Former WorldTour pro Alexey Vermeulen had a strong Life Time Grand Prix debut last season, finishing top-five in a number of high-profile events including Unbound Gravel en route to finishing second overall in the series that combines gravel and mountain bike events. Not to mention he secured the outright win at BWR California.
We crossed paths with Vermeulen earlier this year and naturally proceeded to ask him the hard-hitting questions, including his favorite food, how he likes living in Boulder, and of course an update on his dachshund riding companion, Willie.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
CyclingTips: Alexey, what were your highlights of 2022?
Alexey Vermeulen: I didn’t have any big goals going in to the year. I just wanted to go in and see what happened at the (Life Time) Grand Prix, which ended up being the majority of my year. And in that sense, it was overwhelmingly successful.
I don’t think I expected to do as well as I did, which was consistent — Keegan (Swenson) was dominant, above all of us. But behind that, I was there. I was top-five at Unbound and Leadville, which was baffling to me — both races where things can go wrong. Plus winning two BWR’s throughout the year.
I never felt like I belonged as much as I did in 2022.
CT: After a big ride or race, what’s your go-to meal?
AV: Oh, there’s way too much. I mean I am a candy fiend. I eat way too much candy. But if I were to go to a grocery store, pick something and I have the energy to cook, it would be sweet potatoes, broccolini, and steak.
If I’m going somewhere after a race, it’s probably straight to Chipotle, or a burger place for a way-not-good-for-you, too-much-grease meal.
CT: What’s your Chipotle order?
AV: Oh, chicken burrito every time and a steak quesadilla. I’m a believer that if you’re going to go out, just f*****g do it. Enjoy it.
Do you get tired of people asking about Willie? (Vermeulen’s dachshund who rides on his back during training rides.)
AV: Not at all. If it had been this publicity stunt that some people think it is, it would be. But most of us who have ridden a bike knows there are a lot of lonely times when you’re out there riding by yourself. I bet you Willie rides two thirds of the hours I ride, which is kind of insane to think about. You don’t need a training partner sometimes. You’ve got a podcast in and you’re feeding the dog over your shoulder.
Hecklers in races are a thing though. You’ll be on a climb struggling, and someone yells out “Where’s the dog!?” And I’m just like, dude, really, right now?
I think my biggest fear is that more people are riding with dogs now, which is really cool until you crash the dog. I try to be very, very cautious about when and how I ride with him.
CT: What’s Willie’s go-to ride food?
AV: He’s a big fan of Split, the peanut butter and jelly packets. Apple sauce too. Anything he can lick and that doesn’t make him thirsty because he doesn’t enjoy drinking on the bike.
CT: What’s his longest ride?
AV: Seven hours in Leadville. It was unplanned because the car he was going to go into left. But I let him out to go pee and he jumped back in the backpack and kept ripping.
CT: You’ve lived in Boulder, Colorado for a couple of years now. What’s your favorite thing about living there?
AV: You can make anything of the place. You can go drink and have good food. You can go ride your bike in the coolest places and not see a car for hours. You really see the power of a bicycle taking you cool places that motos can’t go.
CT: And your least favorite thing?
AV: There’s a lot of ego in Boulder. Moving from the Midwest has been a challenge to find out where I exist in that. And it’s like ok I’m going to hang out with more runners than cyclists, or I’m going to do my training myself and figure it out.
There’s a lot of good people in Boulder, but there’s also a lot of people trying to figure out where they belong inside cycling and it breeds this competitiveness that I don’t always want to be a part of.
CT: Anything off the bike that’s getting you excited these days?
AV: Ice hockey. I will watch every Detroit Redwings game I can. But most of what I spend my time on is cycling oriented from the ground up.
Since Covid, I’ve been learning how to fix bikes beyond simple flat repairs. Now I’ve built three or four bikes for friends and family and that’s a lot of fun.
CT: You were talking about your garage earlier. What makes it special?
AV: I’ve decided to deck out the garage of my rental house for some reason. Everyone says don’t get too attached to your rental house — well, I have.
When you walk in I have eight bikes hanging on the right. Then I have a massive probably 6-foot by 5-foot pegboard, all custom stainless steel with slats measured out for my tools. There’s a weird peace having everything in its place. I think I just love Tetris!
There’s Wahoo training set ups, and then extra bikes that need to be sold. Oh, and there’s a ski waxing station for cross-country skiing. But no cars in the garage ever!
CT: You have over 10 bikes in the garage. If you could only ride one for the season, what would you choose?
AV: Do I have Willie on my back or am I racing?
If I’m racing only one bike for the year, the (ENVE) MOG (a gravel bike) no question. I’ve been riding it with road tires a lot, but I have three wheelsets: road slicks, gravel slicks, and full-on gravel tread. The hardest part about the Grand Prix sometimes is that you change bikes so often, and sometimes I just want to stay on this one.
But if I wasn’t racing, a hardtail. It’s the bike that I think everyone acts like a gravel bike is — you can really have fun and do anything.
CT: What are you watching on TV?
AV: I’m big into the Drive to Survive series (the Formula One docuseries), and all the spinoffs of it. Breakpoint I thought was incredible. I’ve always been super enamored by autobiographies, and I think this genre is just a dramatized version of that.
CT: Speaking of which, what did you think of the Life Time Gand Prix docuseries, Call of a Life Time?
AV: I was stoked. I think my biggest worry or question is: Does it bring in new fans to the sport? Can you watch it and actually have someone to cheer for?
I don’t know if I could answer being inside the sport. But the show was better than I think any of us expected.
We’re all trying to figure out how to keep this increased interest that happened after Covid going, and I think it has to be a little bit more kumbaya, and a little bit less $12,000 bikes.
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