Ride to Survive! Valtteri Bottas & Tiffany Cromwell Aussie Gravel Epic

When we were offered the chance to ride with F1 driver Valtteri Bottas and pro cyclist Tiffany Cromwell, who were we to turn that opportunity down! While in Australia Alex got the chance to meet them both for a gravel adventure.

Check out our ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/10575719108

Welcome 0:00
Meeting Bottas & Cromwell 1:02
Our route 1:23
Riding in Australia 2:20
Alex & Bottas make an agreement 3:58
What is RADL gravel? 4:33
Getting to know Valterri Bottas 5:21
Why is gravel riding so cool? 6:17
We talk kangaroos…8:23
Who’s the fastest F1 driver? 09:22
quick-fire questions 11:00
Post-ride chill & beers 12:43

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I have got one hell of an exciting day lined up today I’m going for a bike ride with Formula 1 driver and Keen cyclist Val botas and pro cyclist Tiffany Cromwell like the ultimate sporting power Couple we’re going to talk Formula 1 we’re going to talk bikes we’re going to talk all about their brand new gravel race I’m excited to get there we haven’t got far to drive I’m just praying the Sun comes out cuz at the moment it’s been raining Look at this absolute wall in front of her who do you think is the fastest Formula 1 driver on the bike me yeah all Right so I’m driving south of Adelaide to a region called McLaren Vil which is famous for making wine now we’re only 2 km away and um I’m actually slightly nerv nervous and excited to meet the pair of them hopefully they Haven stood me up how do you go about greeting to

International sporting Stars I hear you ask well for some reason I decided it would be great to greet them by doing the worst skid I have ever done that was my best skid I could do good morning morning how you VY how’s it going morning Tiffany how’s it going good um

Right thanks for your time for today uh we’re going to go gravel riding what have we got planned yeah we’re here in beautiful McLaren Ville um going to check out some of the rattle gravel course ahead of our race on Friday right you got the route loaded up yep we have

Rout uh I’ve done actually most of the course but tff still hasn’t done it so uh we need to check few spots especially the first climb the first climb is going to be spicy um what way that way straight down the hill way down the hill then straight up rattle gravel is

Co-founded and co-owned by 10 time Formula One grand prix winner valry botas two time zerro ditalia Don stage winner Tiffany Cromwell and former professional cyclist Amy charity it’s a mass gravel event for everyone from Pro Racers to even the most relaxed of cyclists but probably not best suited to this little Guy um so Tiffany you’ve just finished uh racing the tour down under like kicking off a Race season um vry you’ve been out here as well obviously not racing tour down under but s of soaking up the sunshine checking out the gravel road riding but what else you been up to

Yeah so I’ve been doing lots of riding um yeah seeing lots of new rocks uh probably getting ready for Ratt gravel yeah but yeah it’s been nice time off um good training at the same time and uh we’ve been to quite a few different places like Kangaroo Island New Years

And uh went to the road National where I did Grand oh yeah cool straight up through roads closed straight up right look at that we local traffic local traffic is us um so how was the tour down under actually hey um it was really great you know so I’ve

Been back since 2020 and obviously having the canyon sham team yeah out here was nice cuz they don’t come every year it’s always like uh maybe we do maybe we don’t with the team um but yeah three really interesting stages something for everyone you know huge crowds like you can see there’s

Attraction with women’s cycling people want to watch it and as a team like we came you with a young team except for me you know so it came without pressure but it meant the girls had a chance to step up and be in positions they would

Normally be in we have some of our um Riders who typically are lead Rider within the team So right vou can we get this in early in agreement on camera that if if by some chance in the race we’re together yeah can we promise not to attack each other Pinky Promise pinky promise there we go right that’s it I’ve got it on record Now these guys are not hanging around but what one hell of a day so far having a good time look at them they left me they’re not even waited rattle gravel is a play on words from rade which is the affectionate term used by people who love the city of

Adelaide which is just North of where we are now there are two different routs to choose from you have the 108 km version which I will be doing and also the 70 km version however both routes start with what can only be described as an absolute brute of a climb you mean what

The wall the wall um I was going to say describe what the climbs like but I feel like you’ve covered it off with the wall yeah oh boy look at That having navigated our way up the wall which may or may not have required a mid ride Pit Stop to adjust Tiffany gears and also allow vry and I to have a quick breather it seemed like a great time to stop and chat more and vry first

Thing a most obvious like question I want to ask you really is um you’re obviously Formula 1 driver we talking like crazy High-Tech high speeds it’s like the Pinnacle of Motorsport but like what is it that draws you to cycling more than any else um I’ve always Rod my

Bike a bit and uh also for training you know I always used to ride a bit but then when I met Tiff obviously I um I definitely got more into it one big motivation was to try and keep up with her so I started training but then the

More I’ve learned about the sport and um yeah I just have huge respect for the professionals and what they’re capable of doing and how much commitment you need in your life to to become one so Tiffany your like entire career has been built around road racing but then with

The like take off of gravel over the recent years you’ve kind of dived into that world and immersed yourself in a bit of as well so what’s been like what’s the draw to to the gravel scene trying to like combine that in with the road yeah I think it was something that

Came hey hey people checking out the course at the speed they’re going well I couldn’t speak going out there you still an e bike but yeah no so how it came about was first actually 2019 um the team was heading out to it was the women’s tour

Of Colorado and it was the first edition of SBT gravel and that time I didn’t really know anything about gravel but they’re like Canyon’s a major sponsor can can you and I had my teammate Ella um race it but we weren’t allowed to take it serious we had to just do the

Short course have fun cuz the priority was to of Colorado I was like yeah okay okay and it was so much fun like it was such a blast you know just the whole scene like the vibe around it like you’re hanging out with people before racing hard and then hanging out again

Afterwards and that okay just took it as yep all right cool there’s so many cool races they’re like you say race is new this year there’s so many like big events like popping up all around the world and I think it’s that’s really good point what you said about that

First like experiences of gravel racing you had that like the rule was to not take it too seriously I feel like that’s an important one for gravel racing now because whilst it has grown and evolved I think at the like heart of gravel racing it’s still like having fun

Absolutely like vou you’ve experienced like quite a lot of gravel races and I think like people have arrived there with the mindset of racing but still like with a bit of a party Vibe exactly yeah that’s what I like about it like uh road racing for me is a bit too serious

Because yeah well you do the serious bit when you get in the car yeah exactly so cycling is meant to be like something to take you away through I guess compliment Racing for me it’s a great way to kind of Escape The Hectic F1 world you know

Yeah and so yeah physically for sure it’s good but also mentally I find it’s really really refreshing now Australia is famous for a number of different things beautiful weather sunny beaches neighbors huge spiders and of course barbecues but I need to know the real important stuff like what’s the

Difference between a kangaroo and a joey um this is something I was really wondering please help it’s smaller significantly smaller a little bit smaller well make make your minds up significantly or a little bit let’s just say smaller yeah cuz thing is there’s different types of kangaroos as well there’s a big Reds

Which they’re the really musly ones well just some see boxing but you also have there’s other other varieties or other species of kangaroos small kangaroos with big kangaroos are joies small kangaroos by themselves probably a WABE correct I’m glad we’ve cleared that up actually been uh pressing on a little

Bit on this little Loop look at them they are keeping us working hard I’ve noticed we’ve been going a lot quieter when it goes uphill yeah like she’s Fring up doing 300 WS yeah same it’s just what happens when you’re big and heavy right who do you think is the

Fastest Formula 1 driver on the bike me yeah all right flip that question round who do you think would be the fastest cyclist in a Formula 1 car [Applause] m one of the spr a sprinter yeah or some Pitcock Pitcock would be pretty wild I reckon yeah no Fear okay guys how’s um progress on our route where are we going so actually race would continue straight on this beautiful Rolling Road but we go home this way how far to Home 13 km oh easy in a few days time it’s pretty cool to

Think that the three of us are going to be racing your brand new event and it’s also cool that you’re getting to race the same event together now I’m guessing you don’t really get to do that very often I think this will be we’ve done a couple

Times Kansas but usually that’s my end of season she led me one on a pinish line pretty cool um but normally obviously I’m racing like the longest distances and he’s normally wanting to do slightly shorter but this one it’s like the perfect medium both around the

100K right before we um crack on and finish this ride I’ve got some quick quick five questions for you um I don’t want to give you heads up I want to get honest answers quick so I’m going to put you on the spot so um you can argue

Between you who goes first but just shout um so if you could only have one bike forever more what would you have road bike gravel bike mountain bike BMX chopper bike commuter bike time tral bike I mean anything else gravel bike absolutely gravel ebike because when I

Retire I don’t want to have to suffer on the clamps that’s a smart answer thinking ahead there which would you prefer which would you prefer to watch live Formula 1 or bike racing Formula 1 yeah well you see more sure you see more fou tree bike racing you see them

Wash past I that’s a good point a finish of a bike race is pretty good okay I prefer to the be in the F1 race so I will say I would watch bike race yeah that’s a really good point actually yeah um so when you guys are out and about

Traveling together who does most of the driving me vter who’s the better driver probably him I don’t want to cause an argum I should be in theory no right final question would you rather watch Formula 1 drive to survive or tour to France Unchained tour to France

Unchained I I actually watched it bch watched it on one flight this year look good really before I met B definitely drive to survive I I was one of the ones that definitely enjoy the first series but I haven’t really followed it I love the first series but

Because I know how they create the stories yeah you don’t need to watch drive to survive you can just be there and I also don’t need to watch to of France cuz I know what happens behind the scenes and I’m sure they yeah make you guys have actually got the worst of

Both Worlds cuz well the program is pointless for you you’re like guys we living the real deal yeah okay bike Road done let’s get changed get showers get some fresh clothes on um vou says he’s going to have a beer sounds good to me okay guys right we’ve done a very much

Um formula 1es style pit stop to get showered and freshened up after a really good ride thanks for that um but I think it’d be nice to talk about a little bit of what the future holds so Tiffany this year for your Race season like what have

You got coming up what are your plans and aspirations yeah obviously I’m still balancing the road and the gravel um calendar uh St the season is definitely focused more on road it is an Olympic year we have Paris coming up by no means easy to make the team with Australia we

Have a lot of depth now when we only have three spots but I’ll still give it a crack see what I can do in the early season if there is an outside chance of making the team so coming up I head over to after rattle gravel obviously um head

Over to Victoria for cadel’s grce road race and then tour of UAE on the way back through to Europe and then it’ll be full focus on the classics on the way back through to Europe like just well it makes sense you know you fly over might as well continue the warm races instead

Of going straight to the cold classic um but yeah then we kind of see how it’s going and then we start focusing bit more gravel but still you know gravel cuz but keeping it fun as we said exactly exactly so a few of the UCI gra World Series races um we obviously still

Have the women’s tour to France Fair M Swift um s the team with me there Finland gravel Finland gravel oh good plug I like that vry what about you what’s coming up I mean I’m a formula one fan so I’ve got an idea of like how

The season evolves but come on give us a bit of an explainer what are you up to to in the coming weeks and months yeah so basically straight after the rattle gravel the day after flying back to Europe going to drop some of my stuff at

Home and uh then straight to the factory which is based in hin will in Switzerland and yeah start all the simulator work uh with the latest and greatest models of the new car which actually will be quite exciting to get a feel and then of course for us as a team

It’s all the preseason filming collateral stuff which is sometimes not the most fun but yeah got to be done yeah and then we have car launch already it is actually in London on the 5th of February yeah and then we start testing after so so testing is end of February

Yeah exactly and the first R is also end of Fe so yeah and come around come around sort real quick doesn’t it it does vouchery tell me more about this ice hockey team I’m intrigued to it i’ like Tiffany just mentioned it come on explain this missed probably a couple of

Things yeah there’s a few B you’ve missed out there coffee rooster in Finland my most recent thing is my own blend of wine actually from M well yeah uh then yeah I’m part owner of ice hocky team in Finland because uh I played

Hockey as a as a kid like for 10 years I wondered what the link was yeah yeah yeah and like obviously in the winter I couldn’t really Drive Gokarts so I played it was always all about hockey and go-karts so now I’m living that hockey dream uh being part of the team

And I’m on the board of the team so just learning a lot about the business side as well of it and uh yeah quite a few Investments here and there and uh keeps me busy and again like eventually when my Professional Driving career ends for sure I’ve got plenty of things to kind

Of uh play with it sounds amazing you guys are s like planning for the future it’s really smart move um basically yeah thanks so much I do want to say like I’ve had an absolutely Mega time spending our morning out riding I hope everybody at home has enjoyed hearing

What you guys have to say and sort of sharing our little ride with us and um I got to say also if anyone at home is ever traveling to Adelaide you’ve got the chance to bring a bike head out on the roads or the gravel TRS you really

Got to do it it’s incredible isn’t it absolutely so right guys thanks very much we’re going to go you can get your Budgy Smugglers on and um well see more if you want to see more of the cool videos that we make subscribe to GCM and um turn on your notifications because in

The coming weeks you’ll see all of us doing the grael race right cheers guys cheers