This article was produced in association with MNSTRY.
For Tobias Mørch Kongstad, the 2025 Traka 360 wasn’t just another gravel race but a defining moment. The rough course had marked his first taste of gravel racing two years ago. This year, it was the backdrop to a solo victory in Girona that confirmed everything he’d fought for. “All those sacrifices suddenly made sense,” he told Rouleur from Emporia, United States, where he was preparing for another brutal challenge – Unbound.
Since 2018, Kongstad has worked full-time for Pas Normal Studios – first as a customer services manager before stepping into the role of PAS Racing Race Coordinator in March. Balancing a nine-to-five job with training and a personal life shared with his girlfriend requires careful juggling. But winning a race like Traka makes your why crystal clear.
“I actually got a bit emotional,” he admitted. “My girlfriend and I talk about it a lot, that she never sees me cry. We’ve been together five years, and she’s heard me cry twice because I called her last year after Unbound and my third place and this year because I called her after Traka.”
Cyclists from around the world make the pilgrimage to Girona for this race, which has become one of the most prestigious and challenging events on the calendar. But what attracted Kongstad wasn’t the line-up of riders or the fact that it’s supported by Pas Normal Studios – it was the distance: 360km of rugged Catalonian gravel.
“When I first did it in 2023, I was afraid it would be like a long social ride,” he said. “Luckily, I found out in the first hour that this would not be a social ride. This would be full-on racing for the entire time.”
Coming from a road racing background, Kongstad always dreamed of riding the Tour de France. He rode for a Pro Continental team, which later became a Continental-level team, and slowly realised that the dream might be out of reach. “I realised I wouldn’t be the new world champion, so I started thinking about how I could combine cycling into my daily life without compromising the rest of my life,” he added. Entering the Traka to “try something new”, Kongstad hasn’t looked back since.
In the 2025 race, he spent more than 100km riding on his own – a huge effort, both physically and mentally. But Kongstad has always had what he calls a “diesel engine”, with the ability to suffer for extended periods. And rather than the leg-burning pain you'd think he'd experience during this kind of race, Kongstad described a mental clarity. “The brain switches off, and that’s the feeling I love,” he said. “There are no thoughts in my mind other than what you can see around you and what you can feel in your body. Then, of course, it is gravel, so you need to make sure you don’t hit a big hole or miss a turn – you need to keep focused. And then, keep eating. As much as you can.”
Kongstad is supported by MNSTRY, a high-performance fuelling brand built around natural ingredients. As an official partner of the PAS Racing Team, MNSTRY works closely with all its riders to fuel their immense efforts on the bike throughout the season. Designed to support athletes at the peak of their performance without undermining long-term health, MNSTRY’s products are free from additives and artificial sweeteners. According to the German brand, this means that products are easy to digest and gentle on the stomach – something Kongstad is thankful for when he’s needing to consume around 120g of carbs for almost 12 hours.
“I burned around 11,500 calories [during the Traka]. You need to consume something,” he said. “Having a product that I can consume in huge amounts for many hours makes the key difference for me.”
Around the 250km mark, Kongstad said it’s common to see riders unable to eat or struggling with dizziness or tightness in the legs because they haven’t consumed enough fuel to sustain their efforts. But he said that he was able to continuously hit his carbs per hour on MNSTRY products alone. “At the end, I thought, ‘Oh, I’m fine. I’ve not been bonking. I’ve not been puking. I’ve just been eating gels and energy drinks for the past 12 hours’.” That alone is a victory most riders would take.
Like Kongstad’s career-defining Traka win, MNSTRY is also pushing to new heights with the launch of its BICARB GEL 40 Lemon 1:0.8 – the world’s first high-performance gel to include bicarbonate. Unlike traditional bicarbonate supplements that are consumed before a race, this gel is designed for use during races, delivering bicarbonate directly to the small intestine – where it’s most effective, according to MNSTRY – allowing athletes to strategically reload mid-race without discomfort.
Staying true to its natural focus, the BICARB GEL 40 is infused with natural lemon oil for a subtle citrus note and contains no artificial flavours or sweeteners. It’s also gluten-, soy-, and lactose-free, as well as 100% vegan. Combined with 40g of carbs and 5g of sodium, the gel is said to help sustain energy throughout the duration of a race. MNSTRY recognises that every sport presents unique challenges, and its new gel is designed to help athletes push beyond their limits by effectively buffering acid build-up. For gruelling and competitive gravel races like the Traka and Unbound, it enables moderate pacing in the early stages, followed by targeted bicarbonate replenishment when it counts the most.
“I’ve used it in the races leading up to the Traka, and it’s a product that once you start learning how to use it, it will be a key product,” Kongstad said. “You need to know how and when to use it because it’s not a normal gel. But a bicarb gel makes sense because you have that super good feeling at the start, consume the gel midway, and still have that same feeling towards the end – I think more people would like to have this good feeling towards the end of a race.”
That feeling – finishing strong, having emptied the tank – sums up Kongstad’s approach to gravel. For him, victory is not always about the finish line moment, it’s the product of relentless training, quiet sacrifices, and the unseen support that makes it all possible. That means more than nutrition and kit, too – it’s the freedom to fully commit to races like the Traka, backed by brands like Pas Normal Studios and MNSTRY, who understand what it takes and provide the tools to help him go the distance.
Victory in Girona might have been a full-circle moment, but the journey is far from over. With each race, Kongstad remains focused on pushing his limits, fuelled by purpose. Because, for him, success isn’t just measured in wins – it’s found in the freedom to go all in.
To find out more about how Tobi fuelled his Traka triumph and the new BICARB GEL 40, visit the MNSTRY website.
