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This article was originally published on Training Edge Coaching and has been adapted for TrainingPeaks. Header image photo courtesy of Steven Shelesky.
Steamboat Gravel has long been a staple of the US gravel calendar, especially for the pro gravel circuit. The race stands out for its relentless climbing, smooth/fast gravel, stacked competition, and a taste for a road race on gravel.
Melisa Rollins stepped on the podium as the 2025 champion with a grin on her face and a stylish champion’s cowboy hat to show off.
Considering she started the season with two broken wrists, this win was a statement: she put setbacks behind her and showed that steady belief in the process and hard work pays off.
This win especially stands out to me as it put to practice the tactical discussions Melisa and I planned, as well as the changes we have taken in her training recently.
Race data doesn’t always tell the full story, but in this case, the numbers tell us a lot about how the race was won. Let’s dive in.
The Race Plan
Women-only races have drastically changed the tactics for female winners of late, who used to race amongst the men’s field. Because of this, a big focus for Melisa and me before each race has been chatting through race situations. We work together to lay out parameters and ideal situations, but planning can only do so much. A big part of any race is feeling out where your competition is on the day of the race.
Lap 1: Fast and Furious
Melissa tested the group on the first lap with 4min at 328watts (5w/k) on the rollers. This effort ended up gapping the group (as we planned) and giving her the confidence to sit in, now knowing that she was one of the strongest riders in the race. It seems counterintuitive, but it’s hard to stay patient and not waste your energy when you’re feeling good.
The next step was to watch the key players, watch for the moment they started hurting or exposed themselves, and then capitalize on it.
Lap 2: The Midrace Grind
The group slowly whittled down due to the pace and hot and windy conditions. In the second lap, the group trimmed quite a bit. Melisa did 30min at 243watts (.86IF) during this section.
Long sections of high tempo did grind on the group, but this is when our key training sessions likely paid off.
We’ve been focusing on fatigue resistance sessions that include intensity spread throughout long training sessions. This helps to simulate race stress and load over time and gets the athlete used to performing efforts under fatigue.
Lap 3: Heat, Fatigue, and a Perfectly Timed Effort
The final lap was more even-paced with a small group working together. This was also the peak heat of the race with average temps at 83F, peaking out at 88 on the main climb of the lap.
While we haven’t made heat training a massive focus in her training, long summer rides made an impact by keeping her HR drift low even as the heat rose.
At this point, Melisa was now over five and a half hours in, 313TSS, 219NP, 3700KJ’s, and an average speed over 20mph. She had spent over an hour in Z3, over 30minutes Z4, and over 30minutes in combined Z5/6.
This leads us to the final move. At 115miles, the race made a left-hand turn off the loop to head up the lolly pop stick to the finish. At this point, there is a riser on the course that we planned as the key launch point. Melisa hit this hard–1min at 510watts (180% of LT and 8.47w/kg) and a peak of 604watts.
This was her all-time best post-3500KJ 1-min power and only a 4% reduction from her all-time best fresh power.
The Winning Move: Timing, Speed, and Corner Tactics
When Melissa started the move, she was at the back of the group, but after a rider ahead of her lost the wheel, she was forced to go into this move with even more speed and launch space (33mph already when she started her move). One rider was able to catch back on the downhill before the finish after this key move, leaving it down to the two of them for the final.
A bit of cat and mouse took place now that it was just the two of them. The new priority became winning the final corner. The final corner posed a unique challenge: turning from road to gravel less than 150meters from the line. The sprint out of the final corner was 462watts for 12 seconds with a peak of 644watts, but the win was in the bag by then.
The numbers don’t lie: they tell a story of strategic patience, resilience, and perfectly timed moves. Melisa displayed a true masterclass about tactical execution, on-the-fly decision-making, and the ability to suffer smart.
Huge congratulations to Melisa! This was a massive win and beyond well-deserved.
