Emma Porter talks to us about the evolution of UNBOUND

Emma Porter

With the exception of the monotony of dirt roads stretching before you without a curve in sight, there's not much that's exceptionally difficult in Unbound. The key word here is “exceptionally”; of course it's difficult.

What started in 2006 as Dirty Kanza, with just 34 riders, has now become one of the most prestigious gravel races in the world. Some people describe it as the Glastonbury of bicycles. To me it seemed a little more like the Glastonbury of bicycles combined with the Barkley Marathon.

The race is considered by many to be a pivotal event in the gravel racing calendar, helping to raise the profile of the sport globally. It has been attracting top US athletes for a long time; The acquisition by Lifetime Fitness, a company known for managing major resistance events, has brought more organization, marketing and resources to the event. It is also part of the Lifetime Grand Prix, which offers a prize of $300,000. The increase in sponsors, relevant cycling and outdoor brands, as well as extensive media coverage, have elevated the race, attracting high-level athletes and giving greater visibility to gravel racing.

Although many have been traveling from around the world to compete in Kansas for several years, the rapidly growing interest in gravel racing has led the UCI Gravel World Series and Gravel Earth Series to provide an elite gravel racing scene for those outside the US. Teams are forming, sponsorship opportunities are growing, and the caliber of athletes competing in gravel at an elite level is the highest yet.

What does this mean for Unbound?

Unbound has previously been dominated by US winners. Ivar Slik in 2022 was the first non-US athlete to win the race in 2022. Sofia Gómez Villafañe, who has dual Argentine/US citizenship, won the women's race the same year. Germany's Carolin Schiff won on her debut last year. There are three athletes in almost twenty years of racing, but all in the last two years.

This year, elite runners will travel from as far away as Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Kenya, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Uganda and the United Kingdom. United.

In the female category, some of the best female gravel racers in the world will come from Europe. Although some key names are missing from the starting list, it is clear that neither Carolin Schiff nor Sofia Gómez Villafañe will have an easy path to the victory that they both hope to secure.

In the men's race, is the first time there will be a world champion rainbow jersey on the roads of Kansas. The Slovenian Matej Mohoric, who took seven minutes on Unbound 2023 winner Keegan Swenson at the World Championships in Vento last year, will be on the start line for his Unbound debut.

I admit that Unbound is a very different “beast” to the UCI World Championships, however, it is not very different in terms of distance and difficulty from some of the events organized by the Gravel Earth Series.

Karolina Migon and Geerike Schreurs will arrive in Emporia after having destroyed the route in The Traka 360 in Girona less than a month ago. While Peter Vakoc, Tobias Morch Kongstad, Alexys Brunel and Daniel Oss are just some of the European names with the ability to shake up the men's race. Coupled with current gravel world champion Matej Mohorič, it is quite possible that the Americans' dominance of the podium in Unbound in recent years is coming to an end.

It's not easy to get to Kansas, but the growing elite gravel event scene in Europe is creating new opportunities for some of the best athletes to make it to the world's largest gravel event. This will make the race even more interesting.