What would gravel be like again this year without the controversy of modifying the casual, freewheeling style of racing to something more orthodox? While there used to be controversy among the pros about the use of aerobars, these days they have disappeared from most gravel debates, replaced by concerns about mass starts and drafting.

Lifetime, which runs the Lifetime Grand Prix Series in the United States, has evaluated and adjusted its guidelines for off-road racing specifically for elite fields without waiting for the next controversy.

Organizers of the rich series, which offers $300,000 in total prize money, were scheduled to weigh in this week with a handful of invited elite women.

"As our sport evolves, we are seeing a lot of changes in women's racing," Lauren De Crescenzo, the 2021 Unbound 200 champion, told Cycling News,

"We are seeing a lot of changes in women's racing.

"Last summer at the US Pro Gravel National Championships in Gering, Nebraska, I was on the phone with USA Cycling to discuss separate starts and start timing. They had successfully enforced the no-draft rule with the moto judges.

In 2023, Lifetime imposed new rules at seven races, including the Unbound Gravel 200, specifically eliminating the use of bar extensions among elite field competitors for safety reasons.

The new rules for 2024 are intended to address the frenzy and fallout from mass starts. In all seven Grand Prix events this year, the staging and sending off of elite men and elite women will be separated by a few minutes or up to 30 minutes in all seven events.

"The racing experience at the 2022 UCI World Championships in Italy was unique in that the men's race was on Saturday and the women's race on Sunday. Given the logistical challenges for promoters, we do not believe this is possible for all gravel races in the US. However, I do think there are ways to make the men's race almost completely free of interference. Like moving the start time back an hour or so and having the men's race start first," added de Crescenzo, who said he looked forward to participating in discussions with Lifetime.

Miguel Crawford, who founded the Grasshopper Adventure Series and still runs it 27 years later, said the course itself can determine if a mass start is safe. At Huffmaster Hopper, the pro men were followed by a separate start for the pro women, while the other age groups were set to send off.

"Hopper is a little different on every course. If there is a big climb early in the race, they prefer a "simultaneous start." This way the riders are divided according to ability and we avoid overlapping fields," he explained. The Low Gap will be held this Saturday, and the riders will be separated from the group start by a climb in the early stages.

All Belgian Waffle Rides will have a combined start, as will the SBT GRVL; the Leadville Trail 100 MTB has established a start corral in 2022. Rules also differ for many of the UCI Gravel Series events.

Sofia Gomez Villafagne (Specialized), last year's double winner of the Leadville Trail 100 MTB and SBT GRVL, said race organizers need to be clear about their expectations for separate starts.

"What are we trying to achieve with a separate start? Do we want the women's racers to compete against each other during the first "x-amount" to avoid confusion at the start? Or do we want to ensure that the women's race is not affected at all by those outside of their category? "

Another issue at hand is drafting, which was apparently the main topic of discussion when Lifetime held a conference call with several of the top women in the series. It is not known if this discussion will lead to any rule changes for this season and how those rules will be enforced.

"Whether or not the girls will put our ideas [into action]. We'll see," the 2023 Lifetime Grand Prix women's winner told Cycling News. Like de Crescenzo, she plans to have discussions with Lifetime this week.

She said that not only will the women not be drafting from the men, but the rule will also apply to the men, whether pro or amateur, not drafting from behind the pro women, and "not drafting from anyone outside of that category."

"It gets tricky when you go unbound. It's a stacked field for sure. Last year we were told we could have this 'experience' in 'unbound'. It was exaggerated. The women's pro field can race on their own without the influence of the men's pros and amateurs. And after 90 minutes, we were back to where we were the year before. I was really disappointed. I think we [the pro women] deserve the same racing experience as the men."

At last year's Unbound Gravel 200, Caroline Schiff scored the win with 60 miles to go from the lead group of pro women, including Sofia Gomez Villafagne (Specialized) and Alexis Skarda (Santa Cruz). When Schiff jumped out, it was not a solo attack; she grabbed the rear wheel of pro men's Ivar Slik and rode the acceleration. Many of the chasing women then joined the men's pack and rode to the finish.

Villafane admitted that many of his outspoken statements in the past have "fallen on my ass," but he said, "I want to use the platform I have to help the women progress and give us the race we deserve.