The 2026 Traka Adventure Is Teeming with Controversies

With each passing day, more controversy seems to arise around last week’s Traka Adventure, a 560-kilometer event around Girona, Spain. The event, the longest of The Traka gravel options — which the organizers claim is not a race — has been marred by several scandals that have undermined the results of the event and have raised questions around the organization and ultra-racing writ large.

Between the men’s winner, Victor Bosoni, cutting the course multiple times according to GPS data; the second-place rider, Max Agut, having previously served a four-year doping ban before resuming his cycling career last August; and according to some participants persistent inconsistencies and organizational failures in the lead-up to the race, the event has come under much scrutiny this week.

“As you know, ultra cycling is, like gravel, free from a singular governing body, and that’s part of what makes it great,” read the beginning of a letter written by eight top riders from the ultra community addressed to Klassmark, the directors of The Traka, and the Gravel Earth Series. The letter was signed by Chris Mehlman, Ulrich Bartholmös, Robin Gemperle, Angus Young, Adam Jordan, Charles Hall, Nils Laengner, and Justyna Jarczok.

“It’s also a weakness that places the impetus on race organizers to establish clear rules, communicate effectively, and enforce their regulations to ensure the safety of riders and the local inhabitants of the often broad areas we cross. This is at the heart of the issues we faced at the Traka.

“Some are problems created by riders’ human flaws that require strict disciplinary actions to correct and discourage them from happening again, and others are issues at the feet of the organization, which riders must rely upon and trust.”

Here is all we know so far:

Course cutting from the men’s winner

The crux of the controversy started over the discrepancies found on the GPS file of the Traka Adventure’s winner, Victor Bosoni. Images of his GPS track versus the published GPS route were shared on social media after the race.

The forensic look into GPS files started earlier, however, as one of the competitors who pulled out of the race went back on course to support their fellow racers.

“When they got to the bridge crossing over the RiuTer in Torroella de Montgri, they witnessed Victor Bosoni skip the correct route onto the bridge and take a shortcut,” the open letter said. “They yelled at him, he looked at them, and then he kept going along his shorter route.”

Ultimately, these shortcuts didn’t amount to much saved distance, about 400 meters across a 560-kilometer event, but in a discipline where racing is getting faster, and the margins between the top riders is getting narrower, it appears to go beyond the standard of what would break the bylaws of the event.

While the Traka has not sanctioned Bosoni, Klassmark did respond to request to comment to clarify its decision-making process. In an emailed response to the complaint against the GPS discrepancies, Judith Marin, digital marketing director at Klassmark, said the organization reviewed the discrepancies and that Victor Bosoni’s victory was “valid,” without providing additional information or clarifications.

Klassmark also responded directly to Velo regarding the course-cutting incident, sending a lengthy email penned by Gerard Freixes, the CEO of Klassmark.

“The 560 was presented as an adventure and self-supported format, where autonomy, navigation, personal responsibility, respect for the track, and fair play were essential,” the statement read. “We understand that, in a format based strongly on personal responsibility, rules, expectations, and consequences must be communicated with even greater clarity.

“We accept that communication, rules, fair play processes, and the way we explain the nature of such a distance can be improved. We will take those lessons seriously.”

A crux of the issues around the Traka Adventure is the disconnect between the how the organization positioned the event versus the racers who have brought greater intensity and professionalism to a distance that previously was much less competitive. Klassmark never intended the Adventure to be another one of its marquee race distances; it grew into something bigger on its own. Now, after the event has grown into being a professional race, running things on good faith and hard to enforce rules won’t cut it.

As we have seen in so many categories, when that professionalism happens, other issues around cheating also arrive.

Documented performance-enhancing drug use, both legal and illegal, raises questions over fairness and testing

After the course-cutting controversy, a second shoe dropped as more information about Max Agut, the second-place finisher, who almost won if it weren’t for a broken handlebar at the tail end of the event, came to light.

Agut, an ultra-racer who appeared to burst onto the scene last year with a landmark performance at the 2025 Badlands ultra-event, was suspended for four years for EPO in 2021 as an amateur cyclist in France. While Agut was not a UCI pro rider, he was racing in U23 and low-level UCI races until he abruptly stopped racing in August of 2021.

From documentation obtained by Velo, Agut was suspended on September 8, 2022, stemming from testing conducted between July 23 and August 29, 2021. The suspension was four-years, retroactively applied starting August 29, 2021, and lasting to August 29, 2025. Agut accepted the suspension without continued appeals.

The 2025 Badlands race started on August 31, 2025, two days after his doping ban ended.

“Some races have policies that prevent former dopers from competing in those events, but our main concern is that the 560 has, publicly, yet to do any testing, like most ultra events,” the open letter read. “This leaves the door open for riders who have a proven history of cheating to return to the sport, to a discipline where cheating is easy to get away with.”

Questions about medical transparency have also swirled around the winner, Victor Bosoni. Bosoni has been open about his therapeutic use of testosterone treatment to encourage muscle growth for the diminutive French ultra specialist.

Like Agut, Bosoni was in the French development scene before he began racing ultras. While Bosoni never had any incidents with performance-enhancing substances during his career, ultimately, Bosoni stopped racing in the WorldTour development scene as his size and low testosterone levels made it hard to compete at the explosive events that make up low-level UCI racing in Europe.

During this period, Bosoni began a medically supervised testosterone treatment plan.

“I did a lot of pro races with a WorldTour development team,’ Bosoni told Cyclist in an interview published in late April. “But after three years, I had to stop because I have a genetic problem where I have very little testosterone, so I decided to stop and seek treatment.

“My testosterone level soon became normal too after that year, so I stopped the treatment and today I don’t have any [treatments].”

While there is some examples of Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) being granted for testosterone treatments, they are rare, limited in scope, and closely monitored. Since Bosoni has been away from racing since 2022, it is unclear what the extent of that treatment was, if he did receive a TUE for that treatment, and when it stopped.

What is clear is how much of a difference it made to Bosoni’s physical capacities, as he explained in the recent interview: “I’ve put on a lot of muscle. I was 46kg when I was in the elite category and now I’m at 62kg.”

Without any clarity, these revelations have added to the sense that ultra-competitors are finding difficulty trusting their peers’ performances in these unregulated races.

“We believe [the Traka], as one of the premier events in gravel and now ultra, are in a place to set an example and take the lead in promoting clean sport,” the letter read. “Regarding Victor [Bosoni], he was ineligible to race UCI events once he began this treatment, yet he returned to the sport through ultra racing.

“This brings up the ethical debate. If anyone has low testosterone, say from a heavy training load like many cyclists have, should they be allowed to go into therapy to get back to “normal” levels and gain kilos of muscle mass and then compete?

“We believe this is a question we need to ask and research. If there is a long-term effect, we feel that a bad example is set by using Ultra as the space where riders no longer allowed in UCI events can go to compete.”

Neither Agut nor Bosoni has responded to Velo’s request for comment.

Organizational confusion adds to the reception of the race

Ultimately, many of these questions surrounding the Traka Adventure are broader and serve as a microcosm of the issues ultra-racing faces as the sport becomes increasingly competitive and professional stakes rise.

Nevertheless, setting aside the bigger picture issues of course-cutting, past doping, and testosterone therapy, a significant portion of the letter’s criticism drew attention to some haphazard aspects of the Traka Adventure’s organization.

While some aspects were focused on the late changes to the course and start time, which was only made more confusing by a staggered start time to prevent drafting, the topic once again turned to how the race has broken out of its original adventure ride intent and was woefully unprepared to handle the intensity of elite racing.

“Riders were blowing through intersections without looking, and there was a heavy incentive to take risks that threatened other path users,” the letter read. “This is on the riders, but because this event is treated as a race with lots on the line, riders face the tough choice of being very safe and costing them minutes, or risking it and moving up places.

“The start time could have been slotted to avoid a busy time in these sections. The drafting rules were, in this format, unenforceable. With no real climbs early on, the pack stayed together until the first steep climb after the Olot section, which was several hours into the event.”

The letter added suggestions and recommendations to alleviate these problems, including starting in “blocks” of riders or adding a hard climb at the beginning of the race.

Changes are coming to the Traka Adventure in 2027

In its response to Velo about the open letter, Klassmark agreed with the authors of the letter that the event had outgrown its original intent as an open call to adventure. Moving forward, Klassmark has conceded that the event must be considered as every bit as competitive and race-oriented as the shorter distances where there has been significantly more infrastructure and professionalism surrounding the race days — even if there remain questions around safety.

“We sincerely appreciate the respectful and constructive tone of their feedback, and we take it seriously,” the emailed response from Gerard Freixes read.

“The clearest learning for us is that the 560 needed more specific attention. It was not just another distance. It had different needs, different risks, different logistics, different communication demands, and a different emotional weight for the riders taking part.

“Trying to integrate a distance like the 560 into the same communication and operational rhythm as the 360 and the 200 was not enough. The 560 needed its own focus, its own timing, its own communication, and its own space within the event. On this, we accept that we could have done better.”

Klassmark went on to confirm that the present format for the Traka Adventure would not continue next year and the longest distance would be reimagined to better suit the needs of the riders of the event. Interestingly, Klassmark made it clear the changes were not due to the letter, rather the logical reaction to the race’s changing shape.

“This decision is not a reaction to the letter,” the response said. “It comes from a broader reflection about responsibility, safety, communication, the territory, the administrative framework, and the level of focus that such a distance deserves.

“The 560 was organized according to the framework applicable to the format in which it was presented. Looking ahead, we do not believe we should continue offering the 560 as an open distance unless we can give it the specific structure, focus, and conditions that we believe it deserves.

“We do not see this as a moment for confrontation. We see it as an opportunity to listen, learn, take responsibility where we must, and keep building with humility and respect for the riders, the territory, and the sport.”

With the Traka in the rear view for 2026, this particular race will start to fade as events like Unbound XL quickly approach. Yet, even with its own role in the controversies surrounding the Adventure, the Traka will not be alone in sorting through what to do with gravel cycling’s niche-within-a-niche of ultra racing.

In a cycling world where everything that can be professionalized is, what is clear is the purity of the adventure race is over. A race, increasingly so, is a race, and participants demand it be treated as such.