he’s climbed greater than 336,000 toes in elevation, in response to information he uploads to Strava after each trip. Clearly, he has lots of disconnecting to do in between races.
“It’s a great tool for me to stay fit and to challenge myself,” he says. “I feel like it’s quite good for managing stress. Just to get out in nature and explore new places is quite enjoyable.”
On his bike, Bottas has explored locations like Colorado, the place he entered a grueling 100-mile gravel race earlier this 12 months, and the hills round his residence city of Lahti in Finland the place he helped set up the Fnld Grvl race.
Along the way in which, he’s typically been supported and coached on his mammoth rides with the assistance of his accomplice and skilled bicycle owner Tiffany Cromwell. The Australian professional rider received this 12 months’s Unbound Gravel race within the U.S. and has taken on the formidable cobbles of Paris-Roubaix Femmes.
“Obviously it’s been her job for a long, long time. So she’s very strong on the bike, especially when the terrain becomes more hilly,” says Bottas.
“But it’s motivating and I’ve obviously got to know the sport a lot better than I did before. So that makes an extra interest for me.”
Bottas is contracted with Alfa Romeo till the tip of 2024. As such, he says he isn’t planning on making the change to two-wheels full-time any time quickly.
“During F1, the travel schedule is not easy to fit your mileage goals for over the year,” he says. “I still feel like in F1 I have quite a few more years. I still have goals in the sport, definitely, so the cycling part needs to wait a bit longer.”
As properly as his full-time job as an F1 driver, Bottas works as model ambassador for tech agency Hyland. The firm, which offers administration software program for companies, options on his race suite and the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 automobile.
Source: jalopnik.com