Unbound Gravel 2022 [FULL RACE – XCM]

June 4, 2022

Unbound Gravel 2022 – Flint Hills around Emporia, Kansas, United States

Unbound Gravel, formerly known as the Dirty Kanza, is an event comprising gravel racing covering various distances held annually during the late spring in the Flint Hills region of the Great Plains around Emporia, Kansas, United States. The race’s organizers refer to the 200 miles (320 km) mile race as the “World’s Premiere Gravel Grinder”, and ranked as one of the top gravel bike races. Winners are awarded a belt buckle.

Unbound 200 – Men – Ivar Slik wins Unbound Gravel 200 | Emporia – Emporia
Dutchman Ivar Slik won the men’s 200-mile race of the 2022 Garmin Unbound Gravel presented by Craft, sprinting to the line in downtown Emporia, Kansas ahead of Keegan Swenson in second place and defending champion Ian Boswell in third.

Laurens ten Dam, who was the runner-up last year to Boswell in a two-up sprint, rolled across the line in fourth, seven seconds behind this year’s photo finish for the final two podium spots. Alexey Vermeulen, winner of the 2022 Belgian Waffle Ride California, was fifth.

“I was so happy, it was my big goal this year. So much can happen, you need a little bit of luck. I came here in the best condition. It is super cool to finish it off in a sprint of five,” Slik said after the victory, just his third gravel race of the season.

Slik finished second at Gravel Locos this year, then raced Rule of Three in Bentonville, Arkansas, a late puncture taking him out of contention in that contest.

Swenson took maximum points to continue to lead the men’s division of the Life Time Grand Prix series, having won the opening round at Sea Otter Classic in the Fuego XC 80K. The deep mud on the southern route of the 200-mile course proved to have no major obstacles for the 2021 men’s champion of the USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Cross-Country Tour, however it was the sprint on the pavement and the big kick by Slik that kept him from going two for two.

A quartet of riders had made separation with under 36 miles to go, just after the second checkpoint – Slik, Boswell, Swenson and Vermeulen. The four leaders worked together, taking turns at the front with some flatter sections of hard-packed dirt roads, passing a long line of riders headed to the finish of the 100-mile event. Peter Stetina and Rob Britton rode together in the chase with Ten Dam close behind.

By mile 186, less than 15 miles to go, Ten Dam had worked his way back to the lead group, having passed Stetina and Britton.

After nine hours of racing and a route littered with mud and puddles in every pothole, the men’s field came down to a five-rider lead pack across the final 24 miles and through the final paved section through Emporia State University into downtown Emporia.

Slik raced in a special kit with large stars to pay hommage to the American stunt performer Evel Knievel and won in 9:22:04. It was a second appearance at Unbound for the 29-year-old Dutchman, who raced the past two seasons on the UCI Continental team ABLOC CT out of the Netherlands. He added custom aero bars to his equipment setup this time around and noted that was an advantage this time around.

“I’ve never been this dirty. That was awesome,” Boswell said at the finish, covered in mud. “I think I’m more proud of this year than last year. Last year was for myself, it was smooth sailing, like I had no issues, no flats. There was no mud, no rain. This year I had a lot more go wrong, I guess. I had a flat really early and some other bike issues. I crashed in the mud.

“Once it was four of us, and Laurens came back, and it was similar to last year, everyone in that front group rode a great race. Like I said this morning, my hope was that someone would win that was the strongest rider. Ivan, gravelmeister, he’s freaking strong. He’s got a lot more power than me in a sprint.”

How it unfolded
The 200-mile riders departed downtown Emporia, Kansas under cloudy conditions, the course already soaked from heavy rain storms earlier in the week, prompting organisers to modify the far southern section of the course late Thursday by taking out a few miles of impassable roads.

Riders encountered rain and wind on the middle section of the course, with the sun coming out to dry some muddy areas by the second checkpoint.

In opening 20 miles, a large lead group included Spain’s Freddy Ovett, Dutchman Thomas Dekker, Samuel Hunter Grove, Stefano Barberi, Brennan Wertz, Alexey Vermeulen, Lance Haidet and Keegan Swenson. Logan Owen launched a solo attack from the large lead pack at mile marker 41.3, and he was soon joined by Swenson.

When the 200-milers began their stops at the first of two checkpoints, mile 77.3 at Eureka, Owen and Swenson were back in a lead group with about 18 other riders. Ten Dan was the next rider to move out front after the aid station transition, with Stetina part of the chasers behind.

By mile 92, Paul Voss took a turn in the lead, but 12 miles later Ten Dam and Matta De Marchi had pushed in front of him, leaving 13 riders behind to chase about two minutes back. Ten Dam took a solo lead with 120 miles to go, and held the lead for another 15 miles.

By mile 147 a new group of five formed at the front – Boswell, Vermeulen, Stetina, Swenson and Silk. Ten Dam has fallen off the lead and was chasing one minute back. Just 30 laters Russell Finsterwald and Rob Britton followed.

After the second checkpoint at Madison, with just under 36 miles to ride, the selection of Slik, Boswell, and Swenson was made, who were joined a few miles later by Vermeulen, and then in the next dozen miles by a charging Ten Dam.

Results Pro Men 200:
1 Ivar Slik 9:22:04
2 Keegan Swenson 0:00:01
3 Ian Boswell
4 Laurens ten Dam 0:00:07
5 Alexey Vermeulen 0:00:22
6 Robert Britton 0:02:22
7 Russell Finsterwald 0:06:18
8 Peter Stetina 0:08:56
9 Payson Mcelveen 0:09:10
10 Adam Roberge 0:10:24
11 Lance Haidet 0:17:26
12 Innokenty Zavyalov
13 Mattia de Marchi 0:19:48
14 John Borstelmann 0:20:48
15 Paul Voss 0:25:18
16 Sebastian Breuer 0:25:19
17 Freddy Ovett 0:25:23
18 Griffin Easter 0:35:32
19 Kiel Reijnen 0:36:06
20 Jasper Ockeloen 0:36:07
21 Logan Owen
22 Brent Bookwalter 0:36:08
23 Alex Howes 0:36:09
24 Andrew l’Esperance 0:36:10
25 Dylan Johnson 0:36:39
26 Nathan Haas 0:39:49
27 Brennan Wertz 0:40:08
28 Mike Barton 0:42:01
29 Chase Wark 0:47:56
30 Christopher Prendergast 0:47:57
31 Thomas Dekker
32 Jeremiah Bishop 0:47:58
33 Brian Mcculloch 0:48:02
34 Stephen Mull 0:53:23
35 Alex Wild 0:55:08
36 Kent Ross 0:55:09
37 Ryan Standish 0:59:11
38 Bradyn Lange 0:59:16
39 Brent Mattison 0:59:19
40 Barrett Brandon 1:04:02
41 Theo Gilbertson 1:04:26
42 Tanner Visnick 1:04:53
43 John Shalekbriski 1:18:34
44 Marcus Spratt 1:20:44
45 Jacob Rathe 1:27:33

Unbound 200 – Women – Sofia Gomez Villafane takes solo victory at Unbound Gravel 200

Sofia Gomez Villafane rode solo for over 80 miles to win the women’s 200-mile race of Garmin Unbound Gravel presented by Craft. Defending champion Lauren De Crescenzo finished in second place a little over nine minutes later, having endured three crashes during the event. Emily Newsom was third, another 12 minutes after De Crescenzo.

Gomez’s winning time of 10:27:41 on a new southern route across the Flint Hills of Kansas was an hour and 33 minutes quicker than the 2021 winning time posted by De Crescenzo. After crossing the finish, she had time to walk backwards on the finish chute, covered in mud, to high-five fans in downtown Emporia, Kansas.

Gomez, who won the eight-day Cape Epic with teammate Haley Batten, used a smooth and super-quick 30-second transition at the first checkpoint 77 miles into the 200-mile event to take the lead in the women’s division for good.

“I was here to definitely prove a point. I wanted to show that mountain bikers can go fast and go long,” Gomez said at the finish line. “I was going to be stoked to just to win a Life Time Grand Prix race, but to come out with the overall… it’s a true testament to the hard work I have put in.”

With the win Gomez took over the women’s lead in the Life Time Grand Prix series, as she placed second in the opening round at Sea Otter Classic in the Fuego XC 80K. The early lead had been held by Fuego winner Moriah Wilson, who was killed in a shooting three weeks ago in Austin, Texas, her murder still under investigation.

“I honestly barely rode any gravel in this off season. I have been training on TT bars on the road and never trained over five hours, so to put it together was really special. When you have your coach telling you that you are absolutely ready, you’ve done everything you can, [it helps]. I just have such a good team around me. So many people have been encouraging. I think this proved quite a lot. It was a good day and I’m definitely glad we were under 11 hours,” Gomez said after completing her inaugural Unbound Gravel for the victory.

De Crescenzo said she had closed the gap to Gomez to under two minutes, but three falls in a muddy section around mile 125 ended her challenge for a close finish.

“Today was a lot different than it was last year. The muddy sections were crazy, I crashed a couple of times because I’m a roadie, and I’m just happy with the result. It was a really fast course. The field continues to get deeper and deeper every year and it’s getting faster and faster,” De Crescenzo said.

How it unfolded
The mass start for all 200-mile riders began in downtown Emporia, Kansas and after a section of pavement began the trudge on a course oaked from heavy rainss earlier in the week, prompting organisers to modify the far southern section to eliminate a few miles of impassable roads due to flooding.

After 20 miles of racing, mountain bike specialists Lea Davison and Kaysee Armstrong rode together with a 30-second advantage over Gomez. Chasing just 10 seconds behind Gomez was Heather Jackson, then Sarah Sturm and Heidi Franz another nine seconds back. Lauren Stephens was among a small group of riders with Emily Newsom, Whitney Allison and Amber Neben to round out the top 10, 1:30 behind the leading duo.

At the first of two checkpoints on the 200-mile route at Eureka, at mile 77.3, Gomez rode at the front of the women’s field by several minutes. Jackson had moved into second place ahead of De Crescenzo in third, with Sarah Max, Whitney Allison, Katie Kantzes and Neben in close proximity. Heavy rains came down mid-way through the race.

On. the backside of Teeter Hill, with about 70 miles to go, Gomez continued in lead with two male riders, Jacob Rathe and Theo Gilbertson, for company, as the rain stopped on the course. By the time Gomez reach checkpoint two in Madison, with 35 miles to go, she had more than four minutes on second-placed De Crescenzo. She was riding solo on the muddy roads at this point, with more than seven hours in the saddle.

The Argentinian was off her bike and walking in the heavy mud on one of the long climbs between prairie fields of grass with 30 miles to go. She remounted for the tricky descent, falling off the bike twice in the water and mud on the rugged surface. Despite the miscues, she was able to extend her margin over second-placed De Crescenzo by 10 minutes. Behind, Newsom made a move to ride into third place

Results 200 Pro Women:
1 Sofia Gomez Villafane 10:27:40
2 Lauren de Crescenzo 0:09:07
3 Emily Newsom 0:22:03
4 Whitney Allison 0:29:43
5 Melisa Rollins 0:34:06
6 Haley Smith 0:39:38
7 Sarah Sturm 0:47:10
8 Evelyn Dong 0:47:17
9 Kristen Legan 0:49:29
10 Sarah Max 0:51:26
11 Hannah Shell 0:53:17
12 Isabel King 0:57:40
13 Angela Naeth 0:59:22
14 Holly Mathews 1:01:38
15 Heidi Franz 1:04:45
16 Helena Gilbert-snyder
17 Amber Neben 1:06:28
18 Sarah Hill 1:07:18
19 Crystal Anthony 1:12:49
20 Kaysee Armstrong 1:13:28
21 Kyleigh Spearing 1:22:05
22 Heather Jackson 1:22:06
23 Lea Davison 1:26:54
24 Emma Grant 1:31:00
25 Kae Takeshita 1:34:45
26 Alexis Skarda 1:38:11
27 Sarah Burke 1:40:57
28 Sarah Flamm 2:03:20
29 Katie Kantzes 2:07:02
30 Lex Albrecht 2:08:03
31 Sara Fletcher 2:10:37
32 Amanda Nauman 2:11:15
33 Kate Mclaughlin 2:12:14
34 Lindsey Stevenson 2:18:18
35 Annie Foreman-mackey 2:31:27
36 Amity Rockwell 2:39:06
37 Gillian Bennett 2:41:36
38 Rebecca Fahringer 2:49:40
39 Ellen Campbell 3:04:43
40 Tira Denny 3:13:29
41 Danielle Larson 3:24:04
42 Jennifer Reschke 3:26:20
43 Alison Tetrick 3:42:30
44 Kathy Pruitt 3:47:25
45 Maude Farrell 3:55:29
46 Rose Grant 3:59:29
47 Sarah Diekmeyer 4:36:03
48 Lauren Stephens 4:40:43
49 Charlotte Backus 5:04:58