Meet Russell Finsterwald, the ‘old dog’ of gravel

Russell Finsterwald is 32. He isn’t old by any objective standards, but in the rapidly growing, ever-changing landscape of gravel racing, he’s quickly become one of the more … let’s say “mature” riders in the field.

“I definitely feel like the old dog on the circuit a little bit,” Finsterwald laughs. “Because you look at the results sheet, and you see there’s a lot of people in their early 20s, and you’re like, ‘Oh, wow, I remember when I was that guy.'”

Finsterwald is one of three new riders in Trek’s Driftless program, which is taking on all manner of challenging offroad races all across North America and beyond. His ambitions are as high as anyone’s. At The Mid South earlier this month, he took fourth place, just two seconds behind his teammate Torbjorn “Toby” André Røed, who won. Last year, “Finsty” finished fourth overall on the Life Time Grand Prix standings and won Belgian Waffle Ride California.

The competitive aspect of gravel racing is certainly one of the biggest factors drawing Finsterwald to the sport, but there’s wisdom in his years. He enjoys exploration, and long, meditative days in the saddle. It’s a bonus that those hours rolling through the desert outside of Tucson, where he spends the winter months, also constitute preparation for white knuckle racing. And conversely, the intensity of racing makes those quiet miles all the more restorative. 

“That’s one of my favorite things about being a professional athlete is just getting to train all the time,” Finsterwald says. “It’s like when I go down to Tucson, that’s my favorite time of the year because I just get a ride all winter, do these long rides, and check out new roads. Between December and March I’m really quenching my thirst for adventure down there.” 

They say old dogs can’t learn new tricks, and if that’s the case, Finsterwald is a lot more spry than he lets on. He has been regularly taking on gravel events since 2019 after a decorated mountain biking career that included five U.S. national titles. And yet, he feels like he’s still figuring out how to be a better racer.

“In cycling, if you’re willing to be a sponge, there’s always so much to learn,” Finsterwald says. “I’ve started watching a lot of the road classics races just because I feel like they race like a gravel race does. In mountain biking, you just go as hard as you can as long as you can, and that’s more or less the tactic. But gravel racing has introduced a lot of different tactics, and I’m learning to understand why certain breakaways go, and why they stay away.”

Finsterwald is constantly trying to evolve as an athlete. He’s still searching for the borders of his potential. Increasingly, he has eyes on ultra-endurance events. Earlier this year he attempted the eight-day Transcordilleras race through the Colombian Andes, which featured more than 20,000 meters of climbing. Illness forced him to pull out with three days left, but not before he won a stage.

The event may not have finished the way he wanted, but Transcordilleras is exactly the sort of challenge that has been piquing Finsterwald’s interest more and more. And the freedom to pursue those stunning feats of human capability is why Trek felt like home to him.

“We’re highly supported athletes through Trek, but we still have our own individuality where we can embrace the privateer lifestyle that gravel supports,” Finsterwald says. “The Driftless program really appealed to everything I want to do in gravel right now.”

With Driftless, Finsterwald wants to do it all. He knows there’s absolutely no time like the present. 

Finsterwald spoke with the Race Shop about joining Driftless, refining his racer mentality, and how his aunt sparked his lifelong love of bikes. The following conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

How did you get connected to Trek, and what drew you here?

Russell Finsterwald: I actually started my career with Trek. The first four years I raced for the Subaru-Gary Fisher program, which went through a few different name changes. So I was with that program for most of my U23 career. And once I transitioned from U23 to elite, we kind of went different directions. I was focusing less on World Cups and wanted to do more domestic stuff. 

So I joined what was called the SRAM TLD team, which was a Trek supported program, and I rode for Trek bikes for two more years. So I have a fair bit of experience with the Trek family and I’ve always had a good experience. That’s part of the reason they brought me back. 

And then joining Driftless, I think Trek has put together a really neat program where we’re highly supported athletes through Trek, but we still have our own individuality where we can embrace the privateer lifestyle that gravel supports. So it gives me an opportunity to work with different partners and brands that I want to work with, and still have the level of support I think you need to perform at these races. So the Driftless program really appealed to everything I want to do in gravel right now.

Like a lot of gravel racers, you did a lot of other disciplines beforehand. Why was this the evolution that your career took? And what sort of draws you to gravel?

Finsterwald: I’ve definitely raced a handful of disciplines. And I think part of the reason is I just really love racing and riding my bike at the end of the day, so I’m always willing to try different things. And with gravel I think it was the same sort of thing. 

I did my first gravel race in 2020 during Covid, BWR California, and had a pretty good result there. I was third, and it really kind of sparked some interest in gravel and I wanted to do more of it. 

I really liked the hybrid of you have to be a good bike handler, you have to have good fitness still, because they’re very long races. And all of them are pretty dynamic. They’re very tactical, since we’re racing in groups of 10 to 15 for the most part. So I think for me, gravel really took all the pieces I love about bike racing and just packaged it all into one.

You mentioned enjoying the flexibility that Trek gives you as part of Driftless. Was that part of the appeal of gravel racing, as well? 

Finsterwald: I think what’s neat about it is we get to choose our own race calendar. We’ll have all these races where we come together as a team, but then there’ll be other events that it’s like, ‘Hey, I’m interested in doing this, this race is one for me,’ and then you get to jet off, go do that race, have a good time and hopefully come back and tell your teammates about it. And maybe next year we all go. So I think it’s a cool way to experience more races for me outside of a typical team dynamic.

What are your favorite races to do, and what are your favorite races on the gravel circuit?

Finsterwald: I think my favorite races are definitely ones that are a hybrid, and not your standard gravel race that has a lot of road sectors. So a lot of the Belgian Waffle Rides definitely appeal to me. I did Rule of Three down in Bentonville two years ago, and that race has 25 miles of singletrack in it, but the rest is pretty much all gravel. So those are kind of my favorite types of events where you really get to showcase your skills. I think it definitely helps me with my mountain bike background, but it’s also just really fun.

What is your story with cycling? When did you first pick up a bike ,and when did you first fall in love with the sport?

Finsterwald: Growing up, my brother and I would always cruise around the neighborhood and hit the neighborhood jumps and stuff. So for me, it was a pretty early introduction to the bike. It’s always been a part of my life. 

But when I was 13, I got my first real mountain bike from my aunt, and she sort of introduced me to mountain biking. And from then on, I have been pretty hooked on it. I jumped into racing when I was 14. Got my butt totally kicked, but came back the next year and I trained over the winter. It really motivated me to start training like an athlete. And I came back the next year, won my first race, and then just pretty much been hooked since.

Was your aunt a competitive mountain biker?

Finsterwald: She was fully into the racing side of things. She did a lot of that. Then we had what was called the Mountain States Cup, which was a pretty good series in Colorado which had llike eight races. And it’s fairly high level for just interstate racing. So she did all of those. She raced masters World Championships. She really helped steer me into that racing pipeline.

For someone who has been racing for so long, I’m curious how you find a balance between being someone who likes to have fun and be adventurous with your bike, but also who uses it as a serious training tool to get faster and win races?

Finsterwald: For me, I think the training is really fun. That’s one of my favorite things about being a professional athlete is just getting to train all the time. It’s like when I go down to Tucson. That’s my favorite time of the year because I just get a ride all winter, do these long rides, and check out new roads. Between December and March I’m really quenching my thirst for adventure down there, and just doing big days in the saddle. 

So for me, that’s what I would call true gravel riding, where I get to experience gravel for what it is. And then race season comes and you shift into racer boy for a while and focus on that.

You got engaged last year. Congratulations! Your fiancée is also a professional cyclist. What role does cycling play in your relationship?

Finsterwald: She also races full time. Her focus right now is mostly road and crits for 2024, but she also does track racing. Cycling is definitely what drew us together. I think it’s neat to have a common interest in a relationship, and especially when we’re both racing professionally. I think there’s some selfishness you need to be in as a relationship as a professional athlete. I ride for six to eight hours all day, and when I come home I’m pretty much smoked and just want to lay on the couch. 

So I think it takes someone who truly understands the process to help make a relationship work. If I came home and was with someone who wanted to go hit the town, it probably wouldn’t really work, because then you’re going to be drawn out and you’re just not going to be sleeping and recovering. So I think we’re able to support each other pretty well because we understand the demands of the job.

What are some of your favorite places to ride?

Finsterwald: It’s hard to narrow it down to just a select few. But if I had to pick I’d say Crested Butte is my all time mecca for everything — Mountain biking and gravel riding. Not a ton of road riding there, but that’s okay. Everything else makes up for it. 

Also I think Tucson is a really good base for gravel riding. Not so much Tucson itself but everything south of there. You have Patagonia, which has become a hotspot for gravel riding, all the way across to Arivaca. There’s just so many ranching roads down there that it’s an endless opportunity for exploration, really. I’ve just had a ton of fun searching on Google satellite images and finding new roads to link up new things.

In your career, what’s been your favorite memory on a gravel ride or gravel race?

Finsterwald: This year, it’d probably be winning Belgian Waffle Ride California. It’s kwhere I started racing gravel. It really hooked me, and it was really neat to come back and win it this year. I think it was probably my biggest win on the gravel circuit. That was a really fulfilling win.

Why was that such a good day for you? Was it a race you were expecting to win?

Finsterwald: I think it was really special because I think these days, the Life Time Grand Prix is what I’ve really put my focus on. But at the same time, there’s these really cool events like Belgian Waffle Rides, and I went into it with no pressure. I think that’s the difference. The Grand Prixs, those are where I really want to be performing, so I put more pressure on myself there. Whereas on a Belgian Waffle Ride, it’s like, oh, this is just for fun. 

So I went into it with a really relaxed mentality, but obviously I still wanted to try to win the race. So I think in a way, when you don’t put any pressure on yourself, you’re willing to try more and just really go for it, because you have nothing to lose. So racing with that mentality I think really helped me learn that that’s what it takes to win. And I could bring that same approach to the Grand Prix.

That next weekend at Sea Otter, I raced with the same mentality. Keegan [Swenson] is obviously the head-on favorite for a lot of these races. But I was like, ‘Well, last weekend I just raced with nothing to lose.’

I think I was probably the most aggressive rider of the day and put Keegan under pressure, but he still beat me in the sprint. But there’s still a lot of good takeaways from that that I’ve tried to take with me and all my racing afterwards.

You’re 32 now. Relatively speaking, you’re a veteran in cycling. How does it feel to still be learning new ways to win ways and to be competitive? It seems like you’re still learning about yourself as an athlete, and that has to be kind of refreshing.

Finsterwald: Yeah, I think it’s kind of funny. I definitely feel like the old dog on the circuit a little bit, even though I am 32 [laughs]. Because you look at the results sheet, and you see there’s a lot of people in their early 20s, and you’re like, ‘Oh, wow, I remember when I was that guy.’

But yeah, I think it’s neat. In cycling, if you’re willing to be a sponge, there’s always so much to learn. I’ve started watching a lot of the road classics races just because I feel like they race like a gravel race does. In mountain biking, you just go as hard as you can as long as you can, and that’s more or less the tactic. But gravel racing has introduced a lot of different tactics, and I’m learning to understand why certain breakaways go, and why they stay away.

It feels like part of being a gravel racer is making the sport a better place than how you found it. How are you trying to be a good steward of the sport?

Finsterwald: I think gravel racing is neat in the sense that we’re able to engage with the community more than I’ve seen in other events. There’s a lot of opportunities to engage with the whole community, through shakeout rides, meet and greets, and just after the events, talking with other riders and watching the shorter course races. It’s always so fun when we pass the one hundred milers and they’re all cheering for you, and you get to cheer them back on.

I think the amount of engagement you’re able to have in gravel racing is really neat. And it’s a good way to really help build a strong community. I definitely want to continue to be a part of that and help support as best I can.

How are you looking to evolve as a rider in ’24, and what are you most looking forward to? 

Finsterwald: I think with Trek, I’m really looking forward to being a high level racer for the next few years. But I think what’s neat is, I feel like Trek really values what you want to do as a rider, and if there’s a means to support you in doing that, they want to help be a part of that. So as I get older and probably get a little slower, I’d definitely like to look into different events, like doing some ultra endurance stuff, whether that’s Baja Divide, Colorado Trail, or just some of these neat bikepacking races that are popping up these days. It’d be neat to be a part of those. It’s the next part in my career after gravel racing has come full circle.