Greg Van Avermaet joins new pro gravel outfit Team Last Dance

Greg Van Avermaet will ride for new professional gravel squad Team Last Dance in 2024, as the recently retired road pro continues his transition from the WorldTour to the gravel scene.

Van Avermaet, who retired from road racing at the end of 2023 after a long and decorated career, has already dipped his toe into gravel, winning a gravel triathlon last Autumn and securing himself a spot in Unbound – through the public ballot.

However, Van Avermaet will now race Unbound as part of an official team, having been snapped up by Team Last Dance, created this year by clothing brand Isadore. The small squad is made up of the Belgian, fellow roadie-turned-gravel pro Petr Vakoč, and Douwe Doorduin, a filmmaker and racer.

“I am someone who likes to be active. Even as a professional cyclist, I would occasionally watch another race and say ‘I would like to participate in that, that mountain bike race, that triathlon’,” Van Avermaet explained to Doorduin in a YouTube film launching the team.

“But not much is possible on the road because the calendar is packed, so that’s why I wanted to do this – a bit of a challenge, not setting that high goals but still having fun. And I think this could be a lot of fun.”

• Read more: Nothing gold can stay: Greg Van Avermaet on retiring with no regrets

The team is a joint project between Isadore and Doorduin, who has documented his racing career whilst dubbing himself the “worst gravel pro”, and part of the impetus behind the team was to give Doorduin an attempt at being a rider in a professional team for a year.

However, the team clearly has serious backing and ambitions with Van Avermaet and Vakoč on board.

Despite a 17-year career on the road that saw Van Avermaet win races like Paris-Roubaix, the Olympic Games road race and stages of the Tour de France, the 38 year old doesn’t want to completely stop competing after his road retirement.

“My motivation for participating in the project is to remain active after a rich career on the road,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws. “I see it more as a transition period where I can keep moving and experience a different kind of cycling. My first thought was to do some gravel races on my own, but I realised it would be even better to be part of a group and have a nice vibe together.”

The team and Van Avermaet’s full programme is yet to be revealed, but the Belgian revealed that he will race the Traka gravel race in Girona in May, and the team will line up for Unbound Gravel in Kansas in June. The World Championships in Belgium are also on his radar.

“I'm most looking forward to discovering new locations, competitions and gravel roads,” Van Avermaet told HLN. “In this part of my career, the most important thing is to enjoy the adventure and I am sure this opportunity will bring me that.”