The threats of in a single day rain in japanese Kansas got here as predicted and turned sections of the prairie roads into swimming pools of water and dirt, the type that disguise risks from unsuspecting tyres, destroy derailleurs and likewise derail contenders throughout each Unbound Gravel 200 and Unbound XL.
Hopes have been excessive when the day began, and situations had appeared fantastic.
„We had our pal Jonathan exit to the primary MMR [minimum maintenance road], and he was like, ‚It is dry, it is hero grime‘, and we’re like, ‚Yeah, let’s go‘,“ stated eventual Unbound 200 winner Sofia Gomez Villafañe. „After which the stuff that you just thought was going to be good simply was craziness, you recognize. There was a whole lot of crashes, a whole lot of mechanicals, and yeah, it was only a day of perseverance.“
That day of chaos finally labored out simply fantastic for the repeat Unbound Gravel 200 girls’s winner, however not for a lot of others.
Of the 117 riders that began the Unbound 200 elite males’s race, 37 did not make it to the top, whereas within the elite girls’s race, of the 62 riders that began, 15 did not make it again to the Emporia end line. The attrition fee was, maybe not surprisingly, far greater within the Unbound XL, with simply 60 of the 237 starters finishing the 350-mile problem.
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The riders from the XL have been the primary to set off, rolling on the longest course on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. native time with calm skies and sunshine, however that didn’t final.
„Yeah, this rainstorm that got here in modified every thing,“ Stetina recounted on the Life Time livestream Saturday morning.
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And that rain additionally set the scene for a tricky Unbound 200 with the chaos starting within the first hour of racing as a big water puddle gave option to a brutal muddy patch which noticed many of the riders off the bike and reaching for the mud sticks. They have been situations that examined tools, hid hazards and pushed riders to their limits. Many got here unstuck.
Yearly, we catalogue the mishaps and misadventures that inform the tales of why a favorite rider could not have made it to the top, dropped means additional down the outcomes sheet than anticipated and even ended up in a sought-after place regardless of having to beat appreciable difficulties alongside the best way.
Right here is the listing for 2026, which is being added to as extra tales of the race circulate:
What to learn subsequent
Unbound XL
Peter Stetina (DNF) – „Round 9pm at midnight, I crashed actual onerous; it was deep mud, too. I had a giant gap [on a knee] from what I may see after peeling away some mud blobs, so I sort of knew if I journey one other 10-plus hours, like this can be a assured an infection. My day is finished,“ stated Stetina. The rider who has accomplished a number of 200-mile occasions with a second place in 2019 and third in 2021, opted for the XL this yr however it ended with him being taken to the hospital by his mechanic, Wayne Smith
Ted King (DNF) – When Stetina arrived on the hospital there was, sadly, one other acquainted face, with Unbound 200 2018 winner, King, being handled for a gash in his knee.
Rob Britton (DNF) – It not at all times a crash or tools failure that ends a race as final yr’s XL winner demonstrated.
„The bike was stable. All of my package was dialed however my physique, essentially the most trusted asset I’ve had my complete profession, failed and never lengthy after that my thoughts adopted,“ stated Britton in an Instagram put up. „It sucks. To have received final yr and be out after 6h this yr…I by no means thought I’d be in that place however at this level I understand how ever onerous that decision was to make, it was the fitting one.“
Heather Jackson (DNF) – It was a tricky version for the 2025 winners, with Jackson additionally on the outcomes rollercoaster. „We tried. My thoughts was excited for this race however my physique had nothing to present,“ stated Jackson on social media.
Unbound 200 Elite Ladies
Nicole Frain (DNF) – The Oceania Champion was in her second Unbound however sadly for Frain it was additionally one other version that began properly however ended with a crash simply when she seemed in a perfect place. Frain had made it into the lead group however then got here down onerous, however regardless of the blood and bumps she initially straightened her handlebars and battled on, nevertheless lastly needed to pull the pin. „Unbound 2 : Nicole 0,“ stated the rider in an Instagram put up. „Ahhh this race. It was going so good till it wasn’t.“
Rosa Klöser (fifth) – A end within the high 5 feels like a very good final result for the previous winner however now that, every week after the occasion, she has taken to social media with a top level view of the challenges she confronted its merely staggering. At 50km a dropped chain took her out of the entrance group and misplaced her 1:30, then there have been two stops for a puncture at 85km, a crash and chase again at 205km and damaged shifting at 220km however the Canyon-SRAM rider although the difficulty was resolved. Sadly she found it wasn’t proper when she went to dash for the road: „For the time being that mattered most, my gears skipped and the chain was falling by the cassette“.
Cécile Lejeune (tenth) – The French rider was well-positioned within the main group when she took an unscheduled dip.
Morgan Aguirre (eleventh) – For Aguirre it was the rails that have been derailing her journey, with the PAS Racing rider twice stopped by trains, which in a social media put up she stated price her 7 minutes and 53 seconds in ready time. She definitely wasn’t alone in commenting on the prepare maintain ups.
Karolina Migoń (DNF) – Final yr’s girls’s winner solely made it by the second time verify of the race at Mile 20, near the entrance and trailing leaders by solely 19 seconds. It was fairly potential the early mud part induced mechanical points, and an replace can be confirmed.
Melisa Rollins (DNF) – The Liv Racing Collective rider was seeking to make Unbound Gravel her comeback occasion of the season, final racing to second place at RADL GRVL in January. She took the beginning in Emporia Saturday morning, however solely pedaled just a few blocks and pulled out, as she didn’t have a physician’s clearance but to journey off-road as a consequence of current surgical procedures. Sure, a couple of.
Two and half months in the past she had for a damaged left elbow suffered on a journey previous to a begin at Cape Epic. Then a day earlier than Sea Otter Basic Gravel, she suffered one other harm that required surgical procedure.
„The day I used to be supposed to go away earlier than Sea Otter I used to be on a hike, and fell. I landed on my arm that I had simply damaged and had surgical procedure on, and I partially tore my tricep on that very same arm, so making an attempt to get again.“
Larissa Hartog (DNF) – „Early within the race I crashed, then crashed once more, dropped my chain, and crashed as soon as extra,“ stated Hartog in an Instagram put up. Nonetheless, she dug deep and continued on. However after ready within the rain for a prepare to cross, lacking her gels on the feed after which a puncture, the adrenaline ran out and the ache kicked in so the choice was made to drag the pin.
Unbound 200 Elite Males
Lachlan Morton (DNF) – After opting to race the XL final yr, and coming second, the 2024 winner was again at Unbound 200 for 2026 however it was the yr Morton had been hoping for with the rider one of many early large title withdrawals within the first quarter of the race. „I had a giant slam in one of many rocky sections. It was of my very own doing however yeah, crashed fairly onerous – had a giant highside and landed on my hip fairly onerous which is fairly sore proper now,“ stated Morton in a video shared by EF Procycling. „In any other case I am Okay, just a bit disillusioned. The race was going properly however brutal situations on the market.“
Romain Bardet (DNF) – The Frenchman had advised Cyclingnews he was simply competing to „determine“ Unbound as he had heard a lot about it, however was not contesting for the win because the journey to Kansas was a part of a household vacation. It did not, nevertheless, develop into a lot of a vacation on the market and Bardet pulled the pin. He stated on social media: „Huge respect to all of the finishers. Was really epic. Could not do it. Not a very good resilience lesson right this moment, health is one factor, managing your tools over 9hrs is one other. It was a day for the courageous.“
Keegan Swenson (fifth) – It wasn’t precisely Swenson’s mishap, however extra the last word act of staff loyalty, that set again the 2023 winner as when he was out entrance with Specialised Off-road teammate Mads Würtz Schmidt catastrophe struck for the European champion. The rider who was contemporary from a win at The Traka 360 had a gash to his rear tyre. Calculating the perfect likelihood of a staff win Swenson handed over his wheel, mounted the broken one and even then managed to clinch fifth place.
Simon Pellaud (fifteenth) – Final yr it was second place for Pellaud and whereas he was sitting fairly after the primary sticky mud part, not even placing a foot on the bottom, issues bought more durable afterwards. He was twice dropped from the entrance group whereas dropping his muddy chain, then a small crash and 5 flats later he salvaged fifteenth place.
Daxton Mock (DNF) – „Unbound bought me this yr“ was how Mock put it in a social media put up explaining that after a small mechanical he let the frustration creep in. „Someplace alongside the best way I bought too targeted on the end result I believed I needs to be having as a substitute of the race that was truly in entrance of me. I stepped off after 130 miles. A tricky lesson in composure and flexibility, however one I’ll carry ahead.“
Michael Woods (DNF) – The mud purchased Woods unstuck, however it wasn’t as a result of it clogged up his tyres however reasonably his eye. The retired WorldTour skilled suffered a ‚big scratch‘ on his cornea however he stated that the sting of not ending damage nearly as a lot as his eye. „It was one of many lamest ends to a motorcycle race that I’ve had in my profession,“ Woods stated in a Substack put up. „My legs may hold pedaling; my power was nonetheless there, however I simply couldn’t see.“
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