Welcome to “The Kona of Gravel Racing” – Unbound Gravel

Cameron Jones on his way to a huge win at Unbound Gravel’s 200 mile elite race. Photos: Kevin Mackinnon

Those who aren’t into the gravel scene will likely struggle to get their heads around “racing” 200 miles over gravel roads, but if you have the chance to get to the Mecca of for gravel enthusiasts – Unbound Gravel in Emporia, Kansas – you’ll start to understand that this is very much a race in addition to being a survival-fest for the mortals (read “regular” age-groupers) who compete. This was my first time at Unbound and again and again, when I would come across other members of the triathlon world, I kept hearing that “this is gravel’s equivalent to Kona.”

And, if you’re struggling to get your head around “racing” over 200 miles on gravel and muddy roads, get your head around this: this year’s XL 350 Mile race saw not one but two course records set as Canadian Robert Britton and Boulder, Co.’s Lachlan Morton duelled through the night, with Britton finally pulling ahead in the closing hours of the race to win in 17:49:51, just under six minutes ahead of Morton (17:55:35), the frontrunner for much of the race.

As if all that wasn’t enough, former IRONMAN champ Heather Jackson dominated the women’s race as she finished eighth overall and also set a new course record with her 20:57:57 finish.

Heather Jackson was all smiles at the start.

As I finish this story up the crew here at Unbound are getting ready for their own version of the midnight cut off that we’re used to seeing at IRONMAN races – the 36-hour cut off for the XL race hits at 3 AM on Sunday morning, and there will be a big celebration for the final finisher across the line.

The big focus, in terms of competitive racing, was on the 200 mile race, which was the second instalment of the Life Time Grand Prix. The fields were stacked and the racing was, well, not unlike a lot of road races I’ve been to over the years with a breakaway getting clear and much of the dynamics of the day dependent on whether or not the chase groups would work together.

Migon Takes Time off Work for Gravel Focus

Today’s women’s champion, Karolina Migon (photo above and below), is from Poland but lives in Switzerland, where she works as a software engineer. The two-time winner of the prestigious Traka 360 (a 360-km gravel race held in Girona) managed to negotiate a five-month leave with her company to focus on racing this year, which apparently is working. After slipping away from the other two women who had escaped in a breakaway with her, Migon went solo for the last 80 km to hang on for the win.

“It was a long day, but I really enjoyed it,” Migon told us in an interview after her big win. “I really enjoyed riding with Cecily (Decker) and Lauren (Stephens) in the group. We managed to break away – we weren’t sure if we would make it to the end because we started our breakaway two hours into the race. We had a long day ahead of us and there were many strong women in the peloton. There was no Specialized guys with our break, so I thought maybe they would manage to bridge, but we were pushing really hard. It was a perfect group to work with.”

Her own break wasn’t intentional, she assured us after the race.

“I didn’t want to ride solo for 80 km in the heat, but just before the second feed zone Lauren wasn’t feeling very good, she stopped taking turns, so I knew that after the feed zone, where there was a climb, she might not be able to follow us,” Magon said. “I waited for Cecily, but she also didn’t feel good and I felt incredible, especially after the feed zone where I had ice cold water and everything that I needed for the rest of the day and I decided that I would try.”

Turns out that Decker had got herself into hydration issues early when she missed a bottle at the first feed zone, but she was able to hang tough to stay clear for second.

Cecily Decker leads the way with Migon and Stephens close behind.

De Cresenzo wasn’t able to stay clear of the chasers though, and found herself in a four-way duel for third. Her efforts from earlier no-doubt left her with little energy to push to the line with.

Sofia Gomez Villafane, Rosa Kloeser (last year’s champion), Cecile Lejeune and Lauren De Crescenzo ended up in a sprint for the final spot on the podium.

Which was taken by Gomez Villafane …

After winning a nine-woman sprint for the title last year, Kloeser would have to settle for fourth this year.

More shots from the women’s race

The women’s chase group never really got organized, seemingly spending more time working against each other than working together to bridge up to the front. Here’s the group completely spread out at the top of a steep hill …

Only to bunch up again a few hundred meters later.

Full kudos to Lucy Hempstead and Luise Valentin, who waited 45 minutes with a fellow pro who had dislocated her shoulder (among other injuries) until a jeep could get a paramedic on the scene. (I know all this because it was my media jeep who did the delivering – hats off, also, to driver Dan Bird who did such a great job getting through the tough roads and the paramedic from ambulance #903 and the other jeep driver for their great work.)

We profiled Hannah Otto’s bike on Friday – she managed a 17th overall finish despite projectile vomitting for much of the last 80 miles of the race.

Otto was hardly the only one who looked like she’d experienced a tough day at the office at the finish line:

A Tactical Sprint Nets the Win for Jones

Cameron Jones takes the win in 8:37:09

The men’s race also featured a long breakaway, but added to the mix exciting finishes for the podium.

It was Jones who set up the breakaway effort after he bridged from the chase group up to the large breakaway group that included Simon Pallaud.

“Just before Eskridge I went off the front of the main group and rode across to the breakaway, then rode through them and kept riding hard until there was just me and Simon there,” Jones said after the race. “I knew I had good legs, I just wondered if it was a bit too much, too early.”

Cameron Jones

Simon Pellaud

“That final climb up past the college is often a decisive point in this race – by that point you either have a lead or you don’t,” Jones said after the race. “I was going to ride that hard, regardless, and it was enough to open up a gap. I stayed on top of my hydration and nutrition throughout the day – when you don’t have energy in your legs you can’t do anything, and luckily I had more than the competition. It was a pretty cool feeling to get a gap.”

The two were well clear of the main chase group through 104 miles up the hill towards Little Egypt.

And would stay that way until Jones’ final push with a mile to go.

Pellaud would finish second in a time of 8:37:51, while Torbjorn Roed (8:42:31) would take third in a sprint ahead of Mads Wurtz Schmidt (8:42:33).

The fast-moving pros didn’t take any time to check out any of the views.

Add another triathlete to the mix – Tyler Butterfield is an IRONMAN champion and has represented Bermuda at the Commonwealth Games.

You can find full results here.

More We Noticed from Unbound

There might not have been a lot of people around, but there were lots of animals to check things out.

We featured Chase Wark’s disc-equipped bike earlier this week – unfortunately he had a tough day and would eventually pull out.

Not sure what to say here … so we won’t.

Over 5,000 riders had registered for this year’s races and most seemed to have a good time.

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