{"id":274902,"date":"2025-11-10T07:06:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T07:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/274902\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T07:06:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T07:06:21","slug":"pez-at-the-movies-road-to-traka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/274902\/","title":{"rendered":"PEZ at the Movies: Road to Traka"},"content":{"rendered":"

First came the new category of \u201cgravel\u201d bikes; then, of course, there had to be gravel racing.\u00a0 This is a discipline that has seen explosive growth in less than a decade.\u00a0 An excellent new video from Pas Normal Studios showcases the PAS Racing team at one of Europe\u2019s toughest gravel races, The Traka.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The video follows the early season activities of the PAS Racing team, which is a part of the Copenhagen-based Pas Normal Studios (PNS), a brand of contemporary technical cycling clothing.\u00a0 PNS has eight retail stores around the world and offers riders the chance to participate in group rides and special events through its International Cycling Club.\u00a0 PAS Racing, formed in 2024, is a step higher and in a short time has become a real power in gravel racing.<\/p>\n

The team has some 15-18 riders representing nine different countries, ranging from the United States and Canada to Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Australia.\u00a0 It operates as a loose confederation: PNS is the common sponsor providing everyone with the company\u2019s race-specific \u201cMechanism Pro\u201d clothing, along with helmets and eyewear.\u00a0 There are other sponsors, such as Fizik and Pirelli, but the riders have personal sponsors as well which is why in the video team members appear with different brands of bicycle.\u00a0 PAS Racing covers rider travel costs and will provide a monthly stipend.\u00a0 While PAS Racing is a team there is considerable flexibility in which races riders choose.\u00a0 This reflects the difference in operation compared to a World Tour pro team, for example.\u00a0 As \u201cRoad to Traka\u201d unfolds we come to realize that gravel racing is its own creature.<\/p>\n

\"Traka<\/p>\n

Although PNS has offered short videos on its YouTube channel, \u201cRoad to Traka\u201d is its first full-length documentary. The video opens in rainy Copenhagen, where we meet Tobias Kongstad coming to the office at Pas Normal Studios.\u00a0 Although he is an employee of the company, his workday is unusual. On arrival he sets up in shower on a smart trainer and proceeds to do an episode of heat training.\u00a0 Pretty quickly it is apparent that he and his teammates are very serious about their racing.\u00a0 Training in the cold Danish rain at night can\u2019t be that much fun but Tobias cheerfully takes it on.\u00a0 Family members appear as well in the video, providing the emotional support needed in a demanding profession like bike racing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"Traka<\/p>\n

The team comes together for a pre-season training camp in preparation for the first races in Spain.\u00a0 Major gravel racing events are divided into three groups: the UCI\u2019s own series; the Life Time Grand Prix races in the United States; and the Klassmark events. The last include The Traka as well as other races around the world in the Gravel Earth Series, such as The Migration in Kenya (a video about which we reviewed HERE<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The first race in the video is the two day Santa Vall, put on by Klassmark in Girona, Spain.\u00a0 It is here where we meet the three main protagonists. Tobias Kongstad not only races but seems to be The-Man-in-Charge of the team.\u00a0 His tasks include doing the shopping and looking after musettes.\u00a0 At 28 he has raced extensively for more than a decade, from the club level to as high as the second-division rank UCI Pro Team.\u00a0 A strong sprinter, in 2023 he began to do high-level gravel events as he shifted from road racing.\u00a0 In 2024 he was on the podium for 3rd place at Life Time\u2019s Unbound Gravel race in Kansas.<\/p>\n

\"Traka<\/p>\n

New to gravel racing is all-rounder Mads W. Schmidt, a former World Tour professional and Danish national road race champion.\u00a0 His career on the road reached a high point in 2021 with a stage win at Tirreno-Adriatico but was subsequently derailed by personal issues and injuries.\u00a0 As the team prepares for Santa Vall he is not sure what to expect.<\/p>\n

On the women\u2019s side is Australian Cassia Boglio, who had a short but unsatisfactory outing in Europe with a third-division Women\u2019s Continental team in 2022. She returned\u00a0 to race in Australia but then in 2025 raced in Europe on the road with another Continental team as well as doing gravel races with PAS Racing.\u00a0 Her particular strength is as a climber.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

\"Traka<\/p>\n

The two stages of the Santa Vall race in February were 80 and 110 kms, with 1,100 m and 1,400 m of climbing respectively.\u00a0 Critics have suggested that the UCI\u2019s World Gravel Championships are not very gravelly compared to US events.\u00a0 However, the region around Girona certainly does not appear to offer easy riding.\u00a0 There are sections of the trail that would probably be easier on a mountain bike.\u00a0 PAS Racing does very well at the event and Mads Schmidt tells his partner after the first stage that gravel racing was easier than he expected.\u00a0 Things don\u2019t go as well on Day 2 for him but nonetheless the stage is set for the main event of the video, The Traka.<\/p>\n

\"Traka<\/p>\n

First run in 2019, The Traka has become perhaps the major gravel event in Europe. It features distances comparable to Unbound in the United States.\u00a0 The 200 km version offers 2,500 m of elevation gain, with 3,700 m for the longer 360 km version, both with more climbing than the Unbound equivalents.\u00a0 At this point in the video the protagonists are Mads Schmitz, believing he can win The Traka 200, and Tobias going for the longer race.\u00a0 No spoilers here but PAS Racing also had defending champion Karolina Migon present for the 2025 Traka 360.<\/p>\n

\"Traka<\/p>\n

I watched the live feed of Unbound and found it excruciatingly dull.\u00a0 Happily, credit here goes to filmmaker Sebastian Krogh for making \u201cRoad to Traka\u201d compelling viewing.\u00a0 The coverage of the actual races in Spain is gripping. The viewer actually has an idea of where the riders are progressing in the event.\u00a0 The press release for \u201cRoad to Traka\u201d accurately states: \u201cThe film captures the emotional, mental and physical journey to the start line, where ambition, adversity, performance and aspiration meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Moreover, it serves as an excellent introduction to the world of gravel racing, a discipline in transition.\u00a0 While teams are present the tactics are different from road racing but more like cyclocross to me.\u00a0 It seems riders don\u2019t really work together but avoid chasing each other. Perhaps this is something the Dutch women\u2019s team at the UCI World Gravel Championship should have thought about! Ouch.<\/p>\n

\"Traka<\/p>\n

Participation is impressive as many events have registration limits. When 4,500 people show up, as was the case at The Traka, something is in the air. Gravel racing has a reputation for being open to all.\u00a0 It gives amateurs the chance to ride a course that professionals are doing at the same time. We see here professionals willing to make an investment for the future.\u00a0 Life Time Grand Prix has increased the prize money for its gravel events. It remains pretty stingy for the Klassmark ones and is essentially non-existent for UCI races.<\/p>\n

Although modest in set-up by the standards of a World Tour team, PAS Racing does not lack for ambition.\u00a0 Team Manager Lars Moss says in the film that the team\u2019s 2025 goals are to win The Traka and Unbound.\u00a0 The team\u2019s results from this year must put it in the top rank for gravel racing globally. The riders are already making plans for 2026. \u201cRoad to Traka\u201d is a fascinating portrait of something that is becoming the big noise in bike racing.\u00a0 Well done, Pas Normal Studios!<\/p>\n

\"Road<\/p>\n

Pas Normal Studios Presents Its First Ever Documentary: \u201cRoad to Traka\u201d<\/p>\n

Directed by Sebastian Krogh, also responsible for principal photography<\/p>\n

58 Minutes, with subtitles in English<\/p>\n

\u201cRoad to Traka\u201d will be released on November 12, 2025. It can be seen on the Pas Normal Studios YouTube channel HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

See the Pas Normal Studios website HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n Like PEZ? Why not subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive updates and reminders on what’s cool in road cycling? \n <\/p>\n

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