As you all know, Unbound Gravel is the most important gravel event in the United States and will be held this Saturday, June 1 in Kansas. It has become the event, with the permission of the World Cup, of reference. More and more cyclists are traveling to the middle of nowhere to race in this event. This year we will meet names like Mattia De Marchi, Keegan Swenson, Amity Rockwell, Peter Stetina, Carolin Schiff, Nathan Haas or Geerike Schreurs. Throughout this week we will tell you more about them.
Matej Mohorič, the current gravel world champion, has already confirmed that he will debut his rainbow jersey and go to war in the Unbound. He will do so with his teammates from Team Bahrain Victorious Matevž Govekar and Łukasz Wiśniowski.
This year, it will be the first time that Mohorič steps on the Unbound slopes, in fact, after winning the gravel world championship in 2023, he has not ridden in any event of this discipline again. This time, however, the route is twice as long (321 km) as in the World Cup event.
After the Unbound, without rest, the cyclist will now find himself in the final stretch to begin the Tour de France, which begins on June 29.
Furthermore, this Unbound will be the occasion for one of the most anticipated face-to-face matches: Keegan Swenson (previous UNBOUND winner) and Matej Mohorič in the former's territory.
“It's twice the distance, twice the time and twice the elevation… I'm not sure how I will cope with the others, but I will definitely do my best and enjoy my race”
Matej Mohorič in a Bahrain Victorious press release
The Slovenian, who has been competing on the road for a decade with multiple notable victories, will face other big names in US gravel. However, he has proven not only to be a great and very technical cyclist, but also to be an extremely versatile cyclist. If we add to this that in a test of this distance, teamwork is a great ally, we have one of the main favorites for the podium.
This year's circuit is expected to be the toughest to date, as well as the competition given the caliber of names being confirmed. They will have to be prepared, not only for more than eleven hours of pedaling, but for the usual setbacks in this terrain: headwinds, terrain with very sharp rocks, since this year the route takes them towards the north.