Colby Simmons is nearing the end of his third season with the Visma-Lease a Bike Development team and is chasing that elusive first win as a U23 rider. The Durango, Colorado native won the stars and stripes jersey as men's junior road champion in 2021, the same year he took a stage win at the Grand Prix de Lubriland in Switzerland.

That hard-to-catch top prize may be found in non-traditional ways, such as the U.S. Gravel Championships. Simmons will compete in the men's elite field on Sunday in Gering, Nebraska, against 47 experienced off-road racers, including defending champion Keegan Swenson.

“I expect myself to do well, but obviously it's a little different than road racing. But obviously it's a little bit different from road racing. It's certainly exciting to do something a little different,” Simmons told Cycling News this week. [I've never done a gravel race before. I ride a Cervelo gravel bike, but I've never raced. I'm pretty interested to see how it goes.” [A few weeks before the UCI Road World Championships in Zurich, Sept. 21-29, after most of the 2024 road season, he decided to return to Colorado to do some high-altitude camping on his own and happen to be involved in a gravel race. [It's to compete in the U23 Road World Championships in Zurich at the end of this month. I wanted to do one hard race before that,” Simmons told Cyclingews. So I decided to do the Gravel Nationals. It's not too far from here. It's nice to have a long, hard race before the Worlds.

“So basically, I had a pretty long period of not racing. I came back to Durango and basically asked the team if I could have a high-altitude camp at home. That was a big part of what allowed me to come back [to Colorado].

Simmons, just 20 years old, is in his third season with the Visma-Lease a Bike Development team. His brother Simmons raced 40 days in Europe with the Continental team this season, finishing second overall at the Tour Alsace in July; in May he returned to the US to compete in the US Pro Road Nationals, winning a bronze medal in the U23 men's road race and placing in the top 10 in the U23 time trial and He also finished in the top 10 in the elite road race.

“I can't say I had any outstanding results. I was in pretty good shape at the U.S. National Championships in the United States. I didn't win, but I was able to show my fitness level in an aggressive race,” Simmons said, adding that he was proud of his performance at the Tour Alsace.

The 131.5-km course of the US Gravel Nationals is the same as last year's inaugural event, with 90% of the surface a combination of dirt and gravel roads and nearly 5,600 feet of elevation gain. The start and finish are in the small western Nebraska town of Gering, just over the Colorado border.

Asked if he was at all familiar with the course and had given much thought to equipment selection, he admitted, “I have no idea. For tire selection in particular, he said he watched some YouTube videos from last year's competition for reference, and did not hesitate to ask 2023 US Champion Keegan for advice.

“I also asked Keegan [Swenson] for personal advice. I think at least last year's course was a little sandy, but I was still pretty fast, so I could probably run it on some slicks. I'll run the course the day before and then decide what kind of tires and what kind of wheels I want to run,” he said of his complacency in his first gravel race.

“There are no team cars there, so that makes a big difference. But I can also fix a flat tire if needed. So my fitness is definitely good. If it's not a problem, I can race at the front.

Simmons' primary focus in September will be the UCI Road World Championships, where he hopes to help fill one of the five spots allotted to Team USA in the U23 men's road race. Last year, he and Luke Lamperti finished 16th. [I think the course in Zurich suits me. I think the course in Zurich suits me, and of course the altitude, and I had a good race before that, so I think I can have a good race,” Simmons said.