'Make It Hard All Day' — Cameron Jones on Wind, Wheels, and His First Mid South Start
Jones names Vermeulen, Wertz, Pellaud, and Svendsen as the riders to watch in a 60+ person pro field starting Friday at 1 p.m.
Cameron Jones almost forgot to register.
The 2025 Life Time Grand Prix champion remembered midweek that he had not yet entered the 2026 Mid South, logged on, signed up in five minutes, and drove to Stillwater. No sellout. No waiting list. He arrived after dark, unpacked, and woke up to red dirt roads he had never seen before.
"It's cool to wake up in a new place," Jones said Thursday ahead of the pro race. "We went out and reconned most of the course yesterday, so we got a good look at the surroundings. It's lovely."
The ease of the experience was not lost on him. Jones cited the straightforward entry process and clear course communication as a contrast to the logistics-heavy environment of the UCI mountain bike circuit where he spent his early career.
"It was very refreshing," Jones said. "Just went on, entered last minute, packed up, drove here. Everything's in town."
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Wind, Not Mud, Will Split the Field
Jones spent Thursday pre-riding the back half of the course with a group that included Devon Weatherwax of wheel sponsor Industry Nine. The double-track and single-track sections in the final quarter of the 100-mile course drew his attention — terrain that suits a rider who came to gravel racing through multi-sport competition and mountain bike World Cup events in New Zealand and Europe.
"It's got a few rocks and a bit of line choice, which I'm a big fan of as mainly an off-road rider," Jones said of the late-race double-track. "That'll be fun."
The river crossing near mile 88 registered as manageable. Jones and his pre-ride group rode through it without issue and he expects the same in Friday's race.
What he expects to matter more is wind.
"The main thing that'll decide it and split it up is potential for wind," Jones said. "It's been quite windy the last couple of days, and there'll be wind on race day as well. With a loop, that means there's always going to be crosswinds — and that's something I'm quite looking forward to."
His wheel choice reflects that read. Jones is riding Industry Nine's AR 40 carbon wheels, a shallower-profile gravel-specific option he says handles crosswinds better than the deeper-section wheels some riders were testing on the pre-ride.
"The guy I was riding with had some pretty deep wheels on and was getting blown around a bit," Jones said. "It's good not having super deep wheels in crosswinds, especially on gravel."
His cockpit is similarly dialed for a sustained effort. Jones has configured flat-top bars, grip tape on top, and gear shifters positioned beneath his Garmin mount — a setup that allows him to hold a time trial position for the duration of the race if the pace demands it.
"I can be in that super aero time trial position all day if it comes to it," he said.
From Anonymous to Marked
Jones turned 25 this year. Three years ago he was competing on the under-23 mountain bike World Cup circuit. Two years ago he picked up a gravel bike. In 2024, his first American season, he won Unbound Gravel 200 in Emporia, Kansas, in 8:37:09 — shattering the previous course record by more than 34 minutes — and went on to claim the Life Time Grand Prix overall title.
The anonymity that helped him at Unbound is gone.
"I don't think I'm under the radar anymore," Jones said. "After Unbound and the whole Grand Prix season, everyone knows who I am. I've definitely got more of a target on my back."
He is not particularly bothered by it.
"If it's a climb or a crosswind, people can try as hard as they like — they still have to put in the same power," Jones said.
If the race comes down to a sprint, Jones enters with recent evidence on his side. His last race on American soil was Big Sugar in Bentonville, Arkansas, where he won a finish line sprint among a group of riders to clinch the Grand Prix title.
"I have to bring confidence from that coming into this race if it does come down to a sprint," he said. "But if there's an opportunity to go long, I'll take it. Just make it hard all day."
The Field He Is Watching
The pro men's field Friday includes 64 riders. Jones named four he is watching most closely.
Alexey Vermeulen, the Boulder, Colorado-based professional who won Valley of Tears in Turkey, Texas, the weekend before Mid South — and finished just behind Jones at a recent race in Australia. Brennan Wertz, who won SBT GRVL in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, in 2025, brings legitimate sprint speed. And the two Simons — Switzerland's Simon Pellaud, who shared the decisive Unbound breakaway with Jones before being dropped in the final miles, and Norway's Simen Nordahl Svendsen, the 2024 Gravel Earth Series overall champion — both earned podiums at Valley of Tears last weekend.
"There'll be a lot of strong riders," Jones said. "There's 60, which isn't a huge peloton in the elite field, but everyone's certainly capable of hanging in there and making the race hard. It's going to be exciting to watch."
The Crowd at the Finish Line
Jones stopped for coffee Thursday morning and fielded questions from riders who will tackle the same course Saturday.
"I think it'll be a super cool vibe down the finish line," Jones said.
The separation of the pro race to Friday — a new format for Mid South in 2026 — means Saturday's mass-start riders will be able to watch the fastest cyclists come across the line the evening before their own start. Jones sees the shared experience between pros and amateurs as part of what makes the American gravel scene different from the World Cup circuit he came from.
"In XC, you go to a race and spend all week riding the same three-mile lap," he said. "Here you come out and it takes the whole week to pre-ride the course. There's riding blind for a lot of it. It's just a lot more of an adventure."
The 2026 Mid South pro race begins Friday, March 13, at 1 p.m. The finish line and podium ceremony are at Block 34 on Husband Street in downtown Stillwater. Mid South TV will livestream the race on YouTube beginning at 1 p.m.
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