Rob Britton didn’t actually hang up his wheels when he retired from the pro peloton. In fact, he rarely stops turning the cranks at all. After 12 years with pro road teams, last with Rally Cycling (now Human Powered Health), he just completed his first year as a ‘one-man show’ in the boom world of the gravel gold rush.
How was the full-time foray into off road? Britton found a vein of success that helps him with his “Wirth It Project”, as he calls it. As a top 10 finisher in the elite men’s division of the inaugural Life Time Grand Prix, he scored a portion of the $250,000 prize purse after his 14th place finish at Big Sugar Gravel. For him, it is about sharing the wealth, as he has committed to donate half of his prize money to WIRTH Hats Counselling Fund, which provides free, virtual mental health resources to people worldwide.
“Initially, when I stopped road racing, it was with the intention to do gravel and some adventure stuff. I stopped road racing because I wanted to do a lot more in cycling, and not just travelling around Europe, not that that was a bad thing. I had achieved a lot and I was very satisfied,” Britton told Cyclingnews in Bentonville.
“I wanted to do more than just make money for me, myself and I. I spent a lot of years doing that, like most people do in their careers. So It’s been fun to give back, half of my earnings to WIRTH Counseling Foundation. It’s been great to work with them. It’s nice to have another purpose other than just trying to smash money for myself.”
WIRTH Hats was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, where Britton resides, to honour Jakob Wirth, who died by suicide in 2014. Since the company’s inception, the sale of hats and stickers has been the main source of funding to provide mental health counselling and outreach programs to individuals and families in need. Britton selected the BC-based foundation as a suggestion from a friend, and because “it just clicked. Mental health is really important.”
“Prize money is always a nice bonus, it’s never a guarantee. The prize purse for sure is massive [at Life Time Grand Prix]. I’m stoked to be in the prize money.“
Britton finished seventh in the final Grand Prix standings, a tie with Adam Roberge with 109 points once the best five out of six event finishes were scored. The tie-breaker went to Roberge, as he finished third at the final event, Big Sugar Gravel, 11 places higher than Britton. But Britton still received a check for…
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