Unbound Gravel Units Document Attendance and Pushes Bikes to the Restrict

Unbound Gravel Units Document Attendance and Pushes Bikes to the Restrict

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The 2023 model of Unbound Gravel was one for the historical past books. The occasion boasted probably the most important discipline dimension in its historical past. 4 thousand riders took to the Flint Hills to sort out numerous course lengths; 25-mile, 50-mile, 100-mile, 200-mile, and 350-mile XL distances. Although the competitors is all the time fierce at Unbound, probably the most formidable opponent for this yr was the mud and many it.

Images: Garmin UNBOUND Gravel offered by Craft Sportswear.

Let There Be Mud

Within the flagship 200-miler occasion, the mud began round mile 11 and continued unrelentingly for a number of miles. The unrideable part prompted riders to run, stroll or shuffle — any technique to hold momentum. Sadly for a lot of — this muddy sector was so far as they’d make it, with mechanicals a-plenty. For those who made it by way of the mud unscathed, the entrance teams had been selective and full of anxious riders, not letting anybody rise up the highway.

Carolin Schiff of Bremen Germany, wins Unbound 200 with a ending time of 11:46:39. Schiff crossed the end line solo, solely accompanied by a rainstorm that chased her in for the final 20 miles.

Elite Girls’s 200-Mile Race

Within the ladies’s 200-mile race, Jenna Rinehart opened an early hole of about two minutes. Unbound 2022 winner Sofia Gomez Villafane overtook Rinehart and gained a few minute by mile 40. Round mile 70, Carolin Schiff of Germany caught Villafane with Ruth Winder, Marisa Boaz, Sarah Sturm, and Alexis Skarda in pursuit. Schiff began to search out her stride about midway by way of, in the end successful by greater than quarter-hour.

Carolin Schiff of Bremen, Germany, wins Unbound 200

“I spotted that I might possibly make it,” Schiff mentioned on the winner’s press convention. “My group from Canyon was simply pushing me on the assist station. They instructed me, ‘, Okay, you may have a niche, and carry on going,’ and I did.

Keegen Swenson takes the lads’s 200-miler win in a dash end

Elite Mens 200-Mile Race

The mud took its toll within the males’s 200-mile race, however a gaggle of 10 riders, together with lots of the race favorites, made a transparent break round mile 20. The group included Kiel Reijnen, Keegan Swenson, Howard Grotts, and Russell Finsterwald. Early on, Lachlan Morton and Ian Boswell pushed the tempo to determine the hole additional, disheartening any would-be chasers.

Close to the top of the race, the group was whittled right down to seven. Because the group approached Business Avenue, the riders started exhibiting their playing cards. Keegan Swenson began his dash early, beat out the chasing pack, and one-upped his second-place end from 2022.

Keegan Swenson of Park Metropolis, Utah wins Unbound Gravel, a 200 mile gravel race by way of the Flint Hills of Kansas, with a end time of 10:06.4. Swenson completed second right here final yr in an identical dash end, after 200 miles of gravel and dirt he claims victory in 2023.

“It’s good to win this race,” Swenson mentioned on the press convention. “Second was an amazing consequence final yr, and I used to be content material with it, however to come back up that quick after virtually 10 hours of racing is a bummer to lose it in a dash.”

Unbound 350-XL ladies’s champion Kristen Legan celebrates

Dont neglect the 350-Mile XL

The 350-mile XL occasion was a battle of attrition and willingness to outlive, with riders spending over 24 hours on the bike. XL racers skilled all of the rain, mud, strolling, and darkness they may deal with. The lads’s winner Logan Kasper completed in 22:54:25, and the ladies’s champion Kristen Legan completed in 26:06:35.

Full outcomes for all classes may be discovered right here.

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