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Thinking about watching or riding Unbound Gravel? This video is for you! We cover all the key details for the 2026 event, including a look at the various routes, and what makes this race so iconic, all while tackling the course on an indoor trainer.
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00:00Oh no, I'm on a hill and I'm on 1x. It's basically a gravel bike.
00:03Actually, I should have put my gravel bike on here, shouldn't I?
00:06Unbound Gravel is this weekend and it's probably the most famous gravel race
00:10in the world right now. Think of it as the gravel world's version of Paris-Roubaix.
00:15But where is it? How long is it? And how can you watch it? And who are this year's favourites?
00:21Well, in this video I'm going to give you a race preview and try and depart as much
00:25information as I possibly can whilst riding part of the route on Meruvi.
00:30This is everything that you need to know about the 2026 Lifetime Unbound Gravel Event,
00:36supported by Shimano. Let's get into it.
00:38Right, I'm off. Gravel cycling is booming. Gravel events are more popular than ever,
00:44and pro cyclists can now make careers without going anywhere near a paved road.
00:49Now, Unbound is not a new race though. It was first held back in 2006,
00:54but unlike a lot of races that we cover here at Cycling Weekly, it's never carried any UCI ranking.
01:01Despite that, it's still seen as one of the most prestigious events on the gravel calendar,
01:06but many people won't know as much about it. That's why,
01:09Ruvi suggested that I give you the lowdown whilst riding part of the world famous route in virtual
01:16reality. So, where is it? Well, it's right about there on a map in Emporia in Kansas, which is right
01:23in the
01:23middle of America. And every year around 5000 riders descend on the midwest to take on a range of
01:31distances. There's more family friendly 25 miles and 50 mile and 100 mile event, and then the 200
01:38mile event, which usually draws the biggest crowds. And then there's an Excel course, which is a whopping
01:45350 miles long, meaning that there's a fair bit of night riding to be done. What that means is everyone
01:51from enthusiastic amateurs to lifetime Grand Prix series elite riders will be competing. We'll go
01:57through the big names and favourites in a minute, but first I want to give a shout out to this
02:02guy,
02:02Fred Schmid. He's 93 years old and will be hoping to complete the Unbound 100. He does have experience on
02:10his side to be fair, and 54 national champ titles and two world titles. We'll pop a link to his
02:16amazing story
02:17over on Cycling Weekly down in the description below. I hope I'm still riding my bike one mile at 93
02:24years old.
02:24What is the route like? Well, the 2026 route has now been revealed, and just like on Ruvi, it's actually
02:31normally quite dry and dusty. Although May is the time of year where Emporia gets its most rain. And some
02:39of you
02:39might remember the 2023 edition or the 2015 edition, when it was very, very muddy. There was quite a lot
02:49of walking, even by the elites. And this area has a very special, very sticky type of mud that is
02:57affectionately known as peanut butter. It destroys many frames, and as I said before, it causes a lot of
03:04walking. So the riders will be hoping for a lot less of that this year. Another consideration
03:09for the riders will be the really sharp flint rocks. It is what I would call chunky gravel,
03:18also known as chert. And it's an absolute nightmare for tyres. There is quite a lot of punctures at
03:26Unbound, and you'll find that a lot of riders are actually going for something a bit heavier,
03:31a heavier tyre with thicker sidewalls, to try and avoid these punctures. I remember for the last few
03:37years, the specialised sponsored athletes have actually been leaving their S-Works Pathfinder
03:42tyres, the super lightweight racing tyre, at home, and they've been using the pro version because
03:48it's got thicker sidewalls. Another thing that isn't immediately obvious from looking at the route,
03:54but you soon realise when you're riding it in real life or on Ruby, is that some of the straights
03:59are really long. Take a look at this one on the map, this is on the 200 mile route, and
04:05there's this
04:06straight that stretches from mile 68 all the way to mile 81. So 13 miles without a corner, an entire
04:15half marathon. And I think that is why Unbound is quite mentally tough as well. It's not in a mountainous
04:23area, there's plenty of elevation, but not like an obscene amount. But from riders that have done it,
04:28I hear that it's deceivingly hilly. And I think a big part of that is A, the wind, and B,
04:35you can see
04:35for miles and miles in front of you, which can be quite demoralising. So right now I'm riding near
04:42Eskridge, which is one of the most northern points of the 350 mile XL route. And by the time the
04:50riders
04:50get to here, they'll be, well, it's almost job done. They will turn south and they're on the home run.
04:57So I think they'll be quite happy by the time they get to here. So just like where I'm riding
05:03now,
05:04you can see that a lot of the routes are going to be through farmland, and it's all quite remote.
05:09And one of the interesting things about Unbound is that they want it to be this grass root scrabble
05:15event, and therefore everyone is going to be self-supported. So you've got to take your own spares,
05:20your own nutrition with you. There are some feed stations, and there you can have some outside
05:25assistance, but the vast majority of it, you've got to be self-supported, and it's also self-navigated.
05:33So there's no markers, there's no signposts. You have to download the routes onto your head unit
05:40and try not to get lost. Luckily on Ruby, there's no chance of me getting lost.
05:45Before we take a look at this year's race favourites, we'd like to say a big thank you
05:49to our video sponsor, Ruby. The only place other than Kansas where you can ride the Unbound route.
05:55If you haven't heard of it before, Ruby is an indoor training app that focuses on realism,
06:00and it allows you to ride, race, and train on the world's most scenic routes.
06:06If you want to get a taste of Unbound, or just fancy adding some motivation to your indoor training,
06:11then there's plenty of virtual reality routes to choose from. I'm taking on a 43km gallop around Eskridge.
06:17Just like the real thing though, don't expect them to be flat. This one has over 400m of elevation,
06:23and some gradients touching the double digits. If you want to try out any of Ruby's Unbound routes,
06:29or thousands of other real life courses, then new subscribers can get a month for free
06:34using the code in the description below. I said earlier that there's pros making entire careers
06:40out of just riding on gravel, but at this unofficial world champs of gravel cycling, how much can you win?
06:47Well, the Unbound 200 is the flagship event, and this year the prize pot has doubled.
06:53So there's over 60,000 dollars on offer to try and lure in the fast guys and gals.
06:59That means that the elite men and women can earn up to 10,000 dollars if they win,
07:04but if you come 5th you still get a tidy sum of 2,000 dollars.
07:08The top 25 finishers will also win points towards the Lifetime Grand Prix series.
07:14This is race 2 of 6, they've already had the Sea Otter Classic,
07:19this one's Unbound, and then there's, well, plenty of others, Big Sugar, etc.
07:23So, I reckon that this 40km ride on Ruby will take me about an hour and 15 minutes,
07:28but competitors of the real thing can expect a far longer day out.
07:32Yep, even the super quick riders.
07:34The fastest riders on the 100 mile route are expected to take around 4-5 hours,
07:39and last year's victor, Hayden Christian, blitzed around the course in 4 hours and 40 minutes.
07:45That's an average speed of around 23.5 miles an hour, or 38 kilometres per hour.
07:52Tiffany Cromwell won the women's event and set a new course record and averaged 21.76 miles per hour.
08:00Mid-pack amateurs though, on the 100 mile route, will range from around 7 to 9 hours,
08:05and they're the 10 hour cut off.
08:07Now, I'm going to absolutely destroy these names, but the reigning 200 mile champions
08:12are Cameron Jones and Carolina Migon? Migon? I don't know how you say it, sorry.
08:18The former of which, last year, set a record breaking time of 8 hours and 37 seconds last year.
08:24The majority of riders though will be out there for far longer than that,
08:28usually between 12 to 18 hours, but riders will be hoping to get back before the 20 hour cut off.
08:35That's an average speed of around 10 miles an hour, or 16 kilometres an hour.
08:39Just like how marathon runners have milestones, 4 hours, 5 hours, there's also some unbound.
08:45There's the Race the Sun Club, that's finished before 8.45pm and requires a sub 14.5 hour ride.
08:52There's the Midnight Club, which you've got to finish before midnight.
08:55And then there's the Breakfast Club, where you finish between midnight and 3am.
09:00And then the longest event will take even the elites between 17 and 20 hours,
09:05although most riders will be out there for well over a day, and the cut off is a whopping 36
09:11hours of
09:12riding. The XL Race starts at 3pm local time on Friday, but both the 100 and 200 start on Saturday
09:19morning. If you want to follow the action then you can for free on the Lifetime Grand Prix YouTube
09:24channel, which will be running for nearly 7 hours of the 200 mile event, including some pre-race analysis,
09:31not as good as this pre-race analysis, obviously, live footage from motorcycles and drones, finish
09:36line cameras and post-race interviews. I think more races should have drone shots.
09:42That's one thing I think would make them better.
09:45So, how will the race be won? Well, we've seen everything over the years,
09:48from attritional groups to long-range breakaways like in the women's event last year,
09:53with a daring 50 mile attack by Mignon, however you say her name. The final climb, Highland Hill,
10:00is always one to watch, but things could start splitting up early this year on the rolling YY
10:06Road just 15 miles into the race. The course's first real climb, however, comes quickly after,
10:12with the approach in the notorious Texaco Hill. It's only about 1.5 miles in length, but it has a
10:17very chunky sort of gravel technical descent off the other side. Teter Hill, another prominent and
10:23often decisive climb in the race. It's rocky and steep, with grade students of over 10%.
10:29One thing that is for sure is that plenty of Americans will be in the mix. In the last 19
10:34editions of the men's 200 mile race, US riders have dominated the top spot on the podium 17 times.
10:42Dan Hughes won the inaugural race in 2006, and then won three more times across 2011-2013.
10:49A women's division has been held 16 times, and USA's Rebecca Roosch has the most victories,
10:55with a string of three between 2012 and 2014. This year's favourites for the flagship 200 mile
11:01event include last year's winner Cameron Jones, Keegan Swenson, who we assume will have a new
11:06specialised crux to ride, and Alexi Vermeulen, who can't seem to keep himself off of the lifetime
11:13Grand Prix podiums. In the women's race, McGowan will also be hoping to retain the Unbound Trophy
11:18and pass racing team colours, but might have a work cutout against Sofia Gomez Villafane,
11:24who looks to be in incredible form at the moment. Of course, in the Flint Hills,
11:30literally anything could happen. Let me know whether you'll be watching down in the comments below,
11:34as well as any interesting facts about Unbound that we haven't covered.
11:38Thanks again to Ruvie for sponsoring this race preview, and don't forget you can get a taste
11:43of Unbound for free or prepare for your outdoor rides using the link in the description below.
11:48Right, I've got 12k and a few hills left to do. Better get going.
11:52can
11:52you
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