For the past two years, Alexey Vermeulen has been second in the Life Time Grand Prix to Keegan Swenson twice – by 13 points in 2022 and just six in 2023. This season he's come second to Swenson again in the opening race at the Sea Otter Classic Fuego XL.
However, next week at the Unbound Gravel 200, the second stop of the Grand Prix, Vermeulen will miss the main event, as duty calls with his brother's wedding taking place for the same June weekend. He still has hopes of finally landing atop the final standings of the seven-race, off-road series.
"At the beginning of the year, I was really stressed about Unbound, but given how Sea Otter went, I've become a little less stressed about it," Vermeulen told Cyclingnews after coming fifth in the elite men's road race at the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships.
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"I think the ball is in Keegan's court to continue dominating how he has at Unbound, the race that you need the most luck. So I'm just gonna try to come back as fit as I can for [Crusher in the] Tushar and hopefully give him a run for his money."
Vermeulen got his start in pro cycling on the road, racing with the BMC Development team and the national team in Europe, and signed with Lotto-Jumbo in 2016. But after two seasons in the WorldTour and a year in the Continental ranks, he decided to forge his own pathway as one of the original gravel privateers.
That doesn't mean Vermeulen has no aspirations on the road, far from it. He announced coming into US Pro that he was gunning to make Team USA for the Olympic Games – winning the individual time trial would have been an automatic ticket to Paris – but he came a distant seventh behind Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates).
In the road race, Vermeulen was active throughout the race chasing an elite breakaway and eventually finishing fifth behind Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), McNulty, Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) and Scott McGill (Project Echelon).
"It's been a weekend of remembering bike racing," Vermeulen said after the effort. "It's hard, but I'm pretty proud. I mean, a lot of these races are a lot more tactical than some of the gravel races, and so it's a reminder.
"I really miss this stuff. I hoped to have won the TT, but that's how it goes. And then I just didn't have the pop to follow those guys when they went and hoped I could ride myself back into the race, but missed it by about 30 to 40 seconds."
Vermeulen was on the start line partly because US Pro moved to May and served as an Olympic qualifier, and partly because of his brother's wedding. The combination served to stoke his Olympic dream.
"I think it was the stars aligning this year, my brother getting married, and it was a reason to skip Unbound. I'd love to eventually go for [Olympic qualifying] again, but it's also up to people I work with, sponsors that pay me now because gravel is what I do.
"Since I left the road, I've struggled sometimes to really find races that excite me. I love gravel racing, but it's the same stuff over and over. I'm looking forward to 2028 but also I'm just happy with how this year's gone so far. Hopefully, I'll be jumping back in a couple more road races this year."
Along with a runner-up spot at Fuego XL, he has stacked up top results this gravel season with a second at Belgian Waffle Ride California, third at Old Man Winter Rally and 10th at BWR Arizona. After weeks of training for USPro, Vermeulen has no temptation to go back to full-time road racing, however.
"I miss the road, and I miss the history that road has, but I'm also really proud of what's been created in gravel, and I just would love to find a way to balance both, which is easier to say than do."
