Nathan Haas has announced that he will be making the switch from road racing to the gravel world full time in 2022.

Nathan Haas, an Australian who runs the podcast "The Gravelog" and has participated in several European races this year, acknowledged the move on his Cycling News blog, saying that due to the COVID-19 pandemic in road racing over the past two years, He wrote that he realized it was time for a change.

"If you've been following my story over the last few years, my switch to gravel racing is probably one of the best kept secrets in the world. I love it." It's like being a kid again, but honestly, it's a little different than that. But I've realized the most important lesson I've learned in the last two years.

"To express your physical potential to the fullest, you have to pair it with equal or greater love and passion for what you are doing.

"Again, don't get me wrong, I still love road cycling. But after two very hard years, the effects of COVID (the change in race intensity after lockdown, and indeed the onset of COVID, which didn't feel like a breath of fresh air, so to speak, during the season) may have diminished my true love for cycling.

Earlier this season at the Arctic Race in Norway, Haas told Cycling News that his "eyes are shining" for gravel, adding that an "alternative calendar" like Lachlan Morton's is his dream for the future.

However, Haas, who started out on mountain bikes, decided to switch to gravel after 12 years of racing on road bikes, following the likes of Laurence ten Dam, Peter Stetina, and Ian Boswell.

Haas revealed that he made the decision to switch to gravel over the summer, adding that he is already making plans with his technical partners, including clothing manufacturer Castelli, for next season.

"This is not retirement. It's a change in discipline," Haas wrote.

"When I was torn between sticking to the road or jumping into the gravel world, as my father recently said, 'The best way to predict the future is to create it.' For myself, my talents, and my spirit, there is not much room for creativity in road cycling.

"Gravel, I can't wait."

After gravel races in Catalunya, Nove Eroica in Tuscany, and Serenissima Gravel in October, Haas has not finalized which races he will schedule next season, but SBT GRVL, the Belgian Waffle Ride, and major American events like the Unbound Gravel are likely to be on the menu.

Haas rode for Australian team leader Michael Matthews for the road world championships in Leuven after suffering from COVID-19 and pneumonia in the spring.

During his career, Haas was a member of Genesis Wealth Advisors and had several good finishes in the final year of this Australia-based team before competing in the World Tour with Garmin-Sharp. He then moved on to Dimension Data, Katusha, and Cofidis, winning seven Grand Tours.

He won the Japan Cup twice at the end of the season and won the 2012 Tour of Britain by five seconds over Damiano Caruso after Jonathan Tiernan-Locke was stripped of the win. Haas' other road victories include the 2011 Herald Sun Tour, a stage in the same race in 2014, and stages in the Vuelta a Burgos and Tour of Oman.