Originally Posted by
chaadster
It's interesting to note that Keegan Swenson won the '23 Unbound 200, the old DIrty Kanza, on Look Keo road pedals, that Matej Mohoric won the '23 UCI Gravel World Championship on Shimano road pedals, and Tadej Pogacar ran off with the '23 Strade Bianche win on Shimano road pedals as well.
I've noticed pretty much every gravel race (or event/ride) around here has been won on road pedals also - BUT - there is pretty much no walking or dismounting for these top guys and gals (Unbound aside).
Personally I've got SPD pedals on my gravel bike mainly because I already had the pedals and shoes. I rarely tackle anything so technical or gnarly that I need to unclip so I could easily get away with road pedals 99% of the time. Maybe I'll switch at some point.