At focofondo we have a lot of intentionality in how we operate our programming. All is from a place of having to create a sustainable event as an independently-owned and self-made organization but also with a strong human-first philosophy. There is a difficult gap right now for especially younger riders to “come up in the ranks” and pursue professional racing in cycling currently after a high-school age in the US. Although a lot of the changes need to come at a team and program level to help mentor and develop athletes, especially of varied economic backgrounds, one small way we’re trying to support up-and-comers with financial support from shimanogravel is to deepen the prize purses to 10-riders deep. We’re real grateful for Shimano jumping in to support this vision. We know from our own experiences as scrappy-as-hell twenty-something athletes, that sometimes those dollars are what can get you to the next race in your pursuit of your dream. Between that, free kid and half-priced ...