Lawrence Naesen x Pedal Mafia
Growing up in Belgium, cycling isn’t just a sport, it’s everywhere. Yet, for Pedal Mafia brand ambassador Lawrence Naesen, the path to the professional peloton wasn't a childhood inevitability. It was a rapid, unexpected ascent that eventually led him away from the very pinnacle of road racing to rediscover the pure joy of the bike on the gravel frontier.
When asked about the moment cycling became more than just riding a bike, Lawrence points to 2013. He was 20, turning 21, and studying at university. Admitting he "wasn’t the greatest student," he found himself with quite a lot of free time after classes. To fill his days, he started riding his brother’s second bike. What drew him in wasn't the glory of the sport, but a simple, undeniable hook:
"I immediately got addicted to the feeling of improvement, just becoming a better cyclist, that idea that if you ride more and train more, you can actually see yourself getting better."
Surrounded by Belgium's deeply ingrained cycling culture, riders like Tom Boonen, Alberto Contador, Mark Cavendish, and Greg Van Avermaet (who would later become a friend and teammate) were natural inspirations for him. But it was the accessibility of these athletes that truly shaped his path. Watching their YouTube documentaries made them feel approachable.
"I remember watching the Wiggins documentary I think more than 100 times while riding on the indoor trainer," Lawrence recalls. "So it’s pretty cool now to see that he’s also involved with Pedal Mafia. It's a full-circle moment."
Once he officially started racing in 2014, things moved incredibly fast. He remembers his first race, a local Belgian kermesse, where simply finishing safely in the bunch felt like a small victory. But he quickly realized the sport could become a serious pursuit during his second and third races: a UCI 1.2 and a pro kermesse.
The speed in the pro kermesse was brutal, averaging around 50 km/h. It marked his first DNF, but he managed to follow the pace for 140 of the 160 kilometers. Four years later, he returned to that exact same race and won it, claiming his first professional victory. By 2017, just a few years after borrowing his brother's bike, he was racing in the WorldTour.
Moving into the professional peloton was a massive adjustment. When reflecting on what that environment taught him as an athlete, Lawrence notes the incredibly high level of competition and the intense structure required to survive it.
"The biggest adjustment was understanding how detailed and professional everything is: training, nutrition, recovery, tactics. It taught me a lot about discipline, teamwork, focus, self-confidence, and also about patience, because progress at that level doesn’t come overnight."
However, over his last two seasons on the road, his relationship with racing began to change. While he maintains that the sport is amazing, the rigid structure and intense pressure of the WorldTour environment started to take away the freedom that made him fall in love with cycling in the first place.
As his view on WorldTour racing shifted, gravel began appearing on his radar. He made the decision to step away from the road, seeing the dirt as a way to rediscover the original feeling of racing, discovering, and just fully enjoying riding the bike again. What attracted him to gravel was the potent mix of adventure, competition, and freedom, coupled with a very high level of racing.
"The races are long, unpredictable, and often in incredible places," he says. "It feels a bit more raw and pure compared to road racing."
The transition also brought a stark difference in his day-to-day life. In the WorldTour, a rider's only focus is eating, sleeping, and training. In the gravel scene, Lawrence now operates as his own one-man team. He arranges all the logistics, travel, materials, clothing, and nutrition. Only after all the managing is done does he try to eat, sleep, and train.
Yet, what he enjoys most makes the extra work entirely worth it. The openness of the gravel scene, seeing riders from vastly different backgrounds and disciplines coming together, fosters a strong community feeling alongside the fierce competition. In many ways, it reconnects him directly with the reasons he started cycling.
Today, Lawrence is taking that one-man team on the road, currently racing around the world in the UCI gravel circuit. What motivates him most is exploring exactly what is possible in this new chapter on a global stage. He is excited by new people, new races, new places, and new experiences. It brings back a sense of adventure that he felt sometimes gets lost in highly structured environments like WorldTour teams.
If he could look back and offer advice to that 20-year-old university student who had just borrowed his brother's bike to fill up his free time, his message would be simple:
"Enjoy more and worry less. Focus on improving, stay curious, and keep the love for the bike at the center of everything."
