Bottas kicks off home cycling event in Finland

Valtteri Bottas is back on track again this weekend, taking part in his very own cycling event in Finland. The FNLD GRVL weekend has officially started according to the Finn's social media. The Sauber F1 driver will be joined by his girlfriend pro-cyclist Tiffany Cromwell too.

Off the race track, Bottas is known for being a keen cyclist. At the start of June, he secured a second place medal in the Unbound Gravel 100 cycling event in the men's 30-39 category. Just weeks before that, he finished 11th at the Grasshopper Adventure Series in Northern California. Nevertheless, this weekend he will be looking to compete again, alongside his girlfriend.

The pair organised the SBT GRVL in Colorado, USA, and have now organised this weekend's event. There are three courses for people to choose from, rating from a beginners 40km course to a 177k gravel race, which features a 20,000 Euro Pro Prize purse. Bottas had been encouraging people to sign up on social media and announced on Thursday evening that the event had begun, and shared the full schedule with his followers. On the event's official website, Bottas said: “I love nature and I love clean air, pure water, nice scenery - the less people you can see the better when I disconnect. The nature in Finland is something we will try to make accessible for people to explore - then maybe have a sauna or go swimming straight after the race."