Dirty Kanza 2019 gravel race tech gallery

Launched in 2006, the Dirty Kanza gravel race has grown from 34 participants at its first event to over 2,000 at this year's race, which attracted WorldTour riders, Olympians and other professional cyclists. The 324.6-kilometre race travelled through the Flint Hill region of Kansas near the town of Emporia.

Colin Strickland (Meteor X Giordana) and Amity Rockwell (Easton Overland Gravel Team) won the men's and women's race, respectively, on the all-new Allied ABLE gravel bike, which features an unusual elevated drive side chain stay, which achieves a short rear end without compromising on tyre clearance.

The current track individual pursuit world record holder Ashton Lambie also has talent on looser surfaces, holding a Trans-Kansas record. The 28-year-old Nebraskan raced with a 56-tooth chainring for the shorter Dirty Kanza 100 race.

Former race winner and WorldTour professional Ted King raced on a Cannondale SuperX with SRAM's new RED eTap AXS groupset. The American also ran a Redshift ShockStop suspension stem but went for a less technologically advanced leather saddle with titanium rails.

Trek-Segafredo riders Peter Stetina and Kiel Reijnen raced the event alongside EF Education First riders Alex Howes, Taylor Phinney and Lachlan Morton. Four of the five riders finished inside the top ten and Trek presented Stetina and Reijnen with custom-painted Trek Checkpoint gravel bikes.

Click through the gallery above for a look at some of the top riders' bikes and setups at the 2019 Dirty Kanza.

Captions and photos from Wil Matthews.

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