I joined Simon Pellaud last week for Gravel Burn 2025, an epic 800km stage race event, that was the most extraordinary – and hardest – ride I have ever taken part in. I caught up with the Swiss pro in between stages, to find out more about why he was there, and check out the kit he'd chosen for this wholly unusual race.
Pellaud was heading into Gravel Burn as one of the favourites for the overall title, having finished second on the Life Time Grand Prix GC for 2025. Having duelled it out with Matthew Beers for much of the season, the battle would continue for a further seven days – but in a much more hostile setting marred by corrugated terrain, heavy rain, sub-zero temperatures, extreme heat and wind, hail, and mud. The extreme weather was so severe that it culminated in the neutralisation of stage 6.
With much of the race being contested at altitude, Pellaud had a slight advantage over his competitors, given that he resides in the high mountains of Colombia. Having bided his time on stages 1 and 2, the Swiss rider delivered a masterclass attack to take victory on stage 3 from Willowmore to Blaauwater. The back-and-forth battle with Beers meant that there was little between the two leading into the final stage, just 33 seconds in fact. Pellaud would ultimately lose time on stage 7 but had enough of a lead on Hugo Drechou to cement his spot on the second step of the podium.
The Tudor Pro Cycling rider had a BMC URS 01 One at his disposal for Gravel Burn, a bike designed more around exploration than out-and-out racing, but a clever choice given the terrain at hand. One of the very few BMC gravel bikes seen at the race, Pellaud's features a warm gold colourway with dark red forks and cyan accents. With a focus on storage and utility, the bike features MTT suspension – a fatigue-reducing system that uses elastomers in the seatstays to provide 20mm of travel. While he had the option of using a front suspension stem, Pallaud opted for a regular integrated bar-stem arrangement for improved feel and response from the front end.
While the BMC URS 01 One has tyre clearance rated at a maximum 47mm front/rear, Pellaud shoehorned a pair of 50mm Schwalbe G-One RS Pro tyres at each end – something not recommended by the manufacturer, given the limited clearance, should conditions be muddy. Pellaud, however, would have weighed up the pros and cons and found the performance and comfort advantages were too good to ignore. In combination with the 30mm-deep DT Swiss GRC 1100 DICUT carbon wheels, the rolling stock offered stiffness and compliance to help offset the severe corrugations that categorised much of the 800km route.
One thing Simon approached more than his rivals was that of on-bike storage, and here you'll see the use of an Apidura top tube bag to house his spares and tools. A notable feature of the BMC URS is the extensive, integrated frame protection on the underside of the down tube and bottom bracket area, as well as the lower fork legs and driveside chainstay.
As was the common theme at this year's Gravel Burn, Pellaud elected to race on road bike pedals, specifically Shimano PD-R9100. While this might have posed issues should the terrain have become too technical to pedal, not to mention the likelihood of rock strikes, it was a risk Pellaud was willing to take based on the superior locked-in feel, aerodynamics and wider platform afforded by the road pedals.
His BMC URS 01 One was outfitted in a SRAM mullet build, which, despite only running 12 sprockets, combines a slightly bigger chainring for speed with easier climbing gears. In this case, he paired a 50T road-specific chainring with an Eagle 10-52T cassette, complete with an XX SL T-Type rear mountain bike derailleur to ensure secure and efficient chain actuation. A closer look at Pellaud's pedals and carbon crankarms reveals the scarring from the days of racing – chips and scuffs abound.
A Selle Italia Novus 3D saddle, along with standard bar tape, rounded out his touchpoints.
Specs
- Frameset: URS 01 Premium Carbon with MTT
- Fork: URS 01 Premium Carbon with Tuned Compliance Concept Gravel
- Cockpit: Integrated cockpit
- Seatpost: D-shaped URS 01
- Groupset: SRAM Mullet build (Red/XX SL AXS) 50T, 10-52T Eagle cassette and XX SL T-Type rear mech, 1x12
- Wheelset: DT Swiss GRC 1100 DICUT 30mm carbon
- Tyres: Schwalbe G-One RS Pro 50mm
- Saddle: Selle Italia Novus Boost Evo 3D Kit Carbonio Superflow
