The drought of individual victories at the Tour de France for US riders reached 100 stages on Thursday, though it wasn't for lack of effort by the six Americans working across five teams in this year's race.

The last US rider to savour victory at the Tour was Sepp Kuss five years ago. In 2021, he soloed to the win on a climbing day in Andorra la Vella on stage 15. Will Visma let him light the ignition switch to do that again, with most of the mountain stages still to come?

"We've been going full gas on every stage, so there's quite a bit of fatigue - from speed, the heat. We're doing well as a team. It's never easy trying to beat a rival like Pogačar, but we're still in the mix. The toughest stages are still to come. We'll see," Kuss told Spanish outlet Marca TV on Wednesday.

"There are also many stages that might be better suited for a breakaway, where we could put Matteo [Jorgenson], a rider who's good in breakaways."

Jorgenson and Kuss are versatile, and either could launch team leader Jonas Vingegaard on a mountain assault, though the second-placed Dane will not escape the UAE Team Emirates-XRG radar to counter for Tadej Pogačar. So this could be an opportunity for Jorgenson, should he recover from an illness to start the second week of racing, or Kuss, who with his stage win at the Giro d'Italia in May, now has won stages in all three Grand Tours.

Recently, the US has not had big numbers at the world's largest stage race. The year Kuss won, he was just one of three US riders. In 2023, there were double that number. And this year there are six in the mix again - Kuss and Jorgenson for Visma-Lease a Bike, Quinn Simmons for Lidl-Trek, Sean Quinn for EF Education-EasyPost, Matthew Riccitello with Decathlon CMA CGM and Brandon McNulty with UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

There have been glimmers of success among the US riders to quench the appetite for fans in the first half of this year's Tour, including a stage 4 podium by reigning USPro road champion Simmons and a pair of top 10s for former USPro champion Quinn. However, the winless streak remained as the Tour headed for the preferred terrain of climbing for most of the contingency.

Granted, several of the riders have been active each day, mainly Simmons, with a breakaway skirmish to lead out teammate Mads Pedersen to the win in Foix on stage 4 and then making multiple attacks on stage 12.

"I know I can win a stage in this race, but I also know everything needs to go right for it to happen," he told Cyclingnews after the first few days of racing at the Tour with a national jersey on his shoulders.

The roles of these riders are first and foremost to support their team's GC and other classification leaders, such as Simmons for points classification leader Mads Pedersen and McNulty for race leader Pogačar.

With Pogaćar holding a firm grip on the yellow jersey for nine of the first 11 days of this Tour, look for many teams to loosen the leash on these American riders for stage wins. McNulty is quite versatile, but may just target stage 16, a compelling 26.1km stage 16 with a climb that suits his skill set.

The swell of prosperity for a pair of top 10s in the opening week could go to Quinn. He has a personal dry spell of two seasons without a victory, mainly due to recovery from a career-threatening knee injury, last winning the 2024 USPro road title. Mountains are his favourite territory, and there are plenty left for him to make a statement, especially since he is now the best-placed GC rider of the EF squad, 15th overall and 2:35 ahead of teammate Richard Carapaz, who is 18th overall.

Riccitello came in with the GC win at Tour de la Provence, and the 24-year-old rides this stage race to support French phenom Paul Seixas, now fifth on GC 5:35 behind Pogačar. The youngest of the six Americans at 24, he crashed on stage 3 but told Cyclingnews before stage 11: "I'm feeling better and better every day. I fully intend to be there to support Paul in the coming days".

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Matthew Riccitello couldn't be happier than to be at his first ever Tour de France – as the American climber puts it, "it's lived up to the hype" – but he also knows he is in his own race against time to be in absolute top condition for the mountain stages to come.

Early on stage 3, Riccitello was one of the victims of a mass crash involving a lot of different riders including Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) and double 2025 Tour stage winner Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos).

Like Arensman last year, the Decathlon CMA CGM racer will be looking to shine on the mountain stages, but with the sole goal of helping team leader and GC contender Paul Seixas. And as Riccitello told Cyclingnews before stage 11, following his fall even before the race had left Catalunya, the top priority right now is to get back to top condition before the major mountain stages of this coming weekend.

"I haven't felt quite like myself since the fall on the third stage, but I'm feeling better and better, and yesterday I started to have some positive feelings, so hopefully it just continues this way," Riccitello said.

"I knew I was feeling good coming into the race and that form doesn't just disappear, so, I think for sure that I had a little bit of percentage taken off.

"But it's not like it's gone and will never come back, so I just have to be patient and wait and but yeah, already I was feeling better yesterday" – on stage 10 through the Massif Central – "so it should be all good and I'll be able to be there for Paul in the high mountains."

The good news for Riccitello is that on stages 11 and 12, the sprinters are coming to the fore, with Olav Kooij already securing a victory at Pau for the team, easing the collective pressure of expectations, and taking second in Nevers. On Thursday in Chalon-sur-Saône, there may be more to come on that front.

Riccitello's responsibilities in such stages is minimal. "There's not much I can do in the leadout for Olav," he says with a slight grin given his out-and-out climber's physique, "it's not in my characteristics, so for sure I can just look forward to the coming days." And in the meantime, try to recover some more for the challenges to come.

Be it mountains or flat, Riccitello is purely in a team role this July, with his second Grand Tour in September in Spain offering a much more individual set of targets. He'll be returning to the Vuelta a España, where last year the 24-year-old won the best young rider classification and took fifth place overall.

"The Tour was always for Paul, to be there in the high mountains for Paul," he explains.

"So right now, it's full focus on the Tour, but the plan is to go to the Vuelta and ride for GC there. But yeah, let's get this out of the way first."

When Riccitello does come back to Spain, it'll be with over 12 months of breakthrough results in his palmarès. Last summer he won his first professional stage race in Europe, the Sibiu Tour, and then followed that up with his BYR jersey and Grand Tour top five in the Vuelta last September, a first overall win on the team's home soil in France at the Tour de la Provence this February and then a debut one-day victory in the Tour du Jura in April.

Crowning all of that, of course, is taking part in the Tour de France, where he says the atmosphere is very special, particularly racing for a homegrown star like Seixas.

"It's lived up to the hype. I mean, everyone before the race talked about how big it is compared to other races and it's lived up to that, but it's been a super cool experience," he says, of a race where he is making his debut along Seixas and others in the squad.

"It's the first Tour for Olav and for Daan [Hoole], too, so it's something new for all of us, we're all kind of going through the same experience together. It's super special, something to try to enjoy as much as we can."

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It was a clean sweep of wins for L39ION of Los Angeles at the third round of the American Criterium Cup, with Tyler Williams and Justin Williams going 1-2 in the pro men's race and Skylar Schneider speeding to victory in the women's race at the Bailey & Glasser LLP Twilight Criterium in Boise, Idaho on Saturday night.

The flat, four-corner course became a race of attrition for the elite women, with L39ION dictating the high pace and 16 riders jockeying for position on the final lap. Aline Seitz (HigherDOSE-Renova) took the lead headed to the line, but Skylar Schneider blasted by her for the victory. Kimberly Lucie (Team S&M CX) could not overtake the duo and finished third.

The win by Skylar Schneider, who came into the Idaho race from a victory in Vancouver at Gastown Grand Prix on Wednesday, kept her in the series individual lead of the American Criterium Cup, which was her second win in three races.

The men's contest saw WorldTour rider Luke Lamperti (EF Education-EasyPost) riding aggressively in a solo effort, the field dominated by full squads from L39ION of Los Angeles, Chaney Windows and Doors Big Shark pb Pastaria and Velovit Elite.

Tyler Williams would accelerate from the front group on the final handful of laps and gain a 12-second advantage. He would hold on for an uncontested victory, five seconds ahead of a group of seven chasers. Teammate Justin Williams took second and Preston Eye (Clif Family Drifters Cycling) third while Lamperti settled for fourth.

Absent from the race were ACC men's leader Lucas Bourgoyne and the Team Cadence Cyclery pb Waldo Racing, shaking up the leaderboard with Justin Williams moved into the top spot.

The next round of the ACC will take place at Chicago GRIT at the Fulton Market Grand Prix on July 26.

Results

Geerike Schreurs (Specialized-Off road) led from start to finish in the women's overall at the five-stage Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder while Cameron Jones (Scott Sports USA) unseated Ian Boswell (Wahoo Specialized) from the top men's spot on the final stage for the men's title.

This was the seventh edition of the US gravel stage race, which is part of the Gravel Earth Series for elite riders, who stacked up 334 miles (537km) and 31,200 feet (9,500m) of climbing across five days in the Cascade mountains. The race features completely different terrain on each stage, including volcanic landscapes in the Pacific north-west of the United States.

Oregon Trail was the second victory of the Gravel Earth Series for Schreurs, who won Gravel Desert and finished third at The Traka 360. She won four of the five days of racing in Oregon, setting the tone on the 82.3-mile opening stage. Karolina Migoń (PAS Racing) then moved into first place overall with the win on the 73-mile stage 2. Schreurs returned to the top on the middle stage, with the best time on the 10-mile timed climb on the 27-mile route.

Schreurs' total time of 17:04:24 was 20 minutes, 10 seconds faster than Migoń. Third overall was secured by USA's Jen Tavé (SpeedBlock-Terun), the only other rider to complete the event in under 18 hours, 45:31 behind Schreurs.

"I’m proud of how I raced, but mostly on my positive mindset and belief throughout the week. Karolina Migoń challenged me from the first day on and she definitely got the best out of me," Schreurs posted to Instagram in her race recap.

All three riders came in, a race elites call 'gravel camp', with recent success - Schreurs going second at Unbound Gravel 200, Migoń winning Grand Tour 3 Cime Lavaredo, part of the UCI Gravel World Series, and Tavé winning Truckee Tahoe Gravel.

Oceania gravel champion Jones opened the men's competition with a decisive stage 1 solo victory before a parade of different stage winners kept the GC open until Sunday. Boswell responded on day two with the win, and then Hayden Christian (Trek-MAAP), the recent BWR Quad-Tripel Crown of Gravel series winner, took the victory in the stage 3 time trial.

Boswell moved into the overall lead by winning the queen stage, 84.5 miles across 10,890 feet of climbing from Oakridge to Gilchrist, but it was only a seven-second advantage to Jones. The New Zealander would take his second consecutive overall title riding in the five-rider front group, Tobias Mørch Kongstad (PAS Racing) winning the stage 5 sprint back to Bend after 66.5 miles.

Jones' accumulated GC time was 14:56:23. The men's GC podium had Boswell in second, 6:55 back, and Peter Stetina (Canyon), who won Oregon Trail in 2021, in third, 14:17 back. Piotr Havik (Colnago x Castelli SOG), last year's runner-up in the Gravel Earth Series, finished 10th overall in Oregon.

August features two events for Gravel Earth Series, with Megre Gravel in Lithuania on the first Saturday of the month and CORE4 in Iowa two weeks later.

Results

In a surprise move, FDJ United-SUEZ announced the addition of multi-discipline US rider Kate Courtney to their Women's WorldTour squad. The reigning MTB World Champion in cross-country marathon will join the squad this week, with the 30-month contract effective immediately and running through the end of 2028.

"So freaking excited about this," Courtney confirmed to Cyclingnews.

Courtney's last victory came on a surprising start in the road race at USA Cycling Pro Road Nationals, where she outsprinted former USPro road champion Lauren Stephens (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment) for her own first USPro road title.

The California native will make her WorldTour road debut as the USPro champion at La Périgord Ladies on July 18. She has committed to line up with her new WoldTour road team at Tour of Britain Women, August 19-23, which begins just four days following Leadville Trail 100 MTB, a race she won last year, and it was not confirmed if she would defend her off-road title in Colorado.

"It is hard to put into words what this opportunity means to me. I never expected to be able to make the jump to the WorldTour level so quickly and I am so motivated to rise to this huge challenge and really find out what I am capable of as an athlete and person in this final chapter of my career," Courtney said in a press release on Monday.

A stranger to road racing

Seven years before she won the XCM world championship last summer, Courtney earned her first rainbow jersey at MTB Worlds in the cross-country discipline. She followed that in 2019 by winning the overall UCI Cross-country World Cup title.

The 30-year-old caught added attention in May with a surprise start at Tour de Feminin in the Czech Republic for Team USA, her first road race since the age of 16, and won stage 4. Riding a second season with She Sends Racing as an off-road privateer, Courtney finished fifth at the Life Time Sea Otter Classic gravel and then third at Levi's GrandFondo The Growler in April.

"Kate is a magnificent athlete whose profile shows great potential on short to mid-range climbs and demanding efforts. We are excited to support her as she discovers European road racing," said Stephen Delcourt, general manager of FDJ United-SUEZ.

"FDJ UNITED-SUEZ has always embraced athletes who have thrived in disciplines beyond road cycling. This diversity of backgrounds and cultures will continue to elevate our team as we pursue the highest levels of performance in women's sport."

The day she won her first US road championship, Courtney noted on social media that it marked one year that she rode a bike outdoors for the first time since fracturing the scaphoid bone in her wrist at a short track MTB World Cup round in Nové Město. Shortly thereafter, she raced and won in her debut at Leadville Trail 100 MTB.

The return to form last summer led to freedom to ride for her new non-profit, She Sends Racing, which led her to Switzerland for MTB Worlds, then South Africa for Cape Epic and eventually USPro Road Nationals.

"It’s crazy to think how much has changed in a year," she noted on Instagram recently. "That injury somehow gave me the mental freedom to reimagine what racing could look like. In the process I’ve found that extra little bit that was missing for so long."

The Red Bull connection and a new direction

Courtney was eager to jump into the European road scene on the weekend with her new team, one common thread being a connection with Red Bull.

"I am so grateful to Stephen and the entire team for seeing the potential and giving me this chance to chase a huge dream.

"It is not hard to see from the outside that FDJ UNITED-SUEZ is building something really special. The way the team races - aggressively, fearlessly and with complete belief in one another - has been inspiring to me as a fan. And now it is even more inspiring to me as a rider.

"It feels like the team environment I have been searching for my entire career - and I could not be more excited to start learning and chasing one of the biggest and most challenging goals I have ever spoken out loud.”

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USA's Bjorn Riley (Scott-SRAM MTB Race Team) claimed his first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup victory on Friday, making a late pass of hot-handed French rider Adrien Boichis (Specialized Factory Racing) in a two-up sprint to decide the elite men's cross-country short track race at Pal Arinsal.

On the elite women's side, Jenny Rissveds (Canyon XC Racing) pulled out a thrilling sprint victory from a lead group of five riders, with Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) and Ronja Blöchlinger (Liv Factory Racing) finishing two-three and all on the same time.

Pal Arinsal hosted the sixth stop for this year's global cross-country competitions, the trails above the town of La Massana in Andorra confirmed as the highest altitude for races on the Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series.

Growing up in Boulder, Colorado, Riley is no stranger to high elevation. He had racked up 12 medals at US mountain bike nationals since beginning as a junior in 2018, including holding the stars-and-stripes jersey since 2024 in the XCC discipline. But he had never won on the international circuit, until Friday.

“Every race feels like the fulfilment of a dream. Winning is something you dream about your whole life, so actually doing it feels surreal. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet. Maybe later tonight, when I’m trying to sleep, it’ll hit me and I’ll end up lying awake thinking about it. Right now, it just feels incredible," Riley said in a UCI press release.

"So many people had been telling me they wanted to see me win. It’s amazing that people believe in me like that. Race by race, I’ve felt myself improving. I’ve spent a lot of time on the road recently, and now that I’m back fighting at the front, my confidence is growing."

French riders had everyone's attention when the race started Friday, Boichis coming off back-to-back XCC wins and compatriot Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division) leading the World Cup standings. Great Britain's Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) got the party started by leading the first three laps, with Azzaro and Dario Lillo (Giant Factory Off-Road) behind him, and then Boichis tagging along.

Azzaro would crash before the mid-point of the race, and was forced to depart. Then USA's Christopher Blevins joined his Specialized teammate Boichis at the front on the next lap as they battled Aldridge and Martin. It wasn't until lap seven that Riley bridged to the front four.

As the final lap began, Boichis kicked on the climb and only Aldridge held his back wheel while Riley reacted to stay in third place. Then Aldridge skidded and collided with a tree as he tried a different line in the woods, taking him down, though he'd finish but in 30th place. Riley went all-out on with two corners to go, and the risk worked.

"We all know each other’s strengths, and heading into the final climb I knew Boichis has an explosive kick. I could tell he didn’t quite have it on the climb today, and that’s something I’d been thinking about over the last couple of days," the 24-year-old America recounted.

"Normally, I don’t take big risks on the final lap because I’m already happy with a podium but today felt different. I did get a bit nervous because when I looked back on the finishing straight, he was right there behind me. I’m not used to having to sprint for the win, so that was a little scary."

Boichis relented for second place, with Blevins in third. Boichis moved into first place in the season standings with his runner-up finish. He now holds with more than 100 points to his advantage over two other French riders, Azzaro in second and Martin in third.

Last lap decides elite women's race

The women's race had an even tighter finish. Switzerland's Sina Frei (Specialized Factory Racing) came in the favourite as the XCC World Cup series leader. Only Rissveds could catch the Swiss star, but had 170 points between them in the standings. Rissveds had the momentum, coming off the XCC win at La Thuile a week ago.

Rissveds led the field on the opening lap with company from Jolanda Neff (Cannondale Factory Racing) as thunder roared and rain fell. Across the next handful of laps, Martina Berta (Origine Racing Division) and Stigger took Neff's place at the front with the Swede.

Reigning UCI XCC world champion Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) then tagged along at the mid-point of the race. She made a surge on lap seven, which saw Berta and Frei fall off the pace.

Keller slipped out of her line on the penultimate lap, which allowed Stigger to move into second place, the pair chasing Rissveds. On the bell lap, Rissveds went clear with a long-range attack. The fight for podium spots ensued between Stigger, Blöchlinger, Keller and Nicole Koller (Lapierre PXR Racing).

Rissveds rode easily across the line in the European champion's jersey, as the chase played out just behind her, Stigger sprinting ahead of Blöchlinger on the line for second.

Frei would finish eighth in the race, and Rissveds edged closer to her XCC lead, now just a 30-point margin at the top of the standings after the Andorra race.

XC racing continues on Sunday in Pal Arinsal with the UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup rounds for U23 and elite riders.

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) confirmed he was back to form and in good health as he won stage 3 of the Tour of Austria on Friday, holding off Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in a two-up sprint after the pair spent the day in a larger breakaway.

Powless punched the air after crossing the line for the victory, while Arrieta kept his arms on his handlebars, raising his front wheel to pound the pavement in frustration.

It was Powless' first victory in 13 months after his last win in the GP Gippingen in June last year. More significant to the 29-year-old US rider was vanquishing the last four months of non-competition after recovering from knee surgery.

"I feel like I can finally put this nasty chapter behind me with surgery and rehab that was really complicated. I just feel so incredible, and I just wanted to say thank you to my teammates, as well for helping me today," Powless said in a team statement.

“I'm very, very satisfied, very happy. I came here with the ambition of winning a stage, and I knew it was going to be 50/50 if I was good enough after such a long time without racing, but my knee is holding up and I feel really strong."

He started his season at Tour de Provence in February but had to abandon the final stage due to knee pain. That led to surgery and the recovery process before a charge on Friday.

“I told my coach that I just really wanted to win a bike race this year. I didn't care where it was or how it happened, but it just feels really good to already achieve that goal," he added.

"I had two in the breakaway with me, Samuele [Battistella] and Vincenzo [Albanese], and they just did an incredible job helping me save energy. It's always a team effort, so I'm really happy to win."

The original breakaway of 21 riders formed 53km into the 188km stage, after back-to-back category 3 climbs. Powless and Arrieta separated from the main breakaway with 40km remaining to the uphill finish in Alpendorf.

On a category 2 ascent of Buchberg, Arrieta attacked at the front and only Powless followed. The lead pair moved away at the front, but saw the gap fading to 40 seconds as they hit the final climb to the ski town of St. Johann Alpendorf, less than 3km to the finish at an average gradient of 6.5%.

The EF Education rider then led out the duo on the top section of the 2.6km climb and saved enough in the tank for a final acceleration to keep the 23-year-old Spaniard from passing.

"It's really nice to be winning bike races again. I wasn't sure if it was going to happen at all this year. But here I am, the first win, so it feels really nice.”

Arrieta was looking to replicate a similar two-rider raid which landed him the stage 5 victory at this year's Giro d'Italia, that day a slippery affair in the rain against Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious), as the two survived separate crashes into the Potenza and Arrieta even overcame a wrong turn on course to take the victory in a sprint.

Like Powless, Arrieta had two teammates with him in the early breakaway, Jan Christen and António Morgado. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider said after the race that a sprint scenario would have better suited for one of his teammates, but was glad to have the opportunity to go for the win.

"I think I wasn’t the best person to have the finish decided in a two-up sprint. I knew Jan [Christen] was coming from behind, so I tried to save as much as possible, to make Powless do the work. But in the end, I was not able to escape, and he beat me in the sprint. Sometimes, it is like this, he was better than me," Arrieta said in a team press release.

The leader of the Tour of Austria going into the final two days of racing is Gregor Mühlberger (Team Austria) with 1:31 over US rider Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and another 10 seconds on third-placed Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek). The best-placed EF Education-EasyPost rider on GC is James Shaw, 2:31 back in seventh position.

Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) and Marcos Mendez (Foundation Cycling New York) won midweek elite races at Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix in Vancouver, British Columbia.

US sprinter Schneider last competed at Gastown two years ago, when she also took victory. The victory by Mendez, from Argentina, marks the first win for a South American rider in the 53rd edition of the Canadian one-day race.

One day after hosting a World Cup round of 16 between Switzerland and Colombia, Vancouver's downtown streets were filled with spectators to watch as elite riders competed for a share in a $50,000 CAD prize purse, each winner receiving a check for $12,000.

The non-traditional four-corner race, with the first turn off Water Street a sharp left-hander at more than 110-degree change of direction, was held on Wednesday evening. The women's race featured 40 laps and the men's 50 laps.

L39ION of LA teammates Samantha Schneider and Holly Breck shut down a series of attacks which whittled the 70 starters down to 35. Skylar Schneider later blasted across through the front of the field on the approach to the line, holding off Kiwi Bryony Botha (Fearless Femme Racing), who came in fresh off the overall title in the Tour of America's Dairyland.

Former Mexican champion Yarely Salazar (Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing) led the reduced bunch through the final turn on the long straightaway but only served as a carrot for Schneider. The 27-year-old US rider blasted past Salazar with 100 yards to go for the win. Salazar then saw Botha go by and then finished third.

A past winner of the Vancouver race in 2024, Schneider came in as one of the women's favourites, having won the omnium title at Saint Francis Tulsa Tough and earning one win and three other podiums at the Tour of America's Dairyland series in her home state of Wisconsin. She said that was easily one of the hardest races of the year, with every team bringing their “A-game” for the prize money on offer.

Mendez controlled the run-in for the victory, Cade Bickmore (Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Waldo Racing) and Canadian criterium national champion Jayden McMullen (TaG Cycling), completing the podium in second and third, respectively.

After a late sprint prime contested by Luke Fetzer (Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Waldo Racing) and Luke Lamperti (EF Education-EasyPost), the duo dangled at the front of the race for the penultimate lap. Tyler Williams (L39ION of Los Angeles) then went to the front for the first part of the final circuit, with Team Cadence Cyclery taking over with three riders.

Mendez then hit the front after the final corner and hammered to the front without allowing anyone to get close. The Argentinian, who has won this year at Harlem Skyscraper Cycling Classic and Sunny King Criterium, surprised the men's race favourites, with reigning US criterium champion Luke Elphingstone (Project Echelon Racing) going fifth behind Jim Brown (L39ION of Los Angeles).

Last year's winner Lucas Bourgoyne (Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Waldo Racing) served as a leadout for Bickmore and himself, going sixth. Lamperti, who was third last year, finished seventh.

Full results are available at the Gastown Grand Prix website.

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The Maryland Cycling Classic hit the brakes again and has been officially cancelled for 2026. The Baltimore, Maryland UCI event was held three times for men since its creation in 2021, while the women's race only made a debut last year.

This season the men's race was sanctioned by the UCI as the only ProTour race on the US calendar. Both events had been scheduled for early September as three-day contests, though organisers called this a "miscommunication" with plans to continue as one-day races.

"The one-day race, scheduled for September 6 on Labor Day Weekend, has been cancelled," read part of a press release distributed late Thursday.

One of the red flags was raised in the winter when both men's and women's races were listed on the UCI calendar as three-day events. Members of event leadership, hired by ownership group Sport and Entertainment Corporation of Maryland (Sport Corp), said both races were supposed to be just one-day events with three days of ancillary activities. Teams contacted by Cyclingnews all said they expected to race for three days.

The cancellation is an especially difficult blow to women's racing in North America, which also saw the Tour de Bloom downgrade from a UCI 2.2-level, leaving just one internationally-sactioned event for the first half of the season.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Cycling Classic makes a return for men and women as a UCI-ranked race on August 30. With the disappearance of the Maryland race the next week, there is now a multi-week gap to the two WorldTour events for men in Canada - the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Montréal - on September 11 and 13, as well as Chrono Féminin de Gatineau and Tour de Gatineau for women, Sept 16 and 17. The 2026 UCI Road World Championships then return to Canada at the end of September.

While other indicators of the race's demise arose in January related to funding, long-time supporters of Maryland Cycling Classic have vowed to "pick up the charge" and reboot the event for 2027.

Maryland businessman John Kelly, who served as the event chairman from 2022-2025, and KOM Sports Marketing president Steve Brunner, who was the race executive director, are leading an independent group to rejuvenate the races, and are "currently working with city and state leaders to secure funding and sponsorship".

"Steve Brunner and I have been working for the past several months with key stakeholders, including existing sponsors, state and Baltimore city leaders, to pave a positive path forward," Kelly, president of Kelly Benefits Strategies, told Cyclingnews on Friday.

"World-class events like the Maryland Cycling Classic are complicated and expensive endeavours, but worth the effort to showcase cycling and this beautiful state and city to the world."

An estimated 85,000 roadside spectators attended the men’s and women’s races in 2025, according to the news release, and there was an estimated $11 million in direct economic impact.

"As a collective, we have produced great results for the 2022, 2023 and 2025 events. We feel indebted to those partners to keep pushing forward for American cycling and participating athletes," Brunner told Cyclingnews.

"this has been America's top-ranked one day race and we'll continue to work to keep it alive. And, Baltimore and the state of Maryland have been phenomenal hosts."

Bumpy road

In January uncertainty of the race's status surfaced when the Baltimore Banner reported that all six staff members for Sport Corp, had vacated positions. This included Terry Hasseltine, who had served as the president of the non-profit since its creation in 2019.

State leaders approved a bill that provided emergency funding, more than $94,000, to cover missed payroll for Sport Corp employees, according to The Baltimore Sun in January. Though not directly affiliated with Sport Corp, the Maryland Stadium Authority was actively identifying vendors that were eligible for missed payments for two of the non-profit's managed events, the global equestrian event Maryland 5 Star and Maryland Cycling Classic.

Cyclingnews reached out to Sport Corp by telephone and email in January, but no response was provided. The corporation, which was not affiliated with the Maryland Stadium Authority, was still listed by the Internal Revenue Service this year as a public charity.

The Maryland Cycling Classic men's one-day race was initially announced for 2021 but event owners Sport Corp postponed the debut until the next year. After back-to-back seasons, the men's race was cancelled in 2024 due to the fatal collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge crossing the outer Baltimore Harbor.

Agnieszka Skalniak-Sójka (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) won the inaugural women's title in a photo finish against Alison Jackson (EF Education-Oatly). Sandy Dujardin (Team TotalEnergies) took the last edition of the men's race in 2025.

Former US professional cyclist Tyler Hamilton will cover the Tour de France this month for Denmark's national television network, TV2. It is a second consecutive year the former CSC rider has provided post-race analysis.

Hamilton is recognised by Danish sports viewers for his two years at the CSC team, led by Bjarne Riis, and his overall victory at Tour of Denmark in 1999.

"Denmark has a special place in my heart. It was super special for me last year," he said to Sports.tv2.dk, which will air his reports.

Hamilton, now 55 and living in Missoula, Montana, began his race career in 1994 and went on to win stages at the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, as well as finishing third overall at the Giro in 2002. He raced all three Grand Tours, last competing at an eighth Tour de France in 2004.

His career was derailed when he failed doping tests in 2004 from the Olympic Games and the Vuelta a Espana, resulting in a two-year suspension. He returned to racing from 2007 to 2009, and was subsequently retired a final time when he failed another test for banned substances.

"His past is well known and should not be ignored. At the same time, he is one of the former riders who has chosen to come forward and speak openly about that period," said Kristian Bech Josefsen, editor-in-chief at TV 2 Sport.

"He has experienced both the sport's greatest triumphs and its most controversial chapters. This gives him a unique experience and insight into the Tour de France. Our job is to gather the strongest voices, and he adds another dimension to our coverage – as we saw last year."

Crusher in the Tushar cancelled due to concerns related to ravaging Utah fires

July 11 would have been the 15th edition of the climbing-heavy 69.9-mile gravel race, starting and ending in Beaver, Utah. Instead, event owners and operators, Life Time, cancelled the event two weeks prior to race weekend over safety concerns and limited resources related to a large wildfire in that region of southern Utah.

The Cottonwood Fire had destroyed more than 70,000 acres at the time of the cancellation, and by July 1 had grown to be the state's largest wildfire with only 5% containment, according to local media reports, including ABC4 in Utah.

"After closely monitoring the Cottonwood Fire and its impact on Beaver, Eagle Point, local emergency resources, and the surrounding community, we have made the difficult decision that Crusher in the Tushar will not take place as planned this year," organisers posted to Instagram on June 25.

"This is not the outcome any of us wanted, but given the ongoing impact of the fire, the strain on local resources and emergency response, and the safety considerations for athletes, volunteers, staff, partners, and the Beaver community, we are confident this is the right decision."

Two years ago Crusher in the Tushar was cancelled because of a similar situation, two wildfires situated across Piute County where the race course passed. The race had been part of the Life Time Grand Prix from 2022-2024.

Organisers were communicating with registered athletes via email. Days after the announcement, the event web site provided a link to an online fundraising campaign, created by the Chamber of Commerce serving Beaver, Iron and Garfield counties, to provide assistance to families and businesses impacted by the disaster.

Comp Edge Racing line up for first-ever international UCI stage race appearance at Sibiu Cycling Tour

Comp Edge Racing makes its first-ever international UCI stage race appearance at the 2026 Sibiu Cycling Tour, July 4-7. The Continental team will be led by Marcis Shelton, silver medalist in the U23 road race at USPro Road Nationals.

The six-rider roster will be filled by US riders Ryan Drummond, Andrew Frank, Luke Walter and Dylan Zakrajsek plus Bermuda's dual road champion Nic Narroway.

Among the competition are two WorldTour squads - UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe - as well as five ProTeams, 13 other Continental teams and national teams representing Hungary and Romania.

Modern Adventure Pro Cycling brings a lineup with Canadian Riley Pickrell, who won stage 1 last year at the stage race with Israel-Premier Tech, and Briton Leo Hayter, while Continental-level APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cycling features US riders Ethan Dunham and Patrick Welch.

The four-day race across Romania includes five stages, with Saturday's double billing starting in the centre of the country in Sibiu with a 110.5km road stage followed by a 32.km individual time trial.

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New Zealand riders Bryony Botha (Fearless Femme pb the Beasley Firm) and George Jackson (Whoosh–NZ Cycling Project) won tight sprints in the Downer Classic on Saturday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Elite riders scored points in Saturday's contest, officially called Café Hollander Otto Wenz Downer Classic p/b ISCorp, the second round of the American Criterium Cup national series and the 11-day Tour of America's Dairyland (ToAD).

Botha surprised current ACC women's leader Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) with a strong final surge to earn the race victory. Another Kiwi, Kyra Marett (1Kflips Racing), the country's national criterium champion, secured third. With her runner-up finish on home Wisconsin turf, Schneider continued as the women's individual leader in the ACC standings.

"I didn't realise it was one lap to go. I saw my teammate Kiera at the front; I told her to just drill it. She did a great job with that. It was a great, spectacular, surprise attack by the New Zealand criterium champ, which set me up well. I don’t think my dad’s gonna believe me when I tell him I won a sprint," Botha told race organisers.

All the attacks in the women's race were controlled by the HigherDOSE RenovaPoints, which went on the hunt for mid-race sprint points. They took all the spoils with Andrea Cyr retaining the women's ACC sprint competition.

Botha also won the women's title across the 11 days of ToAD one-day races in various cities in Wisconsin. She collected 271 points with Claudia Marcks (Pedla Race Division) and Aline Seitz (HigherDOSE-Renova) timed for second with 249 points.

The men's field that started with a robust 145 riders was all together for the final circuit. Jackson came into the ACC matchup with four wins in the nine previous days of ToAD, and he wasn't close to being done. He carried momentum at the front of the field through the last corner and held off a late charge from former USPro crit winner Lucas Bourgouyne (Team Cadence Cyclery pb Waldo Racing) and current USPro crit champion Luke Elphingston (Project Echelon Racing), who went second and third, respectively.

“We thought it would probably come down to a field sprint; we knew there was so much cash on the line, so we knew it was going to be a hard one," Jackson said about the cash prizes at intermediate sprints causing chaos early on.

"The team has been coming here for 18-19 years, and we’re getting better and better each year. New Zealand is a small country, and we’re far away, so we don’t have races like this…We love coming here, the crowds were insane, everyone’s insane…it’s so much fun.”

With his runner-up finish, despite an early crash and cut to his knee from a collision into a chainring, Bourgoyne held his individual lead in the men's ACC standings. All of the significant sprint points were collected by Chaney Windows and Doors Big Shark p/b Pastaria riders, with Owen Gillot holding the ACC lead in that classification.

The five ToAD victories gave Jackson the overall title for the regional series with a total of 248 points, while his teammate James Wilson finished second with 271 points. Bourgoyne took third overall.

The next stop for the ACC will be July 11 in Boise, Idaho, for the Bailey & Glasser LLP Boise Twilight Criterium. That marks the midpoint of the series with three races to complete the schedule.

Results

Sofia Gomez Villafañe and Keegan Swenson (both Specialized Off-road) returned to the top step at SBT GRVL on Sunday in Colorado, both launching solo attacks on the later segments of a refreshed 108-mile 'black' course. It was Swenson's fourth elite men's title while Villafañe won the elite women's race for a second time.

This year's Steamboat Springs long 'black' course featured one single-loop circuit through Routt County, with an out-and-back, washed-out gravel road, Cow Creek, featured as the first climb after the start from Yampa Street and again as a decisive technical descent in the final 12 miles.

Three elite men exited the Cow Creek climb at the front of the race - Nathan Spratt (Ventum + Voler), Adam Roberge (Felt UN1TD) and John Borstelmann (Ventum) - and set a marker of four minutes. Across the next 24 miles, two-thirds of that the longest ascent of the day with uneven pitches reaching 7%-9%, the leaders were caught by six riders - Swenson, Henry Nelson (Lunchbox Racing), Cobe Freeburn (Trek Driftless), Alexey Vermeulen (ENVE), Pete Stetina (Canyon) and John Keller.

By the mid-point of the race, Swenson was part of the new lead group as Freeburn, Roberge and Nelson, with Spratt, Vermeulen, Stetina and Keller giving chase, and Borstelmann dropping off the pace.

A long paved descent led to the second longest climb on the route, approximately nine miles of gravel, passing to the south of Hayden and from the crest leaving 35.5 miles for a return to Steamboat Springs. On the descent from this climb, Swenson launched his attack on a paved section and by the time he hit the return ascent to Cow Creek had a two-and-a-half minute gap.

Swenson completed his ride in 4:36:20, with Vermeulen second and Freeburn third in a four-rider chase who were five minutes back. Nelson finished fourth and Roberge fifth. Stetina had worked with Keller for a second chase group, Keller going one second better than the Canyon veteran at the line, just 47 and 48 seconds behind Vermeulen

Swenson finished second last year, outsprinting Freeburn and Vermeulen. This year Vermeulen's runner-up spot was his third podium at SBT GRVL, having gone third to Swenson in 2024 and 2023.

"The king reigns on here at SBT GRVL," Vermeulen said about his rival Swenson. "Got dropped, but managed to finagle my way back into the sprint for second by the end thanks to a great chase group with John Keller and Peter Stetina."

The elite women started five minutes after the men, with the field staying mainly compact for the opening 15 miles. On the 17-mile dirt ascent known as Wahooligan Pass, Sarah Lange (Velocio-Kenda Bicycle) set the tempo with Cecily Decker (PAS Racing) and 2023 winner Villafañe.

The trio were joined on the descent by Danni Shrosbree (Rapha-Argon 18), Kylee Hanel (Cervélo-Maxxis), Paige Onweller (Trek Driftless), two-time winner Lauren De Crescenzo (The Feed-Argonaut-Castelli-Maxxis) and 2024 winner Lauren Stephens (Aegis x LOE), which created the decisive split of the race.

The riders traded attacks, but none took hold until Lange broke away on a gravel descent south of Hayden at mile 80. She carried her momentum into the technical section at Cow Creek, where Villafañe began to close the gap, and Stephens trailed 30 seconds behind with Onweller another 30 seconds back.

"I tried to attack a few times earlier in the race but nothing stuck and our group of 8 kept coming back together. So when I found myself off the front during a lull with 25-30 miles to go, I went for it," Lange said on Instagram.

"When I exited Cow Creek and had 7 miles of pavement back into town, I was told Sofia was solo 30 seconds back. I kept pushing but knew she was gaining on me. I heard someone yell her name and knew I was caught with about 2 miles to go."

Villafañe caught and passed Lange on the tarmac just outside Steamboat Springs and cranked out a six-second gap to ride across the line uncontested in 5:25:01. Stephens finished 42 seconds behind Lange for third, her fifth time on the podium spot at SBT GRVL.

"The last 45 minutes of the race was spicy as we worked hard to chase down Sarah Lange who was on a ripper of a day. I pushed HARD on cow creek, separated myself from the chasers and made contact in the last two miles of the race," the new two-time winner said on her Instagram account.

Women’s defending champ Melisa Rollins, who has been away from racing for several months due to arm and wrist injuries, finished 20th. 2025 men’s winner Brendan Wertz did not line up as he was still recovering from a crash at Lost & Found gravel in California two weeks ago.

Last year SBT GRVL had separate race days for elites and amateurs, with the elite fields starting and finishing in Hayden. All race routes returned to downtown Steamboat Springs this year, featuring safety enclosures for elite categories and a black course team support and nutrition aid station at mile 63 at the Hayden Gun Range, which also served as a spectator zone.

Results

Hayden Christian (Trek-MAAP Pro.Fwd) carved his way around the two decisive singletrack turns to win Belgian Waffle Ride Montana, proving the fastest among a group of five elite men on the final half mile of the 115-mile (185km) course into Bozeman.

Stella Hobbs (MAAP-ENVE-Tailwind) won her second consecutive elite women's victory at BWR Montana, this year going solo in the elite women's division with a time of 5:07:39.

Cécile Lejeune (Trek Driftless) finished seven minutes behind Hobbs for second, which confirmed her position as overall winner in the Quad-Tripel Crown of Gravel. Lejeune opened her BWR account with a third place in Arizona and then sealed the overall with back-to-back wins at BWR California and BWR Utah. Hannah Shell finished second overall, just 8 points ahead of Holly Breck.

Hobbs got away from Lejeuen with 30 miles to go, and both finished with an average speed of more than 21 mph.

"It's how riding goes here - nothing's that long and nothing's that steep. So if you can capitalise on every little bit that there is, you can really move through this course fast. We were hauling," Hobbs said at the finish to organisers.

The men's Quad-Tripel Crown was decided at Saturday's sprint, Christian earning the title by just eight points over Lance Haidet (Colnago-SRAM-Velocio), who finished third in the final race. Christian progressed up the leaderboard at all four stops of the series, starting with 11th place at Arizona, then fifth at California and third at Utah, which put him two points behind Haidet going into the final race.

Christian and Haidet rode in the decisive lead group with Elliot Thornblade (Forward Endurance Coaching), Matthew Saldana (Cyclesport.com) and Ryker Brand (ALLIED-Formula 369). Thornblade made a late pass of Christian with a shoulder bump on the final dirt section, but Christian swooped inside Thornblade with another body barge 100 yards later to take the lead for the final 50 metres to the line, winning in 4:45:32. Haidet grabbed the final podium ahead of Saldana while Brand was distanced in fifth.

It was the second edition of BWR Montana, which moved to a new start/finish at Glen Lake Park in Bozeman. The long route skirted the Blacktail mountain range in south-west Montana but still amassed 7,500 feet of climbing across 70% of 'unroad' on a new course.

Results

Series standings

Since turning professional with the Lidl-Trek WorldTour team in 2020, Quinn Simmons has a perfect record at the USPro Road Race National Championships, winning in all three appearances. "I don't know if I could do more than 100%," he said to FloBikes broadcasters after winning on Sunday.

All three of his national road titles have come from aggressive solo riding, with his first USPro road title coming in 2023 in Knoxville, Tennessee. All three times, he earned a spot on the Lidl-Trek team for the Tour de France to showcase the stars-and-stripes jersey.

"It's really important for me to wear this jersey. I think it's super important that it's worn at the biggest races, and we need a top rider in it. So, it will be the third year I get to wear the jersey at the biggest bike race in the world, and you know, for me, that's super special. As an American, I love to race in that jersey in Europe and show it. Now we take it to the Tour," he said.

"My biggest dream of the whole season is to win a stage [of the Tour de France] wearing this jersey. In order to do that, you have to first get the jersey. So step one complete."

Step two comes in 12 days when the Durango, Colorado rider lines up at his fourth Tour de France. Last year, he competed in the stars-and-stripes national jersey at the Tour, narrowly missing a stage win into Vire Norrmandie on the sixth day of racing. He won stages, however, as the US national champion at the Tour de Suisse a year ago and then at the former Critérium du Dauphiné nearly a year later to set up his effort in West Virginia.

Simmons said one of his motivations for his legs to do more talking was when the team's General Manager, Luca Guercilena, announced he would step down at the conclusion of the Tour de France, having been with the programme for 16 years. Just days later, the 25-year-old won a stage at Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

"I remember I got a message from my manager, Luca, that he wanted me to win some races for him before he left the team. He's leaving in six weeks, and so far I've done two since he sent me that message. It's kind of nice to pay the team back after years of supporting me," Simmons said, now in a seventh season with Lidl-Trek and his contract up for renewal.

"I think this year is definitely more difficult. Today, it was 100 versus one, so I kind of just had to do it with the legs, and at times it was pretty frustrating."

On Sunday, Simmons was one of three current WorldTour riders who made up the start of 98 elite men, Kevin Vermaerke representing UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Artem Shmidt representing Netcompany Ineos. At the opposite end of the spectrum were ProTeam-level Modern Adventure Pro with 12 riders and Continental-level Project Echelon Racing with nine. Modern Pro featured former road race silver medallists Robin Carpenter and Tyler Stites, while Project Echelon Racing had former USPro runner-up Stephen Bassett and new elite men's criterium champion Luke Elphingstone.

The 198.6km race was marked by attack after attack by riders from Modern Adventure, and in the second half of the 10-lap race, it was Simmons who would accelerate on the Bridge climb to close any gaps by small groups. Across the first half of the 198.6km race, including one by the Modern Adventure duo Ian Lopez de San Roman and Kieran Haug, with two laps to go.

The advantage was wiped away when the Modern Adventure pair were joined by Simmons, Vermaerke, Stites, Larry Warbasse (Tudor Pro) and Ashlin Barry (Visma-Lease a Bike Development) for the final lap. Then Simmons went off solo on the Wertz Avenue climb with 29km to go.

"It's annoying to be outnumbered like that, but at the end of the day, after four hours of racing, there's a difference between the WorldTour guys. I knew as long as I can make it to the point where everyone was tired, there's a good chance to get away. Once everyone's tired, and once you're in a small group like that, it's the legs that can talk.

"Between me and Kevin, it had to be one of the two of us. We decided that at the beginning, so I'm pretty happy with the one-two, and I'm glad it went my way this time," Simmons said on the FloBikes post-race recap.

Simmons said the victory Sunday was made even more special as he won on Father's Day, with his father in attendance in Charleston, West Virginia. The 'Mountaineer State' has been good to Simmons, who won his first national title in 2017 at USA Cycling Mountain Bike Nationals in the men's junior 15-16 cross-country discipline.

"It's been 10 years now that I've been coming to Nationals with Dad. This is our 10th one if you count all the disciplines. So that's a pretty good success ratio for sure to be three-time national champion with him on the side of the road. It's not many guys who can say they did that."

Simmons wasn't spending much time in the US to celebrate his hold on another national jersey, taking a flight back to Europe Monday to join his Lidl-Trek squad for another run at the Tour de France.

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Adam Roberge (Felt-ENVE) and Haley Smith (Factor Racing) claimed victory at the OG Classique on Sunday, a new round of the UCI Gravel World Series in Wakefield, Quebec.

Michael Woods (Ventum) took second in the men's elite race, which ended with a tight four-way sprint. Fiset Guillaume was third while Griffin Easter (OpiCure Foundation Gravel Team) came fourth.

In the elite women's race it was another charged battle to the line, with Dylan Baker coming second to Smith while it was third for Laetitia Bilodeau.

The race came a week after both victors had ridden the cancelled Canadian Gravel Championships. OG Classique was the first of two Canadian qualifiers in the GWS, the next being the Ghost of the Gravel in Alberta next week.

The weekend's 122km Quebec event delivered 1,676m of elevation gain through the rolling terrain of the Outaouais region on a route in the Gatineau Hills that was more than 70% gravel. The start/finish area was located at Centre Vorlage ski and mountain bike resort.

It was one of four qualifiers across three continents held on the weekend, with Italy hosting the Grand Tour 3 Cime Lavaredo and Australia the Devils Cardigan on Saturday while on Sunday there was also Eislek Gravel Luxembourg. The top 25% of competitors in each category qualify for the Gravel World Championships, this year being held in Nannup, Western Australian in October.

In a familiar scenario, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) claimed his third USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships title with a commanding solo attack from a select lead group with 29 kilometres remaining, holding off all chasers to the line.

After making his move at almost the same location on Wertz Avenue climb as last year, Simmons received advice from his support car, and crucially water on a hot day, as he continued to extend his lead. With six kilometres to go, Simmons called the support car driven by Tanner Putt once more, for a quick fist bump in celebration.

Crossing the line 2:04 behind, Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) claimed silver, holding off Larry Warbasse (Tudor) who was coming in hot.

The 198.6km race was defined by a tactical battle between defending champion Simmons and the 12-strong Modern Adventure squad, who leveraged their numbers by launching rider after rider on the attack, forcing Simmons and others to repeatedly chase. Simmons countered with power in an attempt to shed his rivals.

"I think this year is definitely more difficult," the back-to-back winner said on the FloBikes race broadcast. "Last year I was just coming off of a missing season with injuries, so hopefully a little bit more under the radar, and then today, I mean, it was 100 versus one, so I kind of just had to do it with the legs, and at times it was pretty frustrating."

The outcome, however, quickly put that to rest, with Simmons relying on the accumulated fatigue among his rivals to make the difference.

"I knew, as long as I could make it to the point where everyone was tired, there was a good chance to get away," said Simmons.

Newly crowned U23 road champion Ashlin Barry (Visma-Lease a Bike Development) was fourth, and Tyler Stites (Modern Adventure) took fifth.

How it unfolded

The final race, the men’s elite road race, of the USA Pro Road Championships started off under sunny and warm conditions.

The 102 starters faced two laps of the 14.5km junior circuit, featuring the Wertz Avenue climb, before expanding to a 21km loop crossing to the far side of the river, where the Bridge Road climb was added for the remaining eight laps, for a total of 198.6 kilometres.

Attacks flew immediately from the start, with the 12-rider Modern Adventure squad in the middle of the action, initiating a three rider break. Under impetus of defending champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), the 47-second gap was shutdown in the third lap, creating a new 11-rider lead group. More riders came across the 19 seconds with the peloton closing behind, shutting down the move.

This scenario continued for most of the race, as the temperatures continued to inch up to close to 30 °C, riders were grabbing ice socks from team cars, soigneurs and anywhere they could find them.

Modern Adventure once again went on the attack, with Robin Carpenter and Cole Kessler taking off with 134 kilometres to go, building a gap of 1:56 with six laps to go.

A response came from strong group that included Simmons, Gavin Berry, Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Ashlin Barry (Visma-Lease a Bike Development), Garrett Beshore (Meridian Racing p/b de la Uz), Artem Schmidt (Netcompany Ineos), Eric Brunner (Project Echelon Racing).

Halfway though the race, Simmons accelerated again on the Bridge climb (2.1km at 5.5%), taking Vervaeke, Barry with him as they overtook Carpenter and Kessler. Sensing the danger, more riders made it across, once again reshuffling the front of the race.

Ian Lopez de San Roman was the next Modern Adventure rider to go on the attack, soon joined by his teammate Kieran Haug. The duo pushed their gap to one minute with 67 kilometres to go.

Simmons tried to motivate and organise the other riders in the reduced field led by Project Echelon.

Deja vu, as Simmons once again accelerated on the climb, joined by Barry, Larry Warbasse (Tudor), Taylor Stites (Modern Adventure) and Vermaerke, as they caught Lopez de San Roman and Haug.

The seven rider break build their gap to 30 seconds at the start of the penultimate lap. For the first time, Vermaerke came to the front to launch a few attacks, testing legs and trying to whittle down the group.

Simmons put in one final big attack up Wertz Avenue climb (2.3km at 5.5%) with 29 kilometres to go, and was off solo, building up a lead of 1:07 seconds as he started the final lap.

The chase group then turned their focus to the podium places, with Vermaerke attacking to go for second, but he came close to being overtaken by a charging Warbasse at the line.

Results

In a surprising finale, Kate Courtney (She Sends Racing) outsprinted Lauren Stephens (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment) to win the elite women's road race at the USA Pro Road Championships in Charleston, WV on Sunday.

Courtney, the reigning UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Champion, launched her sprint with 700 metres to go, and was able to hold a small gap around the final corner and to the line. Stephens finished runner-up for the second year in a row.

Stephens' teammate Grace Arlandson took the sprint for third out of a four-ride chase group, ahead of Kira Payer (SpeedBlock-Terœn Elite), and Ashley Frye (Competitive Edge Racing).

Though Courtney has only a handful of road races under her belt, she has been racing with the national team in Europe this year.

“This was a really special one. I think I've got like seven or eight silver medals for mountain bike national championships at home. So, to finally pull off a national championship again and pull on that jersey, it's beyond words,” Courtney said in a post-race interview on Flobikes.

Choosing to focus on her skills and not her lack of road racing experience, Courtney planned her final sprint.

“When we were coming through there [finish] the last few laps, I noticed I was really banking those turns well and carrying a lot of momentum out. I saw a few times that I was behind Lauren and I can kind of get a little momentum out of them," she added.

"And so I thought, instead of playing the cat and mouse game, which realistically she's probably better at, she's a really smart bike racer, and I know never to underestimate her wily moves at the end, so I figured going early, baking those turns, and then just holding it and not letting up for one pedal stroke until I was across the line was probably my best shot. And yeah,I got a tiny gap and rode it across the line."

Stephens and Courtney powered away from a select chase group on the final lap to reel in Paige Onweller (Trek-Drifless), who had been off the front, solo, for 77 kilometres.

Using the steepest pitches close to the top of the Bridge climb, Stephens dispatched Onweller, also more well known for her gravel prowess, leaving the pair to battle it out for the victory. Onweller finished sixth.

How it unfolded

In an early morning start, under cloudy skies, and temperatures hovering around 23 °C, the elite women’s field faced a 113.8-kilometre course. The Charleston course began with two laps of the 14.5km junior circuit, featuring the Wertz Avenue climb, before expanding to a 21km loop crossing to the far side of the river, where the Bridge Road climb was added for the remaining four laps.

Missing from the 60-rider field was defending champion Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) who decided not to race due to travel chaos, which included multiple canceled flights and overnight layovers as she returned home from Giro d’Italia Women.

Attacks from Competitive Edge, Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28 and HigherDOSE-Renova flew in the opening laps, with the Wertz Avenue climb (2.3km at 5.5%) causing some damage.

But it was solo racer, mostly known for her gravel racing prowess, Page Onweller (Trek-Drifless) that manager to escape after 25 kilometres of racing as the sun poked through the clouds.

At the start of the expanded third lap, Onweller had 32-second lead with Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment taking control of the peloton, launching Jamie Chapman (Aegis) on solo chase.

Alarm bells started to ring loudly, as Onweller had 2:02 on Chapman and over three minutes on the field at the end of the third lap. That brought Kate Courtney (She Sends Racing) to the front of the field to put in a massive turn on the climb, creating a selection as the chase intensified.

"Halfway through the race, exactly what I didn't want to happen had happened. Paige was up the road, Jamie Chapman bridge, and I thought, oh man, like I let an Aegis rider up the road, Lauren's gonna sit in, it's probably, you know, we'll see how motivated they are, but as soon as that gap started to come down, and the group started working. I knew, okay, it's probably going to be a war of attrition and come down to that last lap," Courtney said.

But Onweller kept her pace solid, still holding 2:43 on the six-rider chase group as she started the penultimate lap. Another seven-rider group was a further 24 seconds back.

Joining Courtney in the elite chase group were Aegis teammates Lauren Stephens, Grace Arlandson and Chapman, as well as Ashley Frye (Competitive Edge Racing) and Kira Payer (SpeedBlock-Terœn Elite).

But for the first time, Onweller showed the pressure, her shoulders rocking as she climbed up Bridge Road (2.1km at 5.5%). Not long after on the same ascent, Stephen’s attack reduced the chase group with Courtney and Payer matching her pace and Arlandson and Frye catching back on the descent.

Now working well together, the chase group had reduced the gap down to 1:14 to Onweller, who is putting slower laps after being solo off the front for so long, as they heard the bell for the final lap. The rest of the field was a further two minutes back, and out of contention for the victory.

Arlandson launched Stephens the final time up the Bridge climb, and only Courtney was able to match the acceleration. Payer briefly connected but Courtney pushed the pace once again as they could see Onweller up the road.

Onweller’s lead continued to tumble, down to 15 seconds with 17 kilometres to go, as behind Courtney and Stephens continued to test each other with small attacks.

With the gap down to five seconds, Stephens and Courtney started to play games, trying to get the other one to pull through while Onweller, not giving up, continued to push the pace.

Onweller was overtaken with 11 kilometres to go, and then was also caught by the second three-rider chase group of Fraye, Arlandson and Payer, later on.

The chasers closed down the gap down to 15 seconds to Stephens and Courtney with three kilometres, with Arlandson attacking the chase on the hunt for third place.

Results

In a two-up sprint, Ashlin Barry (Visma-Lease a Bike Development) edged out Marcis Shelton (Competitive Edge Racing) to win the under-23 men's road race title at the USA Pro Road Championships in Charleston. After taking fourth in the individual time trial, Barry nabbed his first national title in the under-23 category on Saturday.

Crossing the line eight seconds later, Brenda Luongo (Kelly Benefits Cycling) took third from among a four-rider chase group.

Beckam Drake (The Parks Law Firm All-Stars) went on a solo breakaway, which lasted for six of the seven laps, before the race detonated in the final lap with the winner surging from a chase group, as in the under-23 women’s race.

"It was an awesome day to say the least. Two of us went to the line together, super hard race. The group kept getting smaller, up the two climbs," Barry said.

How it unfolded

The 92-rider under-23 men's field took on a 132.4km route comprising two laps of the 14.5km junior course, including the Wertz Avenue climb, before crossing the river to face the Bridge Road climb across five laps of the 21km elite course.

Early attacks were delivered the first time up the Wertz climb (2.3km at 5.5%) as temperatures crept toward 30°C under partly sunny skies, with humidity hovering around 50%.

Drake was the first rider to get a gap, increasing his lead from four seconds to 58 seconds after two laps. Behind, chasers included Joshua Walker (Mustangs), Colin Mathern (Cleveland Cycling Academy) and Roland Meunier (Kelly Benefits Cycling) with VeloVit Elite duo of Samuel Hart and Ben Boroff leading the field, 1:10 from the solo break rider.

Drake continued solo, building his one-minute lead to 1:46 on the two chasers, Gavin Sherry (CycleSport.com) and Alexander Scopinich-Burgel (Kelly Benefits Cycling) after three laps. Behind, five riders from the Meridian Racing p/b de la Uz team were setting the pace at the front of the peloton, 2:22 back. On the next 30-minute lap, the chasers were back in the field, reduced to 21 riders, as Drake soldiered on, still with over a two-minute lead.

A six-rider chase group trimmed Drake's lead to 26 seconds heading into the final lap. The group included 2025 third-place finisher Alfredo Bueno (EF Education-Aevolo), Barry, Marcis Shelton (Competitive Edge Racing), Noah Shelton (Kelly Benefits Cycling), Owen Cole (Winston Salem-Flow) and Garrett Beshore (Meridian Racing p/b de la Uz). Ezra Caudell (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling) led the second group, of around 10 riders, 1:06 behind the solo breakaway.

Drake was reeled in during the final lap of the race of attrition, leaving a small group to contest the title.

Results

Results powered by FirstCycling

Katherine Sarkisov (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group) claimed the under-23 women's road race title at the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships in Charleston on Saturday.

Sarkisov jumped from a six-rider chase on the final lap to catch and drop the two-rider breakaway to claim the victory, crossing the line 37 seconds ahead of her teammate Jorja Bond. Chloe Fraser (Winston Salem-Flow) took third, a further four seconds later.

The 2025 U23 road champion, Ella Sabo (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28) led the chase group across the line, 2:37 after the winner to take fourth place ahead of Katherine's younger sister, Alyssa Sarkisov (CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group).

"The race plan went super well, we really followed our team plan. We got two girls up super early, within 3k I think, they went up the road with Chloe, and that move stayed away until pretty much the last lap," Sarkisov said.

"I went on the Bridge climb last lap, and I was able to catch one of my teammates, E.B. [Ella Brenneman], who is up the road, and she gave me the pull of her life just over the crest of the climb to really get the gap extended. And then it was just solo until the Wertz climb and there I caught the last two girls and was able to get a gap. My teammate Jorja, who was in the move all day, she finished second, and so it was really an amazing day for the team."

How it unfolded

Under cloudy skies, and temperatures hovering around 23 °C, the 20-rider under-23 women’s field faced a 92.6-kilometre course, covering two laps of the 14.5km junior course, including the Wertz Avenue climb, before crossing to the other side of the river to add on the Bridge Road climb across three laps of the 21km elite course.

Three riders, Chloe Fraser and CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group teammates Jorja Bond and Ella Brenneman, pulled away early in the first lap, increasing their lead the first time up Wertz Avenue (2.3km at 5.5%) to push the gap to over three minutes at the end of the two opening short laps.

At the end of the first big loop, the trio had a lead of 2:16 on the peloton down to 12 riders, with CCB Kenetik p/b Levine Law Group using their numbers to put four riders at the front of the group.

The next time around, Brenneman fell off the pace, leaving Fraser and Bond together at the front, with a 1:57 gap on a six-rider chase group with one lap to go. The chasers included Mia Aseltine (Competitive Edge Racing), Lauren Aggeler (SpeedBlock-Terœn Elite), Kylee Hanel (Aegis x Leaders of Enchantment), defending champion Ella Sabo and the CCB Kenetik duo of 2025 junior road champion Alyssa Sarkisov and Katherine Sarkisov.

Then when Katherine Sarkisov made her powerful move on the final lap and caught Bond and Fraser, there was little they could do but try and hold on for the lower steps of the podium.

Results

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Luke Elphingstone took out the elite men's criterium title at the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships in Charleston, with the 23-year-old stepping it up a level as he shifted up the categories.

"At the start of the year, this was my ‘A’ goal, so I’m just really happy to deliver for the team," said the new elite men's criterium champion.

Elphingstone, who took bronze in the U23 men's criterium last year, won a hard-fought sprint from among a group of nine after the break got away early and held off the chase. The Project Echelon Racing competitor claimed the title ahead of Brody McDonald (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling) while Gavin Hlady (EF Education-Aevolo) was third at the 90-minute race.

"It was pretty hard when we first went, but the adrenaline was high, and we settled in," said Elphingstone of the break. "Once we got it to like 55 seconds, with a lap to go, I knew if I just followed the right wheels, I had the sprint to do it.”

Last year's winner, Lucas Bourgoyne (Team Cadence Cyclery p/b Waldo Racing), was back in the group of 14 that crossed the line 55 seconds after the title had been claimed, so the defending champion had to settle for 11th place at the rain-speckled twilight criterium.

Earlier in the evening, Kendall Ryan (Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing) claimed the women's elite criterium title for a second year in a row.

Kendall Ryan held onto the elite women's criterium title at the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships in Charleston, repaying the work of her Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing teammates with a powerful leap from the final corner.

The sprint played out from among a reduced field, with a crash midway through, right on the line of the mile-long circuit, as the bell rang for the last lap. That left around ten riders on the ground and out of the running.

There was, however, no disruption to the line of riders in red that were positioning Ryan, who then slotted in behind the Virginia Blue Ridge Twenty28 duo of Ella Sabo and Olivia Cummins before the final bend and jumped to the front once through it.

"I'm really proud of my teammates for selflessly working for me today to come down to a sprint," she said in a USA Cycling interview after claiming victory. "I knew what I had to do to get to the last corner and just give it everything I had. I'm super proud to finish it off for them."

Ryan claimed the victory for a second year running ahead of Cummins, while Sabo held on for third in the attack-filled 75-minute race that was pulled back together for the sprint.

“It was so fast. It was non-stop attacking," said Ryan. "Everyone was hungry today, and it showed."

An assumption about gravel racing is that because it happens largely 'off' paved roads, the elite riders are clear from motor vehicles, traffic furniture, sidewalks, gutters and throngs of crowds close to the action at every corner. But is off-road racing really a safer environment?

The short answer is no, as off-road racing has its own set of dangers and risks, with a laundry list of natural and man-made obstacles that can cause chaos: elites mixing with amateur fields, media vehicles on the same minimum maintenance roads (MMR), courses open to public traffic and more. With more live streaming of gravel races, including events at the Gravel Earth Series and Life Time Grand Prix, global audiences can now see for themselves what the riders have talked about for years.

"Safety should be number one. I would trade all the prize money for safety," was an emphatic response from Keegan Swenson to The Cooldown co-host Alexey Vermeulen in March after a camera crew on an all-terrain vehicle almost crashed with Sofia Gomez Villafañe and Paige Onweller, the elite women's leaders at The Mid South.

"These issues happen so often. In the end, it's small instances out on course, and you sometimes forget how close of a call it is because you're in the midst of racing and you go straight back to racing. It's good it got caught on camera, to see actually how sketchy it was.

"At almost every single race, there's an incident. Big Sugar last year was one. You talk to promoters or race organisers after and it's always 'Oh, sorry, it won't happen again'. But it just keeps happening. It just seems like a recurring theme. It's time for them to step back and focus on the safety of the riders more than the shot," Swenson said to Vermeulen.

Both riders are part of the Life Time Grand Prix, Swenson currently second overall and Vermeulen third, and noted that even the races in the series were not immune challenges. At Sea Otter Classic the course is closed, but has had issues with dust kicked up by media vehicles and hand-off in feed zones. Unbound Gravel 200 and Leadville Trail 100 MTB have areas where the course passes over active roads, and the feed zones were shared with age-group riders.

"The sport, to begin with, isn't very safe. You know, I come from the road. We still see crashes with cars, even though it's closed courses. We still see riders making stupid decisions," Vermeulen said.

"The UCI has done some things, like trackers on bikes now, riders can't get lost. We [gravel racers] deal with even more, because we're racing off road, there's all sorts of weird surface things. I feel like in the end, you need to control the controllables."

Media vehicle mayhem, 'dusting' riders and 'the slip'

Onweller and Villafañe were not injured at The Mid South near-collision with a media all-terrain vehicle, but it disrupted their race. A nine-rider sprint was won by Villafane, with Onweller finishing fourth. Onweller said she has spent a lot of time talking with Mid South organisers since and they had been receptive to her input for safety, specifically with media vehicles.

"They've been super open to feedback and wanting to talk through like plans and how things are improved. I'll continue to talk with them as they work towards next year's event," she told Cyclingnews.

Vermeulen confirmed that while The Mid South got called out for the incident because it was seen globally on a live stream and social posts, it still happens all the time.

"When you have a conversation about how crazy an event was, very rarely is it in a photo, on video or two [people] actually talking about it afterwards, because you go on to the person who won the race. And if there was the catastrophe or someone got hit, then there isn't a reason to really talk about it. People want to glance over it because we don't want to point the flashlight at the dark corners of the sport."

The Mid South is not an isolated incident related to chaos kicked up by UTVs, motorbikes and jeeps. A 'side-by-side slip' can be created by these vehicles, specifically when conditions are dry, that provides less air resistance like drafting from the front. These common situations, according to Swenson, occur when a media vehicle misjudges the speed of the racers.

"They'll be stopped at the bottom of the hill, and we roll up onto them so fast. [Then] accelerating, trying to get out of there, they're dusting us. It creates a situation where it puts off this mean slip[stream]. You happen to get in the slip of this thing, you can just be gone."

He recounted how Cameron Jones and Simon Pellaud used this slipstream effect at Unbound Gravel 200 in 2025 to break away from the lead group. It wasn't a safety issue, but could be interpreted as a fairness issue.

"It's not necessarily the fault of the riders, because if it's there you're going to use it. We're looking for every advantage. Sometimes you just happen to attack and the side-by-side is there, and there's nowhere else to go.

"And I think the issue with the side-by-side, not many think about it, is those big exposed wheels [of the UTV]. They can just suck you in, like catch your foot on them. Whereas a motorcycle, it's more like a bike. At least you're not going to get sucked under the wheel and run over by a 5,000-pound machine."

But motorbikes are not clear of trouble, as a moto crashed at Lauf Gravel Worlds last year and caused separation in the pro field. Another moto crashed at Unbound two years ago. The Cooldown hosts agreed that skillful motorcycle operators were part of the solution.

"What's hard, is that it's changed really quickly. I think in the span of three or four years that you and I have been involved, gravel has gone from 'spirit of gravel' – hang out, have fun, stop in feed zones – to professional racing. We're going that first part of the race 27, 28 miles an hour average into the first feed zone. You can't plan on the fly when you're going that fast," Vermeulen added.

Did feed zones work at Unbound?

The early feedback was positive on expanding feed zones for pros only at Unbound Gravel 200 this year, a change made by Life Time, the organisers of the Grand Prix series and owners of the collection of six races, because of input from the elite riders.

"Unbound was always tough because it's such a long race, so feed zones historically, got you to think about carrying like four litres of water," Onweller told Cyclingnews after she finished top five for a second time at Unbound 200.

"I went to a wind tunnel with Sika specifically testing how to carry four litres of water, and then the next thing you know, Life Time announces they're doing a third feed zone. So I think a lot of us elite racers were really excited, and the elite feeds were separate so that improved safety."

Onweller said the first pro-only feed zone was really short, and the speeds carried into the area would be too high for the space allowed, but the mud at mile 15 split the men's and women's pelotons apart so there was no mass entry of riders. She thought the second two feed zones were super long and having space between team set-ups was good. However the difficult logistics for crews to move between feed zones was stressful and split resources.

"We had a crew that was at the start line that then went to feed two, and then the feed zone one people went to feed zone three, so they alternated each other, so that they could catch both male and female riders," she confirmed.

"At the end of the day, adding a third feed zone actually split resources. Yeah, I think that was a really big struggle. We tried to get as many bodies as possible, but it's still a stress to your resources, so for that reason I didn't really like the added third feed zone. Unless you have endless resources in this industry, which is pretty rare, I think it stressed a lot of people."

Andrew L'Esperance, who completed his fourth Unbound Gravel 200 this year and back as an invited rider in the Grand Prix, agreed that the third feed zone did work for the most part but did create stress.

"I think it worked quite well. It avoided all the challenges that were in previous versions of Unbound, just because the feed zones were longer and they had way less people in them, so there was just a lot more space to operate," he told Cyclingnews.

"There were some challenges with transportation between feed zone one and two. I just think with the way the course layout was, it wasn't really impossible to have the same person feed [at both]. It is just the reality of the area we're racing in, that the way that we got from feed zone one to feed zone two was all on back gravel roads, and there was no real main roads to get there quickly.

"This is just an example of them [Life Time] trying to improve, They hit it like 90% great, and that last 10% is just something they can do to make it perfect."

Close calls and closed courses

Gravel races typically cover so much real estate, are closed courses possible? In Europe, the courses often pass through densely populated areas. Vermeulen and Onweller noted that USA Cycling had a closed course for US Gravel Nationals that worked, Onweller third in Nebraska two years ago and Vermeulen finishing fourth at US Nationals in Minnesota last year. Swenson said the 2025 circuit course for SBT GRVL was 'semi-closed' and seemed safe.

L'Esperance noted that one of the best-organised gravel races he has done was a regional event near his home outside Montreal, Gravelooza. It was held the weekend after Unbound, with 1,800 participants, and he noted that all intersections were marshaled by construction workers.

"At the front of the race, it felt safe the whole time," he said, noting that the workers are used to regulating traffic.

Leadville and Big Sugar were races many riders called out as unsafe – Leadville for the two-way traffic up and down the Columbine climb, and Big Sugar in Arkansas for multiple intersections where the course crossed paved roads, many of them busy. L'Esperance also noted that The Traka 360, where he finished ninth this year, had issues that may have gone unnoticed.

"I ran into the situation at The Traka where there was just most of the busy roads were marshaled by volunteers, I would say with varying effectiveness. So they didn't have the same confidence or authority that you'd expect in that situation.

"There was a fast gravel road corner and our group came very close to getting hit by a car. It was just one of those scenarios where I think the group had been pretty used to having marshals at key intersections most of the day. This happened to be one where there wasn't a marshal, and it wasn't a hard corner, it was like a softer corner, so maybe there was less alertness by the group on it, but these things obviously can happen."

Vermeulen pointed out that while it is great to have volunteers along a course, they need to be helpful, pay attention at all times and understand what is the proper hand signal to use. Are they signaling that an intersection is clear to cross or are riders to stop, or is a car to stop?

Onweller noted that Life Time did a better job this year with protected intersections, and securing the pro finish lines with fencing for an extended distance and providing police at many of the later intersections, for amateurs and pros.

Leadville the next barometre

In the 'early days' of gravel racing, just five years ago, Life Time, the organisers of the Grand Prix series and owners of the collection of six races, set a precedent by outlawing comfort bars from the elite divisions of the off-road races. It was a rather seismic rule, but the dust settled quickly.

Next came separate starts for elite men and women, larger spacing from age-division rider starts and a no-drafting rule for riders in outside categories. Rules vary from race to race around the globe on all of those, with The Traka allowing age-group men to start before the elite women this year and chaos ensued.

Life Time created two athlete advisor roles for this year, the fifth season of the series, to provide feedback from the elite competitors to improve "race experience, competition structure and key decisions that shape the series". Melisa Rollins and L'Esperance were selected by their peers for 2026, and both shared with Cyclingnews how the 'shaping' of the series has a key focus on safety.

"Life Time is open to feedback, and they're trying to improve all the time, and this is just an example of them trying to improve," L'Esperance said, the process still being developed.

"It's really cool to see that our opinions really do matter and they are actively making changes. When they say they are gonna bring it back to the team and come back to us, they always do," said Rollins, who has been out most of 2026 due to several injuries.

"I'm just getting one billion texts from one billion different avenues, about this and that, so we're kind of a good middle I think, Lespy and I."

A past winner of Leadville Trail 100 MTB, Rollins said that race had its own issues related to feed zones, media vehicles and two-way traffic with age-group riders that bring safety to the forefront.

"It seems as the media demand is sort of elevated at these races. Everybody wants media, but the more media, all the media vehicles, that's when we're having more safety problems. We aren't keeping up with the safety protocol," she said.

"Having the pro-only feed zones will help with availability for media. Hopefully it'll be safer in that regard because obviously last year there was a media crew incident coming down Columbine and we don't want a repeat of that.

"I'm not sure if there's really a solution other than closing the roads and we get a really, really safe race. That's not possible, not with races that are taking us [pros] six hours and an amateur race going on that take people 12 hours."

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Wilmar Paredes (Medellin-EPM) claimed the overall victory in the Tour de Beauce, a UCI 2.2-ranked stage race in Québec, Canada.

The Colombian team landed two of the final podium spots with 2025 Tour de Beauce winner Diego Camargo in second at 1:02, and Tim McBirney (Project Echelon) in third, 1:10 behind Paredes, and won three of the five stages.

The 30-year-old Paredes began his victorious campaign by taking out two of the three time bonus sprints on the opening stage. Combined with the bonus for his second place in the bunch sprint, Paredes claimed the first yellow jersey by two seconds over stage winner Marshall Erwood (Whoosh-NZ Cycling Project).

While Paredes ceded the race lead on the second stage to Briton Adam Lewis (APS), who was second from the breakaway behind Medellin-EPM's Robigzon Oyola, he reclaimed the race lead on stage 3, finishing second to Camargo from the breakaway.

Paredes successfully defended his lead on stage 4 before cementing the overall victory with a sprint victory on the final stage.

The Tour de Beauce gave Paredes his ninth win of 2026 and his second UCI stage race victory after the Volta de São Paulo last month.

Stage 1

New Zealand's Marshall Erwood opened the Tour de Beauce with the stage victory in Saint-Côme-Linière at the end of a 190.1 kilometre stage.

The Whoosh-NZ Cycling Project rider out-sprinted Paredes and Leo Roy (Bluebird Entreposage) from a much-reduced peloton at the end of the hilly stage.

However, Erwood was denied the yellow jersey of race leader because Paredes claimed two three-second time bonuses early in the stage. Combined with a six-second bonus as runner-up at the finish, Paredes gained 12 seconds to Erwood's 10, and moved into the yellow jersey by two seconds.

Stage 2

The breakaway claimed the second stage of the Tour de Beauce, a 169.2km circuit around Saint-Odilon-de-Cranbourn.

While a ten-rider breakaway was chased down with 40km to go, three riders escaped in the final 10km and held on to fight for the stage victory.

The win went to Medellin-EPM's Robigzon Oyola ahead of Adam Lewis (APS). Killian O'Brien (Skyline) finished a distant third.

Lewis donned the yellow jersey with 13 seconds over Paredes, while Erwood was third at 18 seconds.

Stage 3

Defending Tour de Beauce champion Diego Camargo won the race's queen stage to Mont-Mégantic for the second year in a row, escaping with teammate Paredes, wearing the white points jersey, on the final climb of the 168.9 km stage.

The pair chased down McBirney, who had been off the front of the race for 125 kilometres and had a three-minute solo lead at the foot of the ascent.

When the two Medellin-EPM riders had McBirney in sight at the kilometre to go banner and broke the American's heart by sweeping past just before the line.

Camargo celebrated his win just ahead of Paredes, with McBirney finishing five seconds later.

Paredes moved back into the race lead with 38 seconds over Camargo, with Kent Ross (Cascadia-Expeditors) moving into third ahead of Lewis.

Stage 4

The locals got to enjoy some time in the spotlight in the stage 4 individual time trial, a 7.9km run along the St. Lawrence River in Québec City.

Jacob Roy (Les Regis Groupe-Auto Ami) won the stage by two seconds over Québec's Joel Plamondon, with Erwood rounding out the stage podium fractions of a second behind in third.

"Winning is a big surprise! It was a perfect race. I race a time trial of exactly the same distance every Wednesday, and I learned quite quickly how to manage the effort. I always believed I could do it, and I succeeded," Roy said.

Paredes limited his losses in fifth at three seconds and extended his GC lead over Camargo to 47 seconds. McBirney held onto third at 55 seconds after finishing sixth on the day.

Stage 5

Paredes sealed his overall victory with Medellin-EPM's third stage win, deftly handling the 13 laps of the 6.3km technical city circuit in Saint-Georges before sprinting to the line ahead of Jerome Gauthier (Project Echelon) and Boris van der Voort (Wielerploeg Groot Amsterdam).

While there was no change in the overall standings, Camargo lost a handful of seconds to finish 1:02 down, with McBirney third at 1:10.

Lost and Found may have been set in Portola, California but the top spots across the Pro Men's and Women's race were both claimed by debuting riders from New Zealand, Ruby Ryan and Matthew Wilson (Scott Sports USA), who had decided to take a road trip out to the event after Unbound.

Wilson took a solo victory in the men's Gravel Earth series race ahead of Payson McElveen (Allied Cycle Works-Red Bull) while last year's winner Peter Stetina claimed third, passing Skyler Taylor (Pinarello) on the run to the line, as he bounced back from a gash to his knee that ended his Unbound endeavours.

Ryan, on the other hand, clinched the women's race in a two-way sprint, deciding to hop in the car and make her debut after men's winner Wilson suggested she too, should check out the event, and then finding another compatriot out on course to share the day of racing with.

"I rode most of the day with my fellow kiwi Samara Sheppard, who finished second," said the mountain biker from New Zealand who is part of the Life Time Grand Prix series. "We got away at mile 66, and then we were just rotating. It was great to be with her at the end, and it came down to a sprint finish. I think that was my first sprint win, so I'm happy."

Jennifer Tavé (SpeedBlock-Terún Pro Cycling) then rolled over the line about three minutes back to take third, repeating her result of 2025.

In the men's race, through the double-track it thinned down to a group of three – Wilson, McElveen and Taylor – but then, at the second-to-last feed zone, Taylor was left behind, and the duo of Wilson and McElveen were out the front.

"Then we just rolled turns from there until the final gravel climb," said Wilson in a race Instagram post. "We could see Skyler starting to come up on the horizon. Over the top of that climb I attacked on the descent and got a reasonable gap down the hill and managed to hold that till the entry of the single track.

"Once I was in the single track I was back in my home element and able to open up that gap a bit more and get out of sight and I just soloed home back down the hill."

It was Wilson's second win in as many weeks, with the rider who clinched a wildcard entry to the Life Time Grand Prix at Unbound having also snared a very different victory at Tulsa Tough. There, he washed the mud off his gravel bike, threw on some road wheels and claimed the McElroy River Parks criterium solo.

Results

European gravel champion Mads Würtz Schmidt (Specialized Off-road) followed his solo victory a week ago at Unbound Gravel 200 with another single-handed rampage at Ranxo Gravel in Spain. His winning time of 4:34:53 was five minutes ahead of a chasing group with five riders, led across the line by Kevin Kühn (Heizomat-Cube) in second, who was four seconds ahead of Julian Siemons (GVA Gold).

Strung out across the finish rolled the rest of the chasers, Hugo Drechou (Gravel Nation) in fourth, Joel Roth (BIXS Race Team) in fifth and Danny van Lierop (Heizomat-Cube) in sixth.

The European marathon mountain bike champion Rosa van Doorn (Buff-BH Team) outpaced Morgan Aguirre (PAS Racing) on the grassy straightaway to win the elite women's division by five seconds, completing the course in 5:19:01. Axelle Dubau-Prevot (EF Education-Oatly) trailed another 34 seconds later for third, with Sophie Wright (Ribble Outliers) a distant fourth.

"Huh, I definitely didn’t expect this one. First gravel race of the year on an amazing course," Van Doorn said on Instagram.

Würtz Schmidt has gone four-for-four in Gravel Earth Series events this season and has a substantial lead over Drechou in the men's overall standings, with Petr Vakoč (Factor Racing) third. Dubau-Prevot sits at the top of the women's leaderboard, ahead of Aguirre in second and Wright in third.

In previous years, Ranxo Gravel served as the decisive final round of the Gravel Earth Series. This year the 160km long route, with 1,930 metres of elevation gain from Ponts, Spain, was moved to June as the fifth race in the series, the finale taking place at The River by the Traka in Bouillon, Belgium on September 6.

FoCo Fondo gravel race adds live stream

A new live stream of the elite races at FoCo Fondo presented by Fat Tire will feature as part of the 11th edition of the Fort Collins, Colorado gravel race, taking place July 19. The broadcast will be shown on the YouTube channel of event organisation Bike Sports (bikesportsco), founded in 2016 by athletes Zack and Whitney Allison.

A total prize purse $15,000 is on the line in the 120-mile Triple Dog Dare distance, the longest of four routes, with payouts 10 deep for elite men, elite women and non-binary/gender expansive divisions, all with separate starts.

Last year Torbjørn Røed out-sprinted Alexey Vermeulen in the elite men's division while Lauren Stephens defended her title, 14 minutes ahead of runner-up Courtney Sherwell.

The event's non-profit beneficiary, Friends of FoCo Fondo, expands their reach in 2026 with the addition of 30 para-cycling athletes in a scholarship program. This initiative provides access to registration, housing, and educational resources who might not otherwise have a path to the start line. It is the sixth year for the scholarship program, which has helped more than 100 riders to date.

“We want to keep growing FoCo Fondo with a diverse participation base for the right reasons. Our event, who it benefits, who shows up, and how it feels, is all made better by having people of all types participating," Zack Allison said.

Expanded U23 Program confirms 32 riders for Life Time Grand Prix compeition

A total of 12 women and 20 men were named to the 2026 rosters for the second edition of the Life Time Grand Prix U23 Program. Series organisers, Life Time, expanded the number of participants from 10 in each division after strong showings in the two qualifying races.

Results from Life Time's first two rounds of the Grand Prix, Sea Otter Classic Gravel (90 miles) and Unbound Gravel 100, served as the races within each race for rankings of riders between the ages of 18 and 22. They will next compete in the remaining Grand Prix schedule for overall rankings after Big Sugar Gravel, with the top pair earning roster spots in the 2027 elite LTGP lineup. Four of the six total races are required.

"We originally planned to select 10 young women and men, but the depth of talent this year made it clear that we had an opportunity to expand. By expanding the roster and introducing race entry support, we are doubling down on our commitment to building a stronger development pipeline and creating more opportunities for the next generation of elite off-road cyclists," said Michelle Duffy, director of the Life Time Grand Prix.

Race entry fees will be covered for the U23 riders through the remainder of the season by Life Time, which Duffy said helps eliminate barriers of access and cost for many riders who are students or work full-time.

After two events so far this year, USA's Kylee Hanel has won two races to lead the women's standings, while Canadian Oskar Stack-Michasiw used a U23 second place at Unbound Gravel to move into the men's lead. Inaugural winners of the U23 Program were Ruth Holcomb and Griffin Hoppin, now part of the invitation-only Grand Prix lineup this season.

U23 Women's Roster

• Lauren Aggeler, Colorado, USA
• Samantha Campbell, Colorado, USA
• Alex Charles, Utah, USA
• Ellory Clason, Michigan, USA
• Katelyn Cook, Idaho, USA
• Brooke Darby, Colorado, USA
• Kylee Hanel, Oregon, USA
• Scarlett Hardie, Colorado, USA
• Samantha Johnson, Tennessee, USA
• Courtney Merrill, Idaho, USA
• Lacie Munns, Utah, USA
• Emily Stapleton, Pennsylvania, USA

U23 Men's Roster

• Isaac Allred, Minnesota, USA
• Ryker Brand, Utah, USA
• Aero Fisher, California, USA
• Jason Freihofner, California, USA
• Calvin Horner, Kansas, USA
• Jake Johansen, Arizona, USA
• Holden Krizek, Colorado, USA
• Finn McKenzie, Marlborough, New Zealand
• Luke Mosteller, Georgia, USA
• Ryder Ritchie, California, USA
• Ollie Rutberg, Colorado, USA
• Jacob Schneller, Kansas, USA
• Braeden Sellinger, Arizona, USA
• Jack Spang, California, USA
• Oskar Stack-Michasiw, Saskatchewan Canada
• Kash Steele, California, USA
• Jacob Stutz, California, USA
• Elliot Thornblade, Montana, USA
• Noah Warren, Alabama, USA
• Jonas Woodruff, California, USA

The indoor training app Zwift is set to launch a men's and women's junior team for 2027, with the express aim of developing North American riders so that one may stand on the top step of the Tour de France podium within 10 years.

The team, which will officially launch later in 2026, does not yet have a name, but will be supported by Zwift, bike brand Canyon and clothing brand Pedal Mafia, with "sporting pathway and support" from other Zwift- and Canyon-backed teams, Canyon-SRAM, Alpecin-Premier Tech and Fenix-Premier Tech.

The team will field male and female riders from the United States, Canada and Mexico and plan to race in both Europe and North America, and has recruited former La Vie Claire rider Roy Knickman as sports director. Knickman previously ran the successful junior development team Lux/CTS until it shut down in 2022.

The genesis of the new Zwift team seems to be borne out of North America's relative lack of success in the sport's biggest race, the Tour, in the 21st century and since the era of Greg LeMond and the tumultuous career of Lance Armstrong.

"It has been over twenty years since a North American rider stood on the top step in Paris, and we are committed to change that," said Eric Min, co-founder and CEO of Zwift [ed. - Floyd Landis was the last rider to 'win' the Tour, in 2006, but was stripped of his title].

"North America is one of the most important cycling markets in the world, but professional road racing has all but disappeared here. Standing up a world-class team is our answer. We are investing directly in the next generation of North American talent, and are doing so alongside partners who share our belief that this sport deserves a bigger future on this continent."

There are currently six men's UCI races in the United States and Canada, and five for women. There is a healthy calendar of criterium and gravel racing, but little in the way of a road racing pathway towards Europe, which is still the heartland of all of the sport's most important races.

"The new team arrives at a moment when North American road cycling lacks the visibility, fandom, and financial support it once enjoyed during the eras of Greg LeMond, Andrew Hampsten, and Steve Bauer, when their performances in the Tour de France lifted cycling into mainstream culture," a Zwift press release read. Lance Armstrong also had a huge impact on the popularity of cycling in the US, but leaves a complicated legacy after admitting to doping.

"With the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics on the horizon and women's cycling experiencing record growth (fueled in part by Zwift’s long-running partnership with the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift), the founding partners believe the time is right to invest in the youth riders who will define the next decade of the sport."

More so than just sponsorship, Zwift's involvement will see the team built by Zwift founder Min, aiming at ensuring the team's long-term existence and success.

"Backed by long-term financial support from Zwift and private donors, the foundation is designed to fund racing, coaching, equipment, and athlete development well beyond a typical sponsorship cycle, eliminating the year-to-year financial uncertainty that has historically constrained programs like this one," the press release stated.

"Junior development cannot be a two-year experiment. It has to be a generational commitment," Min added. "That is why the long-term plan is to establish an endowment for our team. We are creating a permanent platform for North American riders, one dedicated to helping our athletes reach their full potential on and off the bike, and we plan for it to be here long after our first champion carries the Yellow Jersey into Paris."

The state of North American cycling

Despite Zwift's assertion that "North American road cycling lacks [...] visibility, fandom, and financial support", there are many North American cyclists having success in European road racing.

Both women's Olympic and world road race champions are currently North American – Kristen Faulkner and Magdeleine Vallieres – and Canada's Isabella Holmgren is establishing herself as a serious GC contender. That said, no North American rider has yet won a stage of the Tour de France Femmes.

On the men's side, Isaac del Toro has revived Mexico's standing on the world cycling stage with his Giro d'Italia podium and various other successes, and his compatriot Romina Hinojosa is representing Mexico in the women's peloton. Sepp Kuss is a Grand Tour winner and riders like Matteo Jorgenson and Derek Gee-West are some of the top stage racers in the peloton, all from North America.

Matthew Riccitello and Quinn Simmons are also shining on the WorldTour stage. At the younger end of the spectrum, North American riders like AJ August and Artem Schmidt have both taken their first pro wins this season.

Two North American teams are currently partnered with a WorldTour team, with Hot Tubes U23 development team working with Netcompany Ineos, and EF Education-Aevolo with their WorldTour counterparts. It is not clear how the former partnership may or may not continue, since Ineos launched their own U23 squad for 2026 and partnered with a British junior outfit.

Though the current North American talent in the professional peloton's is not in doubt. the new project seems to aim to make sure that the next Vallieres, Del Toro or Jorgenson has a clear way to follow in their footsteps.

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The stars-and-stripes jersey seems to be a Superman cape for US Pro road national champion Quinn Simmons, with the Lidl-Trek rider out-sprinting a breakaway group to win a thrilling stage 4 at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

The triumph on Wednesday was significant from many angles for the 25-year-old US rider, including a rare exhibition of harnessing his speed for a sprint win that ended a one-year drought. It was also an all-out demonstration that he thought would earn him a spot on Lidl-Trek's Tour de France roster for the fourth time.

"I'm so proud to race in this jersey, and then also race for this team. I mean to be flying this flag in Europe, it's beautiful for me. Ask these guys [with Lidl-Trek] but I think I think I punched my ticket [to the Tour]," Simmons said at the finish to EuroSport, CyclingProNet and other media.

"There's some weight lifted. It's been a year since I put my hands in the air [at Tour de Suisse], so it's pretty special. Forever, no matter what I do, I think that victory in Suisse will be the biggest one in my career, for me personally, but of course I [have] a stage of the Dauphiné. I think if I do nothing else the rest of the season, I've had a good season now.

"I have the two biggest one-week stage races, I have a stage in each, both in the national jersey, that's pretty special for me," he said about winning 12 months ago at the Tour de Suisse, which was three weeks after he won the US Pro road title.

His victory in Switzerland was also from the breakaway that day, but he attacked solo with 20km to go for the win.

The victory a year later on Wednesday's stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (formerly the Critérium du Dauphiné) saw the aggressive US rider escape with around 100km to go with two others, Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) and Andreas Kron (Uno-X Mobility), and a dozen kilometres later a united group of 12 came together. Their gap never went over two minutes and Simmons was not sure they'd survive, even with the eight remaining riders carrying speed ahead of the closing peloton in the straightaway to the line.

"To be honest, when we only had a minute and a half with 70k to go, I didn't believe. I wanted a hard day in front to prepare for what comes next, so you just go and commit full out," he said about the breakaway surviving.

"With 8k to go, I did push a bit out of one of the roundabouts, just to put some speed in the group and tell everyone, like, 'hey guys, now is the time to commit'. We had 20 seconds with 8k [to go], but with a tailwind, I think we proved it's enough.

"And I've never won a sprint before, so that's kind of cool. I'm not super snappy, but for 30 seconds, there's not too many guys that come around me."

The final 15km of stage 4 into Montrond-les-Bains was similar to a weekly group ride he does in the winter in Arizona, called the Shootout. He just imagined himself in the same situation.

"So, in my head, I just told myself I was on a shootout sprint and rolled for it. It's crazy how today's finish was almost exactly the same feeling. I came from the US straight [to France], and whenever I come from home, I ride at a really high level. I know how to prepare for the bigger races."

June seems to be the litmus test month for Simmons. He won his first US Pro road championship in 2023. After setbacks with crashes in 2024, he reclaimed the national road title in 2025. Before this June closes, he returns to the US to defend the championship, then aims for "the biggest dream" to win at the Tour de France in July, a route that will have several options to his liking.

"First I go home for the Nationals, so I'd really like to bring this jersey back, and then we can speak for the Tour. That's the biggest dream," he said

"You never know when your last chance to win in the national jersey is. You have to earn it back every year."

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Just last week, New Zealand mountain biker Matthew Wilson was celebrating a performance at Unbound Gravel that clinched him a wildcard spot in the Life Time Grand Prix series. However, there was no rest for the Scott Sports USA rider after taking 28th in a brutal edition of the race, given he'd decided to pin on a number at the Tulsa Tough criteriums through the weekend.

"I borrowed a mate's road wheels, put them on the gravel bike and gave it a nudge," said Wilson in the race live broadcast.

The 24-year-old on the repurposed Scott Addict Gravel wasn't just rolling around to make up numbers either, delivering an unexpected victory in the race style that could hardly provide a bigger contrast to his efforts of the previous weekend.

Wilson joined the fray after the Blue Dome criterium, part of the American Criterium cup series, opening up the legs with 51st at the Tulsa Arts District Criterium but then really turning up the heat for the finale, the McElroy River Parks criterium, which includes Cry Baby hill.

"Winning a US pro crit was not on the to-do list for 2026, but here we are," said Wilson in an Instagram post after a weekend of racing, which included claiming the Pro Men's top spot at the Tulsa Tough finale, the McElroy Parks criterium.

He was aggressive in pursuit of the break, which was far from a one-off effort, but Wilson was persistent.

"Having never really considered myself a sprinter, and not being a fan of the carnage that can unfold in the bunch, I figured the best place to be was off the front," said Wilson, who certainly couldn't have had any concerns about his ability to go long.

At more than 50 minutes into the race with around ten laps to go, Wilson clipped off the front in a move where he initially joined Riley Wrightsman, but then went it alone.

"It took a couple of attempts, but eventually I found myself solo with five laps to go and managed to hang on all the way to the finish," said Wilson.

A win in the prestigious US criterium may have been cause for celebration for the rider who confessed that "I haven't done too much crit racing at all to be fair." There was no time to get wrapped up in the celebrations, though, as the gravel bike is due to hit more familiar terrain once again.

"I'm up early tomorrow morning," said Wilson. "I've got a 14-hour drive out to Durango, making my way across the country to Lost and Found Gravel."

Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) and Dario Rapps (DCC) won the opening races of Saint Francis Tulsa Tough on Friday night at the Blue Dome Criterium in Oklahoma and took the first leader's jerseys for the American Criterium Cup series.

The women's contest saw Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing control the peloton on the eight-corner course in Tulsa, Oklahoma, positioning for team leader and USPro criterium champion Kendall Ryan. After a mid-race sprint won by Caldera's Yarely Salazar, L39ION's Schneider made multiple attacks, countered by Caldera's Laurel Rathbun.

It came down to the final lap, with the bright red jerseys of Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing launching early for Ryan, with still half a lap to go. Schneider was in fourth position through the final corner and accelerated up to Ryan for a photo finish, the Wisconsin native winning with a perfectly timed bike throw. Ryan went second and Aline Seitz (HigherDOSE l Renova) third.

“I really didn’t believe it, it was so close in the end…I heard my mom screaming so that was the extra bike throw," she said afterwards.

"This was the night I was most worried about, minimizing the damage in the overall," she added, after starting the weekend of racing with the individual lead in the one-day race series.

The men's race was rampant with attacks as the sun set for the evening and the laps were illuminated by streetlights. With 10 laps to go, Foundation New York took over the pacemaking for Bryan Gomez and Jordan Parra.

The lead-out train of Foundation NY was disrupted with two laps to go with attacks by Lucas Bourgoyne (Team Cadence Cyclery pb Waldo Racing) and Rapps, accelerating simultaneously and causing contact. Bourgoyne lost momentum, but Rapps peeled off for a second consecutive victory in the Blue Dome Criterium.

Gomez and Parra would finish two-three for Foundation New York, while Bourgoyne went fourth ahead of Justin Williams (L39ION of Los Angeles).

“There was a lot of pressure on our shoulders, we came such a long way. And already…we felt that we can be at the very front. And now we are just so happy," Rapps told organisers, saying his team did all the work. "I didn’t have to go in the wind even one time, just the last 200 metres.”

The next stop of the American Criterium Cup will be June 27 at Café Hollander Otto Wenz Downer Classic presented by ISCorp in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, part of Tour of America's Dairyland.

Results

New Colorado legislation called 'Magnus' Law', named for 17-year-old cyclist Magnus White who was killed by an impaired driver of a car nearly three years ago, was signed on Thursday by Colorado Governor Jared Polis.

The state bill, SB26-132, now requires law enforcement officials to offer a voluntary alcohol breath test to drivers of motor vehicles who are involved in crashes – between vehicles, or a bike or pedestrian and a vehicle – that result in death or injury.

When White was struck and killed on a mid-day training ride near Boulder, Colorado on July 30, 2023, the responding officer did not conduct a breath test on the driver, Yeva Smilianska, who was 20 months later found guilty of reckless vehicular homicide.

A five-day trial concluded on April 5, 2025, and jurors determined that she had been drinking alcohol with a friend throughout the night and early morning, which was a factor in the 24-year-old driver falling asleep while driving.

"Today we took action to keep Coloradans safer on our roads. This law honors the legacy of Magnus White, and turns tragedy to action so less families have to endure the heartbreak that the White family has faced," Governor Polis said in a statement.

White had been training for the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Glasgow, where he planned to represent Team USA in the men's junior cross-country race on August 10.

"It took 20 months for the truth to come out in a courtroom. 20 months to find out why our son was dead. The only person tested for drugs or alcohol that day was Magnus. The person who killed him was not," said Michael White, father of Magnus, in a report posted by Colorado Public Radio from a ceremony held at Valmont Bike Park, where his son used to ride.

"There's only one person responsible for my son's death. Gaps in the system are responsible for the 20 months it took to find out. But one question at the scene could have told us that afternoon."

SB26-132, Voluntary Alcohol Breath Test, was sponsored by Senators Dylan Roberts and John Carson, and Representatives Junie Joseph and Matt Soper.

The family created The White Line Foundation after Magnus' death, advocating to make roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

"This law helps ensure no family is left wondering whether impairment was fully investigated after a serious injury or death on our roads. Some may ask, if a driver refuses an impairment test, what’s the point? Here’s what we want you to understand: law enforcement can still secure DUI convictions even when a driver refuses the test," The White Line Foundation posted to social media after the governor's signature made the bill a law.

"The real problem — and what happened the day Magnus was killed — isn’t drivers refusing. It’s law enforcement not even investigating impairment in the first place.

"Magnus’ Law is designed to close that gap. When a serious injury or death occurs on our roads, law enforcement is now required to investigate for impairment — whether it’s a car-on-car, or a driver versus a vulnerable road user crash. No family should ever have to wonder whether that question was even asked."

Smilianska, now 25, was sentenced to four years. On Wednesday, she was sentenced to 364 days in jail, with 132 days' credit for time served, for an unrelated misdemeanour theft case in Longmont, Colorado, according to the ABC TV affiliate in Denver.

There was ample pre-race hype about new equipment and the strength of the Specialized Off-road team at the 2026 Unbound Gravel 200 while the swirling around about the bigger setup under the PAS Racing collective was a little more subdued, even though defending women's champion Karolina Migoń was back.

Still, that doesn't mean that there weren't plenty of tales to be told from among the teams, of both results and camaraderie. PAS Racing started with seven riders in Emporia, Kansas, and finished with two on the podium. Cecily Decker and Tobias Kongstad secured third place in both elite divisions, plus Decker moved to second overall in the Life Time Grand Prix standings.

Migoń surrendered to mud and mechanical issues in the opening 20 miles for a DNF "because I simply couldn't pedal anymore", and Magnus Bak Klaris also pulled out. Simen Nordahl Svendsen fought on for 18th, and is now 14th in the Life Time Grand Prix men's standings. While the teamwork shone brightly as the tandem of USA's Morgan Aguirre and Germany's Romy Kasper battled through a crash, mechanicals, rainstorms, a long delay for a train before continuing on for a "best of the rest" sprint for the top 12.

Through blurry eyes, stinging and red from all the muck splattered across the 207-mile (333km) odyssey on Saturday, Romy told Cyclingnews her first Unbound was quite an eye-opener, and a seventh place was a reward that might just bring her back.

"So I came here and was like 'what am I doing, 330k's racing?' I was pro 17 years on the road, but 300 kilometres are just another level. I wasn't sure how I can handle the legs, but it worked pretty well," Kasper told Cyclingnews at the finish.

Kasper recently won her first gravel competition, Gravel One Fifty, a 150km Gravel World Series race in the Netherlands, and has three other top 10s. However, even beyond the distance, Unbound Gravel was a different challenge altogether for Kasper, who raced in the top-tier of road racing with teams like Boels-Dolmans, Jumbo-Visma and Human Powered Health.

Rain changed the complexion of the race, with all the elite riders facing struggles with mud in the first 15 miles. Kasper had to let the rest of the front riders go as she cleared debris and wet dirt from her bike. At the first Feed Zone she and her bike got a fast spray of water, and the she 'went all in' with a group to get within six minutes of the leaders, which included Decker, with 124 miles to go (82 miles done).

"Then the real battle began. From km 132 onwards, the conditions got brutal. Rain, mud, headwinds, crosswinds. Hours of riding covered in dirt, barely able to see at times, while our group slowly got smaller and smaller," she said on Instagram Monday.

She said that she had then come down about 40 miles later.

"Around km 190, I crashed hard at high speed. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if my race was over," she continued to explain in her diary recap.

"As if the crash wasn’t enough, heavy rain started pouring down shortly after. We got stopped by a train, stood there freezing, soaked, and suddenly finishing didn’t seem so important anymore. But sometimes you don’t need to decide about the finish line—you only need to decide about the next kilometre. I told myself I would ride to the next feed at km 240 and reassess there."

After the delay for the freight train, which lasted more than six minutes, she picked up Aguirre who had stopped to fix a rear wheel issue and the two rode together to the third and final feed zone. It was Kasper who became recharged and motivated Aguirre, who was looking for points in the Life Time Grand Prix. The two talked and Kasper said she would not leave her teammate behind.

The final 58 miles was a "fight of pure determination" according to Kasper.

"We kept catching riders one after another. Even when I felt completely empty around km 270, I refused to give in. In the end, I even won the sprint of our group to take seventh place," Kasper wrote.

"After more than 330km of racing, mud, rain, crashes, doubts, and countless highs and lows, I’m super happy with this Top 10."

Not one but two trains

Kasper also helped Aguirre not only make it to the finish in 11th, but move to a tie for 10th, with Samara Sheppard, in the Grand Prix standings.

"Romy said at the [final] feed 'we're gonna finish together'," Aguirre told Cyclingnews after crossing the line in Emporia, smiling at her teammate, through equally bleary eyes and with a mud-crusted face.

"I think with the conditions the way that they were, it was survival. I mean, we're riding without glasses, you can't see. I'm a little worried about how much cow poop I swallowed. If I get sick, I would not be surprised. I mean, it was torrential downpours, lightning, thunder."

The Portland, Oregon native is used to rain, but it wasn't just the elements of nature which stopped her progress multiple times.

"I do understand that there is only so much they can do to actually stop the trains, I do think the fact that there are no ways to make a fair race afterwards are a bit crazy. I was stopped twice. The first time I was just before feed zone 2," she said, connecting with Lauren Stephens there.

"The second time was the exceptionally long train with Lauren De Crescenzo. We had broken away from this larger group, with Lauren Stephens, LDC and myself, dropped Lauren in the middle and then just before almost catching Sarah Lange and Haley Preen, we saw the train and we all ended up stopped.

"Then after a few minutes we were caught by everyone behind and then some, we maybe were eight at that point. This is when I got really sad and frustrated. I think to have to ride Unbound on a good day is really hard, but then to have to do it in these conditions is another thing, [and] to quite literally have road-block after road-block."

After crossing the tracks, the next blockage was a stop for a rear wheel puncture. That is when Kasper joined her teammate and the two made up ground, it was only the breakaway of five and De Crescenzo they could not catch.

"From 26th position to fighting for seventh, I’m happy that I kept pushing with everything that happened. There’s so much power in knowing that the brain is so deeply connected to the physical aspect of this sport. Sometimes an equally scary fact too," Aguirre said.

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Now that the first two races of the Life Time Grand Prix series have been run and won the wildcard competition has been decided, with seven new riders joining the roster for 2026.

The three men and four women – due to the withdrawal of a pregnant Sarah Sturm – to earn the final spots available in this year's series are a mix of riders from the United States and beyond, with the performances across Sea Otter Classic Gravel and Unbound Gravel the deciding factor.

The top wildcard qualifiers were experienced British gravel rider Danni Shrosbree (RCC) – who came 29th at Sea Otter and a strong ninth at Unbound 200 – and Olympian Martins Blums. Just last week the Latvian mountain biker was racing XCO at Nové Město, and now he has earned his spot in the series with 21st at Unbound and 13th at Sea Otter.

There were also a trio of riders from the United States joining the competition, Skyler Taylor (Pinarello-Q36.5) , Jenna Rinehart (Rene Herse) and Hannah Shell. Taylor was the top men's wildcard finisher at Unbound, taking 20th place ahead of Blums, and is coming off a strong 2025, winning the UCI Gravel World Series event Highlands Gravel as well as two stages of Oregon Trail Gravel and coming second overall.

Rinehart – an experienced Life Time athlete who came 17th overall last year and won Highlands Gravel just last month – secured her spot for another season with 27th place at Unbound and 18th at Sea Otter. Shell, another returnee, was 38th at Sea Otter and did enough at Unbound to secure the final spot and achieve her goal of getting back into the competition.

"3 years ago I found out I wouldn’t be returning to the Lifetime Grand Prix, and I was pretty gutted about it. Since then, it’s been my goal to earn my way back into the series," said Shell in an Instagram post. "And I am so proud to say that 23rd at Unbound put me 3rd overall in the wild card and officially a part of the Life Time Grand Prix."

There were also two new riders from New Zealand, Charlotte Clarke (Ventum) and Matthew Wilson (Scott Sports USA), making for a large contingent from the nation in the season after compatriot Cameron Jones (Scott Sports USA - RCC) showed just how fruitful the wildcard path could be when he took one of the spots after winning Unbound and then captured the series overall as well. New Zealander born Samara Sheppard and Ruby Ryan were also among the original Life Time selection, which means the far-flung nation now has the biggest representation of riders from outside the United States.

Wilson, who came third in the road race at the New Zealand National Championships this year, had given himself a strong start to the wildcard race with 12th at Sea Otter and a 28th at Unbound sealed the deal. Clarke, who came 24th in the opening race, snared the wildcard position with 23rd at Unbound despite a tough run, when after being caught in the mud another rider hit her from behind, leaving her with just three gears for the 90 minutes until the first feed.

"Although I was well out of contention for the race itself, I kept fighting with the goal of hanging on to a Wild Card spot," said Clarke in an Instagram post. "In the end, I put together a ride I’m really proud of."

The Life Time Grand Prix series runs across six events, offering a season-ending $350,000 total top-10 purse, shared equally among elite women and men.

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In a doubleheader of women’s and men’s races at the Amazon Armed Forces Cycling Classic, the omnium titles were won by Marlies Mejías (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28/Deloitte) and Brody McDonald (Modern Adventure Pro Cycling), both riders twice finishing on the criterium podiums.

Mejías sprinted to second in both the Capitol Cup and the Clarendon Cup to claim the overall women's title. Similarly, McDonald took a pair of third places to secure the overall men's title. This was the second consecutive omnium title for Mejías at AFCC.

“Winning the omnium is always special because it reflects the strength of the whole team across the entire weekend. Of course, finishing second both days leaves us hungry, as racers, we always want to win, but I am proud of how we raced together, controlled the race, and kept fighting until the end," Mejías said in a team statement.

Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) sprinted to her first major victory of the season. A week ago at Tour of Somerville, the sprint went to Mejías, and this time Schneider relied on her full team to position her in strong winds on the course.

"The strong cross-headwind into the sprint was something we discussed more than anything else about the race. So I knew I wanted the right side. Coming out of the last corner I was about 10th wheel, which is not what I normally would want," Skylar Schneider told organisers. She would finish third in omnium standings.

The women's win on Sunday went to USPro criterium champion Kendall Ryan (Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing), going to the top step of the podium after a second place last year. Mejías took another second and a pair of HigherDOSE-Renova riders followed, Andrea Cyr third and Odette Lynch fourth. It was an emotional victory for Ryan, who's grandfather died recently.

"There are a lot of emotions right now. I found out that my grandpa died a couple of days ago. He was in the Marine Corps, so this [win] is to honour him," she said at the finish to organisers. "Yesterday I came up short and I felt like I let everyone down. Today was definitely redemption."

The weekend of cycling events, organised by Arlington Sports, has been held in the Washington D.C region for 28 years, known today as the Amazon Armed Forces Cycling Classic (AFCC). This year's pro races returned the weekend after Memorial Day - Capitol Cup on May 30 in Washington, DC and Clarendon Cup on May 31 in Arlington, Virginia.

USPro elite men's criterium champion Lucas Bourgoyne (Cadence Cyclery pb Waldo Racing) carried the stars-and-stripes jersey across the line for a tight sprint win on Saturday, just ahead of last year's victor Dario Rapps (DCC Alpecin), and McDonald in third.

Rapps almost went down when his back wheel skidded sideways on a manhole cover in the final 50 metres of the sprint.

"The squad executed the plan perfectly, and I felt ready to take the top step. But when you’re throwing down peak watts in the final stretch, a manhole cover mid-sprint changes everything. Lost traction, went fully sideways, and had to rely 100% on pure reflex to stay on the bike. Stoked to save the bike and still grab a podium spot," he wrote on Instagram.

On Sunday, Sebastian Brenes Mata (Good Guys Racing NYC) took the victory in a bunch sprint ahead of Alejandro Che (Kelly Benefits Cycling) and McDonald. Rapp was two minutes back and lost any chances at repeating his omnium victory from a year before.

Consistency on the podium rewarded McDonald with the Omnium title this time. Che finished runner-up in the ominium standings, while Bourgoyne was third overall.

"It’s incredible to represent Modern Adventure Pro Cycling In our nations capital. It fills me with pride to wear the red and gold. Thank you to the team for putting it on the line, and believing in me. It’s hard not to be successful when you have legends like Bobby Julich in your ear and Adrian Hedderman in the pit," the 23-year-old said.

Results - Capitol Cup

Results - Clarendon Cup

Omnium Results

Unbound Gravel 200 was a more than successful outing for the Specialized Off-Road team, with European champion Mads Würtz Schmidt and Matthew Beers going one-two in Emporia as 2023 champion Keegan Swenson made it three in the top five with a fifth-place finish.

The trio of experienced gravel racers were joined in the top 10 by a gravel first timer as 21-year-old Emil Herzog raced to eighth place.

Tackling 200 miles (322km) for his first gravel race was some debut for the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe road pro. He reached the finish among a group of five riders, including reigning champion Cameron Jones, crossing the line 24:52 behind Würtz Schmidt. He certainly had a story to tell after reaching Emporia.

"It was super fun, but I did some, let's say beginner mistakes, because I missed my second feed. After five-and-a-half hours, I was completely empty, and I just dropped from the wheel," Herzog told Cyclingnews after finishing.

"At the third feed, I could eat again and got my legs back a little. I was able to keep riding, a bit quicker than right after I’d missed the feed, and in the end I came home eighth."

Herzog is more used to racing on the road, having worked his way up via German junior squad Auto Eder and a season with Hagrens Berman Axeon in 2023 before turning pro with Red Bull in 2024.

Along the way, he's scored top 10s at Milano-Torino and Settimana Coppi e Bartali, while this year his calendar has seen him take in WorldTour races including the UAE Tour, Strade Bianche, and Itzulia Basque Country.

Unbound is a different beast altogether, of course. Nevertheless, Herzog had been racing among the leaders before his fuelling mishap. Swenson was further back, having handed his wheel over to stricken teammate Würtz Schmidt.

Herzog linked up with Swenson with 50 miles to run, the pair forming a group with several others before the American went solo for fifth place later on.

"I was never able to get back to the group I was in, and then at one point, some riders came, and my teammate Keegan came from the back," Herzog said.

"I worked with him, and then a small group caught us. I spoke with Keegan, and he said he wants to go on the last kicker, and I was then just sitting there, and let the others close the gap."

Herzog was still in the running for sixth place as his group approached the finish. He admitted to making a mistake with his positioning for the sprint, however, and so came home in the middle of the five-man group.

"Then I sprinted, but it was a little bit stupid. I started the sprint as fifth, but it would have been better to start the sprint first or last," he said.

"It was a super cool experience, and for sure I want to come back. I got support from Specialized. They gave me the opportunity, and I'm super thankful for this because it was an awesome week, and I really appreciate it."

A top 10 on his Unbound – and gravel – debut was some feat for Herzog on his first-ever trip to the USA, and he was more than pleased with the outcome of his nine-and-a-half hours in the saddle.

"My teammates from Specialized Off-Road went one, two and five – four of us in the top placings. It was a really cool day, a great result and great fun. I'm sure I want to do it again."

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our gravel cycling coverage in 2026. We'll be on the ground at the biggest races of the season, bringing you breaking news, expert analysis, in-depth features, and much more. Find out more.

Unbound Gravel always delivers such a full spectrum of racing performances - from the good, the bad and the ugly. The riders seem to get faster with each edition, this year the signature 200-mile contest celebrating its 20th anniversary, no matter the course direction or conditions.

Speaking of fast, the technological advances with gravel bikes, tyres and components is as much of a whirlwind of forward motion as the riders who work their magic on the equipment come race day. Gravel has gone aero. Tyres and wheels are bigger, bikes are lighter and riders just go faster.

The simple little outing for 34 men in 2006 has ballooned to more than 5,000 participants, pros and amateurs, who compete in five ride distances. Unbound Gravel 200 is still the showcase event for the Life Time Grand Prix. Unbound XL, the 350-mile overnight race, has boomed to 234 starters, the biggest XL yet as compared to 180 starters last year.

On the latest fast machines, the Specialized Off-road squad dominated the elite men's and women's races - all five of their riders finishing fifth or better, including four podiums. And most of the slips, slides, splashes, and wild wheel changes were seen on an expanded broadcast as well, both men's and women's races shown start to finish by Life Time cameras.

A rider named Bardet did find the top step of the podium in Emporia, but it was six-year-old Angus who stole the limelight from his retired road pro father Romain. Angus competed in his first kids' criterium and won the two-lap race on Saturday morning. Romain, however, pulled out of his first Unbound 200 after mile 98.7, calling it a day at a town where he could get a ride back to Emporia and finish his family vacation.

So who were the big winners and what were the revelations from the Flint Hills of Kansas? Yet again, Mother Nature was the conqueror, unleashing gnarly and unexpected weather on all challengers. 2026 Unbound Gravel men's champion Cameron Jones summed it up when he said the weather was "biblical".

Here's a rewind of Unbound, and how some things were good, some were bad, and some were just plain ugly.

Mudbound

All elite riders are eager to get to Emporia early on race week to inspect the route in order to dail in equipment setups for race day. However, weather predictions for a dry versus wet course are highly unpredictable.

Pre-rides in 2026 showed no complications on the horizon, with a mixed bag of puddles on potholed farm roads inevitable. Late Friday before Unbound 200 took off, the forecast was less than a 27% chance of rain. Well, all 27% of that prediction came.

The skies opened across eastern Kansas early Saturday morning around 3:00 a.m. local time. D Hill did get extremely wet, the notorious mud from 2023, but it was rideable for the elite men, then a mess for the elite women 15 minutes behind. At mile 15, the Towers climb was this year's challenge, the chunky gravel now a quagmire of mud and the creek crossings with higher flows. And by the time the 100-mile riders came through, the path was in shambles.

But it wasn't just one rainstorm that caused chaos. There were two more major downpours on Saturday, with one deluge of rain, and some hailstones, dampening progress and spirits before the half-way point. 2026 men's winner Jones called the vast weather changes "biblical".

For the Unbound XL riders, who were caught in the first nighttime storm with strong winds and rain and had five hours of walking in mud, the course delivered "what could only be described as hell" according to women's runner-up Maddy Nutt (Q36.5).

One clever development for the inevitable mud came from women's third-place finisher Cecily Decker. "I kind of was very comfortable with my mud setup. I have this scraper that I sort of made myself, a putty scraper with a U-shape. As I'm riding through [mud], inching down and scooping the mud."

A special thanks to pro rider and penman Joe Laverick (ENVE) for the headline here. He crashed out on the vicious 'rock garden' section of the course after mile 40, the same place as former Unbound 200 winner Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost). We borrowed his great one-word summary for the race. (JT)

Race made famous by US pros now dominated by global talent

It's long past the stage where Unbound Gravel can be pegged as just a national event, its global cut through has been evident for some time, with former and current road and gravel professionals from Europe, or hopefuls from New Zealand and Australia flocking to Kansas. But just in case there were any doubters left, the elite podiums of the showcase event, Unbound 200, have continued to make it crystal clear.

In fact, in the elite men's race it has been quite some time since an rider from the United States won, Keegan Swenson in 2023, and in fact the whole podium this year was from elsewhere. The three years from 2023-2025 in the women's race were also an entirely European affair when it came to the victor list.

Some are driven to make the long trip to the start line by curiosity, like Romain Bardet, others by a determination to carve out a place in the gravel world which becomes undeniable when you do well at Unbound – the case for 2025 winner Cameron Jones – but it's a race with such size and influence that if you want to truly be taken seriously in gravel its almost an essential stop.

Such is the reach that any nation that might think the same weekend as Unbound is a good time for a National Gravel Championships race – yes, I'm talking about Australia – should perhaps think again if they want to have a highly competitive field that includes the broadest spread possible of the best in the discipline on the start line. (SG)

Surprising DNFs

Bardet was one of 28 elite men who posted DNFs, many succumbing to crashes and mechanical malfunctions due to mud. Among the other former pro road riders not crossing the finish on a bike were Lukas Pöstlberger, Jasper Ockeloen, Benjamin Perry, Robin Carpenter, Thomas Dekker, Chad Haga, Thomas De Gendt and Lachlan Morton.

On the women's side, 15 women did not finish the course, including Canyon x DT Swiss ATR duo Nele Laing and Larissa Hartog who had been mixing it up at the front for the first half of the race, but pulled out around mile 140. Multi-discipline riders Nicole Frain and Peta Mullens were out just before the halfway point and Life Time Grand Prix contenders Melisa Rollins and Karolina Migoń posted early DNFs. (JT)

Start to finish broadcast of Unbound 200

Part of the lure of Unbound Gravel that riders talk about is the unknown and isolation. While part of the joy in following it is the mystery, with the stories of the race unfolding eking out not just through the long stretch of miles that riders are out there for, but also well beyond. Still, funnily enough, the presence of a live broadcast of the event seems to do little to change that, with the live stream of the race switching regularly between the men's and women's event and offering a glimpse into the experience with split screens as well that were enough to pique the interest, but not completely sate the curiosity.

Going from an already extensive seven hours of coverage last year to the whole lot in 2026 was certainly welcome given how pivotal the early stages can be, between opening breaks like the flyer of John Borstelmann and 2023 Australian champion Connor Sens, to the early mud patch which quickly ground the field to a halt and left an indelible mark on the race.

The level of interest in the race is already undeniable in the US and beyond, as the increasing glimpses of the race unfolding across prairielands in Kansas. It is an even greater insight into the scale of the challenge. It's hard to imagine that the coverage won't deliver a whole new raft of fans as and provide an even bigger draw for the sponsors.

The growth is already evident, with Life Time reporting that their live YouTube stream, which attracted 332,000 views in 50 countries last year, soared to 470,000 views, 1.8 million impressions and 18,000 chat messages this year. (SG)

Bigger, faster and lighter

After the flood of new tech revealed at The Traka there was a moment when it passed through the mind that Unbound might be a bit of a snooze on that front, but I should have known better. That illusion was quickly dispelled when Scott started the flow by unfurling the bike that defending 200 champion Cameron Jones and Tour Divide record holder Robin Gemperle would be riding - a new prototype 32" gravel race bike.

While Jones didn't get to ride it to victory, Gemperle did and when he was interviewed after Unbound XL was quick to praise the piece of equipment that carried him to the win: "It was absolutely amazing ...there was just no excuse. I just had to keep pushing as hard as I could."

Then the new lighter and more aero Crux 5 with bigger tyre clearance was announced and there was no better advertisement for it than the Unbound 200. Specialized riders sweeping the top two spots on both the elite men's and elite women's podium on a brutal day of racing. Würtz Schmidt had a clear run over the line so could lift his bike up to the air in both tribute and celebration while no sooner did women's winner Villafañe have a microphone pointed toward her than she extolled "God, that bike is so fast". (SG)

Past champions ride for others

2021 Unbound Gravel 200 winner Ian Boswell completed Unbound Gravel 100 this year, riding alongside his Adventure for All teammate Chase Pettey. The clock was not part of their equation for success, though they finished a few second beyond 9 hours total on the course. The point was they finished.

"The bike has been so instrumental in my life, beyond just racing. To have that opportunity to kind of pass on my knowledge with these young kids who are maybe haven't been given the opportunities, or the foresight that they could even ride bikes 100 miles, it is very impactful. It's so cool to see young people that are just so motivated," Boswell explained to Cyclingnews.

Adventure for All provides opportunities for young 'exceptionalities' adults. Boswell said that Pettey, 20, is neurodivergent and has battle through spinal issues.

2015 Unbound Gravel 200 champion Yuri Hauswald returned for his 13th race in Emporia, this time lining up at the back of the 200-mile field. His goal was to pass as many riders as he could, which in turn raised funds for the Life Time Foundation 'Chase the Race' initiative to build a bike skills park for Emporia-based youth.

"What I'm doing this year is the most impactful thing I think I could do as a rider, so I'm really, really motivated. My pedal strokes this year will help build a bike skills park in a town that has changed the trajectory of my career and enhanced my life in so many ways," Hauswald told Cyclingnews.

The 56-year-old passed over 1,200 riders, according to Life Time, and has raised more than $35,000 so far. Donations will remain open this week. (JT)

Keegan Swenson, Unbound Gravel 200 champion three years ago, was once again among the frontrunners at this year's edition of the Kansas gravel epic. He'd end up in fifth place in Emporia and had some story to tell at the end of it.

In 2023, the Utahan outpaced Petr Vakoc and Lachlan Morton in a thrilling seven-rider sprint. On Saturday, he rounded out his race in fifth place, 24 minutes down on the winner, Specialized Off-Road teammate Mads Würtz Schmidt. With second-placed Matthew Beers also racing on the Specialized squad, it was a more than successful day on the bike.

Along the way, Swenson, who fractured his hip only three months ago, and his team battled through mechanical maladies before he effectively sacrificed his own shot at glory for the good of his teammates.

Both he and Würtz Schmidt were off the front alone with 75 miles to go, having left behind Cobe Freeburn (Trek Driftless), when the European Gravel Champion suffered a massive rear puncture. Swenson, recognising that his teammate had more energy left in his legs, gave up his own wheel to help.

"It was one of those things. The hole is so big – it was like tread to bead. We tried plugging it, but it didn't work, and I was on the limit. I was telling Mads to slow down," Swenson told Cyclingnews reporter Jackie Tyson after the finish.

"I got something tangled in my cassette early, and had to chase for an hour to get back to the front before Madison. I think I spent most of my pennies there, so I was a bit cooked, and I knew that he could make it.

"I wasn't 100% sure that I could make it, and the goal was that one of us had to win the race, so I was like, if I give him the wheel, he can win."

Würtz Schmidt raced on solo, avoiding any further mishaps, and carried a seven-minute lead into the final 50 miles. He'd convert that into victory, the first European to win the men's 200-miler since Ivar Slik in 2022, while further back, Swenson battled on in search of a top placing.

After giving up his own wheel, Swenson managed to fix Würtz Schmidt's – with its broken freehub and all – before going again. He managed to link up with a chase group containing Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe road pro Emil Herzog, also racing here under the Specialized umbrella.

"So, I gave him the wheel, and I just got it fixed, and carried on," Swenson said.

"It was a long change, because the freehub had fallen off and I was missing parts, and had to go back and find the parts. For a second, I was like, 'Oh, I guess I'm calling a ride, because I can't pedal.' But then I found the spring and got it fixed, and then we carried on, so...

"Then I was able to catch Emil, who was here riding with us from Bora. He was amazing, a great teammate. I got back to him, and he was like, 'We're still racing for top 10.' So, it kind of re-motivated me to keep pushing."

Herzog told Cyclingnews that he had made a rookie mistake during his debut, including missing the second feed zone. But still, he was on hand to help Swenson, even if the conditions were far from what he's used to.

"It was super fun, but I did some, let's say beginner mistakes, because I missed my second feed. After five-and-a-half hours, I was completely empty, and I just dropped from the wheel," Herzog said.

"I was never able to get back to the group I was in, and then at one point, some riders came, and my teammate Keegan came from the back.

"I worked with him, and then a small group caught us. I spoke with Keegan, and he said he wants to go on the last kicker, and I was then just sitting there, and let the others close the gap."

Swenson and Herzog raced in a group containing Adne Koster (Seka Bikes), Daan Soete (Ridley Racing), Piotr Havik (Castelli SOG x Colgnago), and defending champion Cameron Jones (Scott Sports USA-RCC). Swenson would take off before the end to secure a fifth-place finish with a little help from his new teammate.

"It was a pretty horrible day. It wasn't a great day. But it was a good day for the Specialized squad," Swenson said.

"My back was pretty cooked all day. I was struggling with it. I started to feel a little bit better at the end, I think. I don't know whether everything else was hurting, and it got better.

"I found out we were racing for fifth, and I still had a little bit of gas in the tank, so I attacked on the last climb and finished it."

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our gravel cycling coverage in 2026. We'll be on the ground at the biggest races of the season, bringing you breaking news, expert analysis, in-depth features, and much more. Find out more.

Kylee Hanel (Cervelo-Maxxis) and Robert Oehler (Lads Racing Collective) won at Unbound Gravel 100 on Saturday in Emporia, Kansas.

After her victory in the women's category of the 100 event Hanel – who also won the women's under-23 title at Sea Otter Classic Gravel in April – has a commanding lead in the U23 Life Time Grand Prix standings. In a much different gravel race in Kansas – 117-miles longer than the Monterey, California race – Hanel conquered the mud and a strong field in a time of 5:36:38, putting her in 34th place overall.

"I did what I came here to do - win the U23 women's race and finish top 50 overall," Hanel told Cyclingnews later Saturday afternoon. She came into Unbound after finishing third overall at Tour de Bloom, riding the road for Aegix x LOE.

However, her gravel victory wasn't a sure thing. She said the mud on Towers Climb could have been a tragic setback, and then a train stopped her progress on the back half of the route.

"Oh, you saw the mud coming, and you saw it go all the way up the hill. I mean, you could see Towers and the mud for over half a mile. We walked a lot of the way and then I had to spend another five minutes cleaning at the creek. When you're walking, there's so much mud caked to your shoes your feet feel twice as heavy.

"We got stopped by a train, and I'm sitting there thinking at my last time check the next woman was two and a half minutes behind me," said Hanel, adding that the train cost her two minutes.

The 20-year-old dug in, finishing 2:31 ahead of Samantha Johnson of Tennessee who finished second. Johnson held off Ellory Clason of Michigan by 14 seconds, both also in the LTGP U23 competition.

Oehler rode solo for the win in the men's race, finishing with a time of 5:04:39. The 28-year-old Ohio resident scored a huge improvement from the year before, when he came 14th.

He finished two minutes ahead of U23 riders Finn McKenzie of Blenheim, New Zealand and Oskar Stack-Michasiw of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Both McKenzie and Stack-Michasiw are also part of the U23 field for the Life Time Grand Prix, the Canadian fourth overall in the standings after Sea Otter Classic Gravel., where the New Zealander did not start.

Results

Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized Off-road) claimed her second victory at Unbound Gravel 200, emerging victorious from a muddy elite women's race after topping her rivals in a five-way sprint.

A mud-caked Villafañe finished the race in 10:31:37, celebrating in the sunshine with the earlier rain and brutal mud now just a memory. Teammate Geerike Schreurs was second, a second back, while Cecily Decker (PAS Racing) took third.

"The plan was for Gee to try to go solo and put in attacks and then I would help her in any way I could with that," said Villafañe in the post-race interview on the live stream. "But then if it came to the sprint, we were going all in on my sprint, and to go one two is unreal."

It became clear well before the race was coming into Emporia that the battle for the podium would be down to the leading group, which took shape in the first half of the race.

Try as they might to reel those riders in, the chasers couldn't make the junction with Villafañe, Decker, Schreurs, Rosa Klöser (Canyon-SRAM-MAAP) and Paige Onweller (Trek Driftless), who lost contact at times but just kept coming back.

The group of five came into the final climb all together and then Schreurs attacked, but 2024 winner Klöser was quick to react and they all came into the barriers together. Villafañe made her move within sight of the line and there was little any of her rivals could do to stop the 2022 champion adding another title to her tally and continuing her gravel winning streak in 2026, which earlier this month also included claiming victory at The Traka 200.

After Schreurs and Decker crossed the line, Onweller claimed fourth while 2024 winner Klöser was fifth.

How it unfolded

Fifteen minutes after the pro men took the start from Commercial Street in Emporia, the first gleams of sunlight brought the pro women into view. After the opening 2.5 miles of neutral pavement, the field hit dirt roads, which had turned to mud from overnight rain.

US riders Laurel Quinones and Emma Langley (Ventum) were the first to try an attack, which seemed to be just a test for the legs. A large puddle along Road D caused some chaos, and a few riders went down, Michaela Thompson appearing to have a rear puncture in that area.

Coming out of the muddy mess, 12 riders went clear at the front: Danni Shrosbree (Rapha-Argon 18), Cecily Decker (PAS Racing), Nicole Frain (Factor Racing), Lauren Stephens (Aegis x LOE), Geerike Schreurs (Specialized Off-road), Carolin Schiff (Canyon x DT Swiss ATR), Samara Sheppard, Rosa Klöser Canyon-SRAM-MAAP) and Paige Onweller (Trek Driftless). All the riders were already covered in mud from head to toe.

Frain dropped out of the group before the first Feed Zone as she crashed hard and struggled to straighten her handlebars. On the Life Time livestream camera, Frain was seen rubbing her left leg, with a considerable amount of blood on her leg and wound on her left shoulder.

After the first Feed Zone at mile 43.5, the women's lead group saw Onweller, Schreurs, Klöser, Decker, Schiff joined now by Haley Preen (Factor Racing), Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized Off-road), Sarah Lange (Kenda), Nele Laing (Canyon x DT Swiss ATR) and Cecile Lejeune (Trek Driftless).

Closing to the second Feed Zone, on a long straight stretch of dirt after Texaco Hill, Morgan Aguirre (PAS Racing) chased solo, three minutes back, and not far behind her were Stephens, Stella Hobbs, Langley, and then a small group of Jade Treffeisen (Canyon x DT Swiss All-Terrain), Clara Koppenburg (Tudor), Alexis Skarda (Q36.5 - Scott), Nathalie Eklund, Hartog and Frain.

A paved stretch led to the second Feed Zone, 82 miles done, had mechanics and pro support crews positioned on the right side of a very narrow dirt road with trees on one side and farmland on the other.

A group of four entered together at the front - Specialized duo Schreurs and Villafañe with Decker and Klöser. Only 18 seconds behind were Lejeune, Lange, Schiff, Onweller, Sheppard, Laing and Preen, the South African struggling with her stop to grab a water bottle.

When Frain pulled into the Feed Zone, she took a longer stop than the others, taking off her gloves and cleaning the road rash from her wrists and arms. Shrosbree pulled into the area, and the two rode off together, as more rain started to fall.

Rolling terrain rolled north 16 more miles and passed through Matfield, Kansas, with Onweller making inroads to the four leaders, and made the catch at the halfway point of the race.

More rain fell, which in turn just splattered the mud on the leaders as they kicked on at an average of 20.5 mph.

Through mile 115, the leading quintet of Schreurs, Villafañe, Decker, Klöser and Onweller marched on and carved out an advantage of nearly six minutes on their closest rival, Mieke Kröger (Rose Racing), the World and Olympic Team Pursuit champion riding solo. A trio of chasers were 30 seconds behind the German - Lange, Laing and Preen.

Riding through Chase County to the north, passing just east of the famous Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, the group charged on. They handled the minimum maintenance road, W Road, handily, the one-mile stretch just grass and rocks, not gravel. Schreurs, Villafane, Decker and Kloser stayed on the gas, while Onweller, who had fallen off the pace, rejoined.

The third and final Feed Zone at mile 149 was dry, but the wind was blowing hard. Onweller stopped for some supplies while the other grabbed bottles on the fly, and Onweller rejoins. Krõger was still on a solo sortie.

Apparently, other riders had to stop and wait for a train to pass, which allowed Lauren De Crescenzo to join the second group with Preen and Lange. Stephens was another two minutes back. Laing had dropped well back.

With 75% of the route done and just 55 miles to go, the five leaders continued to work together, now under sunny skies and dry dirt, but the wind was making all the flat roads like liquid hills. Urgency behind saw De Crescenzo and Lange try to wipe away a portion of a 14-minute gap.

The table was set for a wide-angle podium.

Onweller may have been yo-yoing but she continued to fight her way back, and the five headed into the final 15 miles together. There had been some shifts behind, however, with De Crescenzo now the leading pursuer, and while she held sixth, the gap proved insurmountable.

It was over ten hours of racing when the attacks in the lead group started with Schreurs, and though that initial effort didn't stick, all of a sudden everyone was casting a wary eye behind. It all, however, came down to a sprint.

Mads Würtz Schmidt (Specialized Off-Road) rode away to victory in the men's Unbound Gravel 200, after escaping with teammate Keegan Swenson midway through a race battered by heavy rain, wind and mud.

It was, however, another teammate who ultimately snared second place with Matt Beers crossing the line more than five minutes after the European Champion, while Tobias Kongstad (PAS Racing) took third.

"I was on a really good day, and it was quite a ride. But in the end, I couldn't have done it without Keegan. He's a champion," said Würtz Schmidt on the race live coverage.

When the Dane was out front with Swenson, almost 10 minutes ahead of the chasers, he suffered a gash to his rear tyre. Swenson stopped to help him fix the issue, but it turned out to be more than a mechanical adjustment.

"And then Keegan, he was quick to say that 'you need my wheel', because it was clear that I was the strongest, and the best chance for a win between me and Keegan was me. So he sacrificed his race and his Grand Prix, and everything for me," said Würtz Schmidt.

The Traka 360 winner made the most of the sacrifice, crossing the line to celebrate his second huge win this month.

How it unfolded

All the riders and bikes were coated with a layer of mud after the first 13 miles, as overnight storms dropped pockets of heavy rain in eastern Kansas. The 'D Hill' three-mile climb after mile 10 was not as vicious as the 2023 race edition, but several riders had to dismount and dislodge mud from derailleurs and cogs, including former Unbound 200 winner Keegan Swenson (Specialized Off-road).

With some separation after early mud, the lead group contained Mads Würtz Schmidt and Matt Beers of Specialized Off-road, Cobe Freeburn, Daxton Mock and Torbjørn Andre Røed of Trek Driftless, Romain Bardet (Factor Racing), Nils Brun, John Borstelmann, Daan Soete (Ridley Racing) and Frederick Raßmann.

Thirty seconds back were a solid group of chasers, Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost), Brendan Johnson (Giant), Arno Van den Broeck (Powerplus Grave Team), Caleb Botcher (ENVE), defending champion Cameron Jones (Scott Sports USA-RCC), Simon Pellaud (Cervelo-Assos-Maxxis) and Adne Koster (Seka Bikes).

Thomas De Gendt (Power Plus Gravel Team) was in the lead into the first feed zone, at mile 43.5, and seemed to accelerate through the area while a few others slowed down. There was a regrouping across the next few miles, and Mock attacked from the front group, which had grown to 21 riders.

On Texaco Hill, the lead group began to split, with mud beginning to be an issue. Beers, Alexey Vermeulen (ENVE) and Pellaud all seemed to have some issues but worked back to the group.

After mile 62, having passed over Texaco Hill, three riders moved away with a serious acceleration - Würtz Schmidt, Swenson and Freeburn. They opened a 25-second gap on the chasing group of about 16 riders across the next seven miles.

The second Feed Zone, 82 miles done, had mechanics and pro support crews positioned on the right side of a very narrow dirt road with trees on one side and farmland on the other, where all three leaders stopped, all getting hosed down by support crews to clear bikes and bodies of mud.

Once the chasers came through, only a few riders stopped for bottles or other nutrition, and no one took a pressure wash. Would this be an advantage later for the breakaway? The trio opened a two-minute gap to the chasers when everyone was through the area, 124 miles to go.

At mile 98, almost the halfway point, the trio charged on, averaging 23 mph and extending their lead to more than six minutes, clouds dropping more rain on the western side of the course.

Just a few miles later on a long drag of farm road, the Specialized Off-road duo moved away from Freeburn, quickly opening a 30-second gap. A dozen riders remained together for a solid chase, but were eight minutes back.

With 75 miles to go, the two leaders opened a nine-minute advantage.

Then disaster struck. Würtz Schmidt suffered a rear flat, and the two stopped. Swenson attempted to help his teammate repair the tyre, but then opted to give his back wheel, the European Champion taking off solo. Swenson then went to work to put a tube in the repurposed tyre.

But the mechanical proved a challenge even for Swenson, who struggled to reattach the freehub, which had fallen off. The chasers of Beers, Herzog, Jones, Freeburn, Johnston and Kongstad flew by Swenson.

After 151 miles of racing, Würtz Schmidt charged on with seven minutes on his side ahead of chasers Jones, Kongstad and Beers, and Brendan Johnston (Giant) another two minutes back. Freeburn rode alone four-and-a-half minutes behind Johnston, while Swenson joined forces with Emil Herzog (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) another two-and-a-half minutes back.

Jones, however, began to slow and drifted backwards, leaving Beers and Kongstad as the main chasers going through Council Grove, the northernmost section of the course.

Heading to chunky gravel and rolling miles before Lake Kahola, the European Champion only dropped his average race speed to 22.95 mph, the road on the northern section of the course dry, the sun back out but lingering humidity making temperatures feel warmer than high 70s. Beers and Kongstad held steady at seven-and-a-half minutes back.

After a string of riders behind these three - still Jones, Johnston, Freeburn - Swenson now rode with five other riders 21 minutes back - Koster, Herzog, Soete, and Piotr Havik (Castelli SOG x Colgnago),

Würtz Schmidt wasn't gaining significant time as he passed Kahola Lake, but he wasn't letting the two chasers get closer to his virtual hold of the win either, as they still had 7:30 to make up.

Beers, however, ultimately left Kongstad behind and then no longer had to worry about moderating his pace to preserve his teammate's gap out front. He crossed the line nearly six minutes behind Würtz Schmidt to secure a clear-cut Specialized Off-Road one-two.

After Kongstad crossed the line to take third, it was then fourth for Johnston, a spot up from last year, and, despite giving up a wheel, Swenson managed to cross the line in fifth.

Swiss rider Robin Gemperle dominated the Unbound XL race, finishing the 356-mile (573km) gravel race in 21 hours, 20 minutes, and five seconds.

Gemperle finished 34:17 ahead of Sidhartha Mathai, with Ricardo Morante coming in third ahead of Max Agut of France.

The women's race was won for a second time by German Svenja Betz, who finished in 27:11:32. She was a little more than 34 minutes ahead of runner-up Maddy Nutt of Great Britain. In early May, Nutt scored the victory at The Traka Adventure, the 560km overnight race which Betz won in the inaugural year of the race in 2025.

It was then Larissa Connors who took third, coming over the line a little under two hours after Betz, while Ivy Pedersen was then just 28 seconds further back in fourth.

Early in the race, Gemperle revealed to the live broadcast interviewer that he feared he might have to drop out after getting sick 180 kilometres into the race, and after getting going, he had to walk around 21 kilometres because of deep mud and rain.

"After 180km, I was like, this is never going to work out, so mentally it was super tough. I kind of had issues with my stomach," he said.

"I thought I wanted to like save a lot of drinks at the beginning so I don't have to stop early, but then we decided together that we will stop early, which made me drink everything that I had left within 20 ks, which is incredibly stupid, and resulted in me puking."

Last year, Gemperle set the record on the Tour Divide, a much longer race between Canada and the Mexican border of the USA, and was happy to get the Unbound XL victory so he can get back to 'ultra' endurance races.

"The more often you do this kind of stuff, the further away you get from doing it again, so I do have kind of a focus on these shorter ultras for this year," he said.

"I'm just super happy that it worked out now with one win, because I don't want to do this another five years. I want to go back to really long ones, which is where I feel super comfortable. So, yeah, it's good I've made it work."

Nutt said every weather condition was thrown at riders during the epic ride, from thunderstorms with lighting to hail to wind and then sunshine with high humidity.

"At 10-and-a-half hours I was halfway through and I was brilliant. I rode really strong at the start, and then as soon as we hit the mud, I was... that hiking really took power of me at about 130km," Nutt recounted.

"Then we hit what could only be described as hell. It [the mud] just didn't end. We had a mid feed, and then we didn't have the next feed for the nine hours because of the hiking, so everyone was dying, four or five hours of hiking.

"I am as happy as I can be now. I didn't feel amazing on the bike though."

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Results

The threats of overnight rain in eastern Kansas came as predicted and turned sections of the prairie roads into pools of water and mud, the kind that hide dangers from unsuspecting tyres, destroy derailleurs and also derail contenders across both Unbound Gravel 200 and Unbound XL.

Hopes were high when the day started, and conditions had seemed fine.

"We had our friend Jonathan go out to the first MMR [minimum maintenance road], and he was like, 'It's dry, it's hero dirt', and we're like, 'Yeah, let's go'," said eventual Unbound 200 winner Sofia Gomez Villafañe. "And then the stuff that you thought was going to be good just turned into craziness, you know. There was a lot of crashes, a lot of mechanicals, and yeah, it was just a day of perseverance."

That day of chaos ultimately worked out just fine for the repeat Unbound Gravel 200 women's winner, but not for many others.

Of the 117 riders that started the Unbound 200 elite men's race, 37 didn't make it to the end, while in the elite women's race, of the 62 riders that started, 15 didn't make it back to the Emporia finish line. The attrition rate was, perhaps not surprisingly, far higher in the Unbound XL, with just 60 of the 237 starters completing the 350-mile challenge.

The riders from the XL were the first to set off, rolling on the longest course on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. local time with calm skies and sunshine, but that did not last.

"Yeah, this rainstorm that came in changed everything," Stetina recounted on the Life Time livestream Saturday morning.

And that rain also set the scene for a tough Unbound 200 with the chaos beginning in the first hour of racing as a large water puddle gave way to a brutal muddy patch which saw most of the riders off the bike and reaching for the mud sticks. They were conditions that tested equipment, hid hazards and pushed riders to their limits. Many came unstuck.

Every year, we catalogue the mishaps and misadventures that tell the tales of why a favourite rider may not have made it to the end, dropped way further down the results sheet than expected or even ended up in a sought-after position despite having to overcome considerable difficulties along the way.

Here is the list for 2026, which is being added to as more tales of the race flow:

Unbound XL

Peter Stetina (DNF) - "Around 9pm in the dark, I crashed real hard; it was deep mud, too. I had a big hole [on a knee] from what I could see after peeling away some mud blobs, so I kind of knew if I ride another 10-plus hours, like this is a guaranteed infection. My day is done," said Stetina. The rider who has completed multiple 200-mile events with a second place in 2019 and third in 2021, opted for the XL this year but it ended with him being taken to the hospital by his mechanic, Wayne Smith

Ted King (DNF) - When Stetina arrived at the hospital there was, unfortunately, another familiar face, with Unbound 200 2018 winner, King, being treated for a gash in his knee.

Rob Britton (DNF) - It not always a crash or equipment failure that ends a race as last year's XL winner demonstrated.

"The bike was solid. All of my kit was dialed but my body, the most trusted asset I’ve had my whole career, failed and not long after that my mind followed," said Britton in an Instagram post. "It sucks. To have won last year and be out after 6h this year…I never thought I’d be in that position but at this point I know how ever hard that call was to make, it was the right one."

Heather Jackson (DNF) - It was a tough edition for the 2025 winners, with Jackson also on the results rollercoaster. "We tried. My mind was excited for this race but my body had nothing to give," said Jackson on social media.

Unbound 200 Elite Women

Nicole Frain (DNF) - The Oceania Champion was in her second Unbound but unfortunately for Frain it was also another edition that started well but ended with a crash just when she looked in an ideal position. Frain had made it into the lead group but then came down hard, but despite the blood and bumps she initially straightened her handlebars and battled on, however finally had to pull the pin. "Unbound 2 : Nicole 0," said the rider in an Instagram post. "Ahhh this race. It was going so good until it wasn’t."

Rosa Klöser (5th) - A finish in the top five sounds like a good outcome for the former winner but now that, a week after the event, she has taken to social media with an outline of the challenges she faced its simply staggering. At 50km a dropped chain took her out of the front group and lost her 1:30, then there were two stops for a puncture at 85km, a crash and chase back at 205km and broken shifting at 220km but the Canyon-SRAM rider though the issue was resolved. Unfortunately she discovered it wasn't right when she went to sprint for the line: "At the moment that mattered most, my gears skipped and the chain was falling through the cassette".

Cécile Lejeune (10th) – The French rider was well-positioned in the leading group when she took an unscheduled dip.

Morgan Aguirre (11th) – For Aguirre it was the rails that were derailing her adventure, with the PAS Racing rider twice stopped by trains, which in a social media post she said cost her 7 minutes and 53 seconds in waiting time. She certainly wasn't alone in commenting on the train hold ups.

Karolina Migoń (DNF) - Last year's women's winner only made it through the second time check of the race at Mile 20, close to the front and trailing leaders by only 19 seconds. It was quite possible the early mud section caused mechanical issues, and an update will be confirmed.

Melisa Rollins (DNF) - The Liv Racing Collective rider was looking to make Unbound Gravel her comeback event of the season, last racing to second place at RADL GRVL in January. She took the start in Emporia Saturday morning, but only pedaled a few blocks and pulled out, as she did not have a doctor's clearance yet to ride off-road due to recent surgeries. Yes, more than one.

Two and half months ago she had for a broken left elbow suffered on a ride prior to a start at Cape Epic. Then a day before Sea Otter Classic Gravel, she suffered another injury that required surgery.

"The day I was supposed to leave before Sea Otter I was on a hike, and fell. I landed on my arm that I had just broken and had surgery on, and I partially tore my tricep on that same arm, so trying to get back."

Larissa Hartog (DNF) - "Early in the race I crashed, then crashed again, dropped my chain, and crashed once more," said Hartog in an Instagram post. Still, she dug deep and continued on. But after waiting in the rain for a train to pass, missing her gels at the feed and then a puncture, the adrenaline ran out and the pain kicked in so the decision was made to pull the pin.

Unbound 200 Elite Men

Lachlan Morton (DNF) - After opting to race the XL last year, and coming second, the 2024 winner was back at Unbound 200 for 2026 but it was the year Morton had been hoping for with the rider one of the early big name withdrawals in the first quarter of the race. "I had a big slam in one of the rocky sections. It was of my own doing but yeah, crashed pretty hard - had a big highside and landed on my hip quite hard which is pretty sore right now," said Morton in a video shared by EF Procycling. "Otherwise I'm Ok, just a little disappointed. The race was going well but brutal conditions out there."

Romain Bardet (DNF) - The Frenchman had told Cyclingnews he was just competing to "figure out" Unbound as he had heard so much about it, but was not contesting for the win as the trip to Kansas was part of a family holiday. It didn't, however, turn out to be much of a holiday out there and Bardet pulled the pin. He said on social media: "Massive respect to all the finishers. Was truly epic. Couldn't do it. Not a good resilience lesson today, fitness is one thing, managing your equipment over 9hrs is another. It was a day for the brave."

Keegan Swenson (5th) - It wasn't exactly Swenson's mishap, but more the ultimate act of team loyalty, that set back the 2023 winner as when he was out front with Specialized Off-road teammate Mads Würtz Schmidt disaster struck for the European champion. The rider who was fresh from a win at The Traka 360 had a gash to his rear tyre. Calculating the best chance of a team win Swenson handed over his wheel, fixed the damaged one and even then managed to clinch fifth place.

Simon Pellaud (15th) - Last year it was second place for Pellaud and while he was sitting pretty after the first sticky mud section, not even putting a foot on the ground, things got tougher afterwards. He was twice dropped from the front group while losing his muddy chain, then a small crash and five flats later he salvaged 15th place.

Daxton Mock (DNF) - "Unbound got me this year" was how Mock put it in a social media post explaining that after a small mechanical he let the frustration creep in. "Somewhere along the way I got too focused on the result I thought I should be having instead of the race that was actually in front of me. I stepped off after 130 miles. A tough lesson in composure and adaptability, but one I’ll carry forward."

Michael Woods (DNF) - The mud bought Woods unstuck, but it wasn't because it clogged up his tyres but rather his eye. The retired WorldTour professional suffered a 'huge scratch' on his cornea but he said that the sting of not finishing hurt almost as much as his eye. "It was one of the lamest ends to a bike race that I have had in my career," Woods said in a Substack post. "My legs could keep pedaling; my energy was still there, but I just could not see."

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Less than an hour into Unbound 200 and only around 15 or so miles into the race, and already the muddy chaos has hit, with pictures of the men's elite riders grinding to a halt and having to get off the bikes and run, well, at least if they could get their wheels to keep turning with all the mud.

A very few managed to find a grassy detour and keep on rolling, but most were pushing, or even carrying their bikes, and others were completely stopped with the paint sticks out to try and clear the mud so they could get their machines running again.

The mud was a curse for many, quickly splitting the field to shreds and ending 2023 Australian champion Connor Sens's sortie out the front.

Still, mud had been just what others were hoping for, defending champion Cameron Jones (Scott Sports USA) among them, with one of the reasons being that it may be at least one way of making the battle more of an individual one than a tactical team one.

The Specialized Off-road trio of Keegan Swenson, Matt Beers and Mads Würtz Schmidt are the team everyone is looking to in the men's race, and Swenson was one of the riders caught in the mayhem with mud clogging the wheels and cogs.

It was soon revealed, however, that Beers, held out in the front group of around 10 and Jones was chasing in another bunch just behind which soon made the junction and formed a lead group of around 17 which also included Romain Bardet (Factor Racing), Brendan Johnston (Giant) and Würtz Schmidt, but Swenson was, at least initially, left behind.

The women's race, which started later, then rolled on through. While there were some early offs in the puddle leading in, and some were off the bike once the mud truly hit, quite a few rolled on through, and it was a little less chaotic than the men's race.

Still, it caused a big split and a lead group of around 10 formed, including Geerike Schreurs (Specialized Off-road), Rosa Klöser (Canyon-SRAM-MAAP) and Nicole Frain (Factor Racing).

One thing for sure was that the riders and bikes across both fields came out of that section covered in mud, with the multi-coloured range of jerseys now pretty much down to varying shades of brown.

The mud struck again this year as the race started to the south, taking in roads that delivered the peanut butter muck of the 2023 edition. There were thunderstorms overnight in eastern Kansas that delivered enough moisture to turn dust to sludge.

As a result, it's fair to say most riders were aware that mud was possible, but being prepared in theory and the reality may have been two very different things for some.

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This time last year, Michael Woods was preparing to race his final Tour de France, but despite now being retired from professional road racing, he certainly isn't putting his feet up this year either. The Canadian is embracing a new test, racing more than 200 miles across the Flint Hills of Kansas at Unbound Gravel.

"I raced pro for ten years on the road, but I've been following the sport of gravel for a long time now and I've always been really interested in it, and this is the biggest gravel event in the world, so that's why I'm here," Woods told Cyclingnews in Emporia ahead of taking to the start line on Saturday.

"I want to see what it's all about, test myself. I'm a bit nervous for it. I haven't done a race or a ride this long ever in my life, so I'm excited to just go into the unknown a bit."

It is not the first gravel race that Woods has taken on, with his efforts in the discipline this year including the 111km long UCI Gravel World Series event The Gralloch, where he came seventh, and The Traka 200, which is around 200km, not 200 miles like the Unbound 200.

"I feel like I'm woefully underprepared, but I'm trending in the right direction. I'm game fitter with every race," said Woods when asked about his form.

"I didn't have a cycling-specific build-up to the start of this year. I was SkiMo racing [Ski Mountaineering], and I've been also trying to focus on being a bit of a better dad, so I'm not on the bike as much as I'd like to be from a performance perspective. But I'm having a blast doing the training that I'm doing and doing the racing that I'm doing."

"It'll be interesting to see how I hold up for this race, the longest race. The longest ride I've done is The Traka this year, which was for me just over six hours, not the nine plus or 10 hours that this is going to be, so definitely those final three hours will be a big test of endurance, but you never know – hopefully I can do well."

Despite his cycling pedigree on the road, the rider, with three Vuelta a España stage victories to his name and 13 Grand Tour starts, isn't taking anything for granted.

When asked what he would deem a success at the event, his response was, "finishing – I'm serious".

"I mean, I've done some of the biggest races, but this is a long race," said Woods. "I've heard about so many mechanicals. I have a lot of friends who've flown out here from Europe and done this race and never finished just because of breaking a derailleur or having a flat, so for me the big objective is first to finish."

Though that doesn't mean he still doesn't have an eye to results beyond that overriding primary goal.

"Getting a top 10 would be super cool too," said Woods.

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Ten years after riding his first Unbound Gravel 200 in 2013, Yuri Hauswald (Giant) was inducted into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame. The California native had two solo wins at the 24-Hours of Adrenaline and at top 10 at the 2006 24-Hour World Championships, so was looking for new challenges, but admitted "I went out there from Northern California, having absolutely no idea what gravel was".

He etched his name into the Unbound Gravel history books on his third ride with the elite men's victory, nailing a two-rider sprint at the finish to stop the clock at 13:01:17. The average speed was 15.44 mph (24.84 kph). By 2022, elite men had broken the 10-hour mark and in 2025 Cameron Jones (Scott Sports USA-RCC) blazed a new mark riding to the win in 8:37:09, an average of 23.49 mph (37.80 kph).

He makes his annual pilgrimage to Emporia for a 13th edition of the race this year, this time lining up at the back of the field for Life Time Foundation's 'Chase the Race', raising funds for a bike skills park for a local Emporia youth mountain bike team. He called it a 'no-brainer' to ride for a cause rather than just a placing, and this way there's no need to be concerned with an average speed.

"It was a different dynamic. You know, in my time we were all blue-collar folks that had day jobs," Hauswald, a former teacher, told Cyclingnews about the changes in gravel racing across a dozen years. "The horsepower, truly, was like a tectonic shift when Ted King showed up, and it was great.

"The first human that really changed the race with Ted King, Peter Stetina and Ian Boswell helped for sure. On the women's side, it was Rebecca Rusch and Amanda Naumann. It's great for the sport. I have nothing but love for the growth and change that I've seen with Unbound."

The technological changes have experienced warp speeds just like the efforts of elite riders. Hauswald has a role with Gu Energy Labs and is a part-owner of Merchant Cycles, the investment just three years ago confirming him as an honorary Emporian. He sees the technology side blossoming as quickly as the outputs of human horsepower.

"Gravel basically created its own separate, niche industry with gravel bikes, gravel tyres, gravel shoes, gravel kits, all these things. Specifically, gravel bikes have changed. I did my first Unbound on a carbon cyclo-cross bike that I could barely fit 38 tyres on it. Now, people would laugh if you showed up with 38s," Hauswald noted, and laughed.

"So all bikes now have massive tyre clearance now. One of the biggest technological changes you're seeing these days, particularly in the last couple years, are aerodynamic tube shaping, which is trickling down from time trialling. You're seeing like one piece carbon cockpits, where the bar and stem are all one in frame storage units. And in the last two years, you have the UDH universal derailleur hanger.

"You have wider rims, and tyre technology has been trying to keep up with the demand. So there are all these technological changes that have happened, and I'm probably missing a few."

What does all this mean? Riders are fast, can make a solid living on gravel and Hauswald's bike shop thrives on "the biggest week of the year" with Unbound Gravel, and the 5,000-plus amateurs and pros in town for the event.

'Chase the Race'

Hauswald turned pro as a mountain bike racer at the age of 36. He won Unbound Gravel 200 at the age of 45. He is still quite fit and passionate about riding a bike, but his priorities to reach the finish line have a new perspective.

This year he lines up at the back of the age-group field in the back, and for every rider he passes, it translates into raising funds for the Life Time Foundation, specifically a facility for local youth in Emporia, many on the Coyotes mountain team with a high school league. It was inspired by the NorCal Interscholastic Cycling League, where Hauswald's wife, Vanessa, was the executive director for many years.

"It's actually way more than just the challenge for me. I taught elementary school for 12 years while I was chasing the dream of being a pro racer, and so anything that I can do to help kids move is great, because I've seen the power of movement," Hauswald told Cyclingnews.

"My pedal strokes this year will help build a bike skills park in a town that has changed the trajectory of my career and enhanced my life in so many ways. It was a no-brainer for me to say yes. What I'm doing this year is, you know, the most impactful thing I think I could do as a rider, so I'm really, really motivated."

He's already had individuals hand him $20-$100 for the cause, GU has set up a $3,000 matching challenge and one company pledged $10,000. The goal of $50,000 had passed the 50% mark before race day, with the Life Time Foundation accepting online donations through the early June.

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The live stream for Unbound Gravel presented by Shimano gets a boost in 2026 with new start-to-finish coverage of the elite men's and women's fields for Saturday's 200-mile race.

Life Time, organisers for the Kansas off-road event, will produce the live broadcast for free viewing on the Life Time Grand Prix YouTube channel. Cover begins at 5:35 a.m. CDT from the start on Commercial Street in downtown Emporia, 20 minutes prior to the elite men's start, and the elite women taking the course 15 minutes later.

Last year, Life Time provided a live stream for most of the race, starting the feed three hours in. The early sections of the race proved pivotal, however, as crashes and attacks occurred on rugged terrain over the opening 40 kilometres. It was in that area that eventual winners for the elite divisions escaped from lead groups, Cameron Jones (Scott Sports USA-RCC) and Karolina Migoń (PAS Racing) moving away in small breakaways.

A wide variety of resources will again be employed for the live action from the Flint Hills of Kansas, with a helicopter, drones, and motorbike or all-terrain vehicle cameras following lead groups. Bill Elliston, a professional cycling announcer and coach, along with former US road pro Lauren Hall will provide commentary for the live stream on Saturday, with on-course reports provided by Michelle Duffy of Life Time.

Last year Hall covered the on-course analysis from a motorbike for the women's race, and will move into the broadcast booth to provide insight on both elite fields.

"We do our best to cover both races as much as possible, and you'll see a lot of picture-in-picture within the broadcast, which is great. It's a lot of fun to sit there and follow and call two races at once, essentially. So, yeah, it makes for a long day mentally, but you couldn't ask for better racing," Hall told Cyclingnews.

With many women's road races only broadcast for the final one to two hours, this was a welcome for the sport to showcase women and men equally.

"It's extremely important for the women's storytelling, for their sponsors, and for racing as a whole," added Hall, who had a seven-year pro road career and now works as a cycling analyst for many pro races, including USPro Road Championships.

A pre-race show, The Leadout, will kick off the LTGP YouTube coverage on Thursday, May 28, beginning at 12:00 p.m. CDT.

Cyclingnews will also provide detailed play-by-play coverage on the website for the entirety of Unbound Gravel 200, with highlights from rider interviews, news, features and images captured in the week leading up to the race.

Live, on-course video updates for the women’s and men’s races will also be shared on the official Life Time Grand Prix and Life Time Unbound Gravel Instagram pages, and fans will be able to watch race highlights on the LTGP YouTube channel in the days following Unbound 200.

Unbound Gravel 200 is the signature event for Life Time Grand Prix, now in its fifth edition. Life Time has also committed to providing live streams at four of the six races in the series, which started at Sea Otter Classic Gravel in April and will continue later this year at Leadville Trail 100 MTB and Big Sugar Classic.

A total prize purse of $60,000 is on offer across the elite men’s and women’s races at Unbound 200, paid five deep. A prize purse of $350,000 will be shared between the two divisions for riders who finish top 10 in the Life Time Grand Prix after six races.

How to watch 2026 Unbound Gravel 200 for free

You can stream Unbound Gravel 200 on YouTube for free. It will be put out on the Life Time Grand Prix channel.

Coverage starts at 11:35 BST, 06:35 ET and 20:35 AEST.

How to watch 2026 Unbound Gravel 200 from anywhere in the world

If you're abroad and for some reason find your Unbound Gravel stream blocked, you need a VPN. A VPN is a nifty piece of internet security software that lets you tune into your streaming services from abroad, and allows you to do so with complete confidence.

There are loads of great VPN options out there, but for a VPN that's brilliant at streaming and is also TechRadar's pick for overall best VPN in the world, we'd recommend NordVPN.

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When Cameron Jones lined up in Emporia for Unbound 200 in 2025, he had the element of surprise on his side. After all the rider from New Zealand was looked upon as a relative newcomer fighting for a wildcard entry to the Life Time Grand Prix series, rather than as a rider fighting for a win in the world's most prestigious gravel race.

That worked in his favour – he took off just 50 miles into the race with Simon Pellaud and then dropped his break companion to claim a solo victory that transformed his career. This time, however, Jones knows that "there's no way anyone's going to let me roll off the front like I did last year."

Does that mean the defending champion is waving the white flag? Of course not – there are more weapons in his arsenal than just the element of surprise.

"I'm obviously going in it to win, I just know that the way in which I'll do it won't be the same as last year," Jones told Cyclingnews in a phone interview the week before the race, just before heading off from Blacksburg, Virginia to Emporia.

Much has changed since he made that same fateful trip to Kansas twelve months ago. Back then, he was just a rider who had got his foot in the door of US gravel racing in 2024 during a semester of a University exchange program at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

Don't be deceived, however, that it was just some happy accident. After getting a taste of the discipline back home in New Zealand, it was the call of gravel that drew him to the United States, with his study of Forestry Engineering the way to get him there. Studying was the vehicle, gravel was the destination.

"I put everything into this, to see what I could do," said Jones, initially focused on mountain biking, but who had been wondering what the next step in his cycling career would be. That was when he both became drawn in by the videos of the Life Time Grand Prix and also felt encouraged by the successful moves toward the discipline made by other riders in the region, including Australia's Brendan Johnston - now a key rival.

"It went well enough in 2024 that I got a little bit of support from Scott Bikes USA, which allowed me, leading into 2025, to train full time, and then that's what brought my riding up yet another level," said Jones.

The gravel and mountain bike combination of the LIfe Time Grand Prix series seemed like an ideal fit for Jones, who was hoping to keep riding through forests, rather than immediately utilise his just-finished degree to work in the business of sustainably managing them. He applied for a 2025 spot, with results including 17th at his first Unbound, fourth at the Canadian Gravel National Championships and fourth overall at Oregon Trail Gravel. But he didn't make the cut.

"I felt a bit ripped off, not getting in, like I knew I was good enough but I can't have anything against the selectors – there's so much talent out there, and maybe I hadn't shown what they were looking for. But I certainly went into it with a point to prove," said Jones, who was still chasing a wild card entry into the series when he lined up at Unbound in 2025.

Is there any better way to prove a point than winning the biggest race on the calendar? Well, it turns out there is, and that is also taking the wild card entry the victory earned him for other races and then leveraging that into an overall series victory as well.

"I never really thought about winning the whole thing, I was just doing as well as I could each race to hopefully get into the top 10 and the prize money at the end," he said

Still something to prove

This Unbound, then, is his first as a fully fledged Life Time Grand Prix series athlete and instead of flying under the radar, as defending champion the full glare of the spotlight will be on him.

"So now maybe I've got a little bit more pressure but I've also got a lot more support," said Jones.

On top of that while last year Jones was fighting for a career, being an Unbound 200 winner is about as close as you can get to guaranteeing one.

"Regardless of the result of these races, I'll still be able to ride my bike full time and make a story out of it," he said.

But, of course, there are plenty other motivations for the rider who is this year also lining up in the jersey of an Oceania gravel champion to lay it all on the line so he can celebrate in Emporia once again.

"There's lots to gain by getting another one and I guess there were a few sorts of rumours around last year, that we only won because we drafted the motorbike the whole way," said Jones, making it clear that this was far from the reality of their experience of being "off the front through the wind the whole time".

"It'd be nice to do it, and yeah, put some of those rumours to rest," he said. "Also to prove it wasn't just my position as an unknown rider, but even with all the eyes on me I can still make it happen."

As far as the 'why' and 'how' of chasing another Unbound 200 victory, the why is clearly covered but what about the how now that a surprise attack is clearly no longer an option?

Prototypes, preparing for a sprint and hoping for mud

Many things may have changed for Jones as he heads into Unbound but some things have also stayed the same.

Last year Jones took on what he called the Blacksburg Bootcamp on social media, with a training block of 90 hours in 20 days, and VO2 effort numbers that were his best ever, at the time, at least.

"This year the training has been almost identical to last year, it was clearly a good recipe so just follow that," said Jones.

That said, there have been some tweaks, given a long-range attack probably isn't going to work this time. There has been a little more intensity "given that my effort on race day is probably going to be a bit more spiky rather than the solid effort I did off the front," said Jones.

The formula of three, 30-hour weeks has also factored in an altered finishing scenario.

"I've been working on the sprint a bit more, or that's what I'll tell everyone so they don't want to take me to the line," he joked.

The VO2 effort numbers have also hit new levels again this year, and with the indicators on the up so is the confidence. Plus there is also a new piece of machinery to deliver an extra boost.

Scott released a new prototype 32" gravel race bike this week, with Jones quipping in the release that with the innovative bigger-wheeled bike he'll be "experiencing a road race while everybody else is racing gravel".

"It's a pretty revolutionary bit of equipment which should give me the best chance," Jones told Cyclingnews. "I think it's going to be a genuine advantage over everyone else."

One area where just about everyone, including Jones, is at a disadvantage, though, is facing up to the cohesive Specialized Off-road team of Keegan Swenson, Matt Beers and Mads Würtz Schmidt. Each is a significant threat alone, let alone as a combined force.

One factor, however, that could help take the edge off that advantage is the conditions.

"I'm secretly hoping" – or perhaps not so secretly any more – "that it's like a super filthy, muddy year, because that just breaks everything up, makes it just man on man," said Jones.

"It's a lot less tactics, it just becomes a slog in which the best legs on the day win."

Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our gravel cycling coverage in 2026. We'll be on the ground at the biggest races of the season, bringing you breaking news, expert analysis, in-depth features, and much more. Find out more.

Samara Sheppard and Cole Davis (SpeedStudio-Basso) won the final event of the 2026 Grasshopper Adventure Series, Ukiah Mendo Gravel Epic on May 24. Both won on debut rides in the off-road northern California series, and fine-tuned techniques the weekend prior to Unbound Gravel 200 in Kansas.

With third place finishes at Ukiah Mendo, Jen Tavé (SpeedBlock-Terún Pro Cycling) and Cassius Anderson (Marin Service Course) secured the overall titles for elite divisions in the five-race Grasshopper Series.

Davis, a native of Roseville, California, will ride his first Unbound Gravel 200, while New Zealander Sheppard is in the hunt at the Life Time Grand Prix, sitting seventh in the standings after Sea Otter Classic Gravel. Tavé will also compete next at Unbound 200, positioned third in the wild card leaderboard.

Sheppard covered the 76-mile course across Mendocino County in 4:25:54. The new course included two major climbs that totaled 8,420 feet of climbing, and a 13-mile descent into strong headwinds before the finish.

It was on the final climb and technical sandy descent that Sheppard used her mountain bike skills to dispatch her two closest competitors. Flavia Oliveira Parks came second, just over three and a half minutes back, and Tavé third, another six minutes behind the New-Zealand born rider.

"This was just a solid hit out as part of my preparation for the Unbound. I just enjoyed the course. It was some soft, sandy sections, a lot of fun corners, good gravel, bit of tarmac, everything," Sheppard said of her first Hopper adventure.

She was still connected with Parks and Tavé with 25 miles to go. Tavé was the first of the trio to fall off the pace on the final climb, and then Sheppard attacked on the descent into a stiff headwind to distance Parks.

"It was a good battle. We worked together, Flavia and Samara. Then I got popped on the second big climb, and was a bit of a solo adventure after that,"Tavé told organisers, with the rider happy to walk away with the Grasshopper overall title for a second time.

Davis won with more than five minutes to Kyle Ward and nearly another six minutes on Anderson. It was also the first time he had competed in any Hopper race, having focused for the past five years on road racing.

A group of five riders escaped in the first 11 miles on the opening climb. Miles 31 to 50 offered a stretch of paved roads, where the three podium finishers rode together before the final ascent. Davis had to stop several times for tyre issues, but was able to catch Ward and Anderson at the crest of the Low Gap Road for a final attack.

"Today was super tactical. By the time we got to the road stretch, there's three of us just taking equal pulls. I thought it was my opportunity to go and then I had some issues with some flats," Davis said. "I stopped to fix it a couple times, attacked over the top, and descended into the finish.

"I was looking at the profile, I thought the top of the climb would be the finish and you could coast it in but that was not the case. Even though it was downhill the headwind made it brutal."

Ukiah Mendo Gravel Epic top 5s

Grasshopper Adventure Series final standings - top 3

Fourth place at this year's Traka 200 sounds enviable, especially if you crashed hard just the day before. However, Karolina Migoń (PAS Racing) was disappointed. She had pulled out of her long-time target, the Traka 360, less than 20 hours before, targeting a third consecutive victory in 'Unbound of Europe'.

Though she chases time for a living, the three weeks between epic races in Girona, Spain and Emporia, Kansas, provided the slow build to yet another quest, a second consecutive Unbound Gravel 200 win. Migoń has won The Traka's 360km race twice in a row, so why not do the same at Unbound's signature 321km race?

"Last year, I had no pressure [at Unbound]. This time, as a winner, I have way more pressure. Still, I'm there to win the race. I'm not looking that much into the Life Time [riders] who come. I want to get the best spot possible. I want to beat everyone.

"So fourth place at Traka [200] is not really an achievement for me, because my legs were ready for work," the Polish racer told Cyclingnews about her last race on what she called "a heartbreaking weekend".

The crash in the 360 on a Friday caused her to flip over the bike and land hard, a handlebar hitting her chest. It took her a short while to breathe normally, but a valve on her rear tyre had snapped, and the bike frame was actually broken. She lost 15 minutes from the front group and pulled out after kilometre 115, deciding to try again on Saturday in the 200.

"I had to stop several times to pump up my tyre, and then stop at the feed zone to change my wheel, so I lost a lot of time. Yeah, you don't have a car behind to change the wheel and help you," she laughed about the self-service motions to get back into the race.

"Even after two weeks, I had a bit of pain in my chest, but it was nothing serious, and didn't prevent me from riding a bike. I am pretty OK."

She said she was fully recovered for a third ride at Unbound. In her first effort in 2024, she finished 21st, succumbing to punctures and a mechanical that gave her no chance to contend.

Last year, she moved away from the women's peloton before the first Feed Zone with PAS Racing teammate Cecily Decker and US Aegis rider Lauren Stephens in the decisive breakaway. Another 100 miles on, Migoń poured on more power with 48 miles to go and rode the rest of the way alone.

"I'm not even sure if knowing the course will help a lot if there's minimal maintenance roads, and it's muddy. It doesn't matter which road it is. I hope for the best, and I hope that maybe we won't get horrendous conditions on the course, but I will prepare for that as well," Migoń said.

"I like long races. It's mostly the distance that makes it suitable for me and makes that advantage for me. After racing in the US, I really got used to those long stretches of straight rows, and I embraced them. And I really like them to be honest, and it's something different that we don't have really in Europe."

Her trip from Europe to the US is just for the one day of racing in Kansas, with nothing after Unbound as she has done before - winning Lost and Found in California and going ninth at SBT GRVL in Colorado. Instead, Migoń has her sights on a real holiday in Switzerland, at a higher altitude than where she lives, a time to prepare for her first MTB adventure in years.

On the horizon is Leadville Trail 100 MTB, as she will make her debut there in the Life Time Grand Prix.

"For sure, I will try to restore my mountain bike skills, which I think will be also helpful for gravel riding. I'm pretty excited about it. It's not as high as the US, mostly 2,000 metres, but I think it should be OK."

She will return to the US in the summer to take part in a Gravel Earth Series stop at the Oregon Trail Gravel stage race, July 8-12 in Bend, Oregon, then go to Colorado for Leadville, August 15, the race starting at 3,094 metres above sea level.

"I have never raced so high. It will be an experiment. That's why I decided to do Life Time [series]. I just need the motivation every year. I need something that will drive me, and after winning Traka and Unbound, there is not much left, you know. So I try to set new goals and new challenges. I think that was pretty much a natural step for me to try Life Time," the ever-positive 30-year-old told Cyclingnews.

2026 has her focused on racing, as she was able to move full-time to the bike and set aside a career as a software engineer. So far this year, she has finished fourth or better in five races, with second place at The Gralloch. The top step is now in focus for Kansas.

"The whole atmosphere, pressure from everyone, sponsors and the environment in Emporia, it's really tiring and a bit exhausting. The week is really, really tough. You have a big relief when you start the race and you can just ride your bike. I'm looking forward to starting the race and enjoying those long, straight stretches.

"I booked a holiday in Switzerland, and that's what I will think about when I am out there, just looking forward to altitude and a little break after Unbound, without the bike. This is what will keep Kansas interesting, thinking about what is afterwards."

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Unbound Gravel shaped my career. It’s the race I measure everything against. It's the race that broke me, changed me, and somehow convinces me to keep coming back for more.

In 2019 I started my first Unbound Gravel 200, but crashed in the first 30 miles, a broken collarbone ending my day. After a COVID shutdown, I returned in 2021 and won solo. This year in Emporia, I’ll attempt to join the 1,000 Mile Club, representing five completed editions of Unbound Gravel and 1,000 accumulated miles across the Flint Hills of Kansas.

So when I heard people referring to The Traka, the 360km gravel race through Girona, Spain, as the “European Unbound,” my interest piqued. Had I ever raced The Traka? No. Been to Spain? Also no.

My findings? I learned the two races may share a distance, a level of prestige, and a place on gravel’s biggest stage but beyond that they could not feel more different.

The lead into Spanish gravel

My Traka race block started the way most privateer race blocks do: light chaos. Sea Otter Classic Gravel then The Growler at Levi's GranFondo, where I raced 147 miles with 15,000 feet of climbing, before boarding a flight the following night to Spain with half the North American gravel scene.

Cecily Decker, Pete Stetina, Samara Sheppard, and a bunch of other racers and privateers were all packed onto the same flight to Barcelona looking equally wrecked.

The week quickly settled into a rhythm that felt almost cinematic for someone who grew up racing gravel in Kansas and Oklahoma. Cappuccinos in medieval plazas, routes rolling through farm roads and mountain switchbacks as well as tiny grocery stores stuffed with muesli and espresso pods. And then suddenly, Friday at 3:00 a.m. local time, I was awakened from my European dream for a 5:50 a.m. start, in the dark.

The Traka starts where Unbound eases in

Every edition of Unbound 200 that I’ve raced has started with a strange calmness. Sure, everyone is nervous and sure, positioning matters but there’s usually an understanding that nobody wants to burn any matches before sunrise amid a sense of fear of what the next 200 miles will bring.

The Traka felt like the exact opposite. The route is front-heavy with climbing immediately. The techy descents start immediately – in the pitch black.

Then came the start-line situation.

At the start of the 360, Klassmark, the race organisation, accidentally let hundreds of amateurs start before the pro women. This wasn’t the plan, as the elite women were supposed to start five minutes before the amateur men and five minutes after the pro men.

When the organisers tried to turn the age-groupers around, some decided to keep riding while others listened and turned around. That’s how the pro women and the amateur fields immediately intermixed. Then, even though explicitly against the race rules, plenty of amateur men were drafting the pro women. Surprisingly, this wasn’t one of the main storylines of the day and it seemed to slip off the radar even though it affected our race.

If the situation were reversed and hundreds of amateurs were sent out before the pro men’s field it would be a different conversation.

Honestly, the situation highlighted something gravel is still figuring out. If you want an elite women’s race, you need enough separation for the race to actually exist.

Unbound has gone through similar growing pains. In 2023, the infamous “mud year,” the setup was: elite men first, elite women two minutes later, and the amateur field another eight minutes more. Between the 'peanut butter' mud and the small time gaps, all the gaps vanished and we merged together.

That’s why in 2024, Life Time started the elite men 15 minutes ahead of the elite women and amateurs then started 25 minutes behind the elite women, giving us enough space to actually race each other.

200 vs 360 at The Traka

One of the biggest differences between The Traka and Unbound is that The Traka splits the elite field between two marquee races: the 200 km and the 360 km. At Unbound, the 200-miler is the race. Everybody shows up for that one massive throwdown in Emporia.

Technically, Unbound 100 is really the equivalent of The Traka 200 (miles vs. km), but Unbound 100 is low-key and mostly sits on the Life Time radar for U23 and junior riders who aspire to racing Unbound 200 later. The gravity of the event, the attention, and all of the biggest names in gravel focus on the star event - Unbound 200.

At Traka, the talent gets split. Some riders choose the shorter, faster 200, others choose the longer more unhinged 360, and it completely changes the dynamic of the event.

The Traka 200 is explosive and tactical. The 360 feels like an ultra-endurance race layered onto highly technical European gravel. It creates this interesting question all week long: who picked which race, and why?

At Unbound, everybody gets thrown into the same washing machine together. At The Traka, it feels like two separate championships happening on two separate days.

The roads completely change the racing

Mid-western US gravel roads are wide open. You can usually see riders from far away and there’s space to pass riders from different fields while out of the draft.

At The Traka, the roads are narrow and constantly changing. Twisty farm roads, tiny bridges, urban sectors, river crossings and steep ramps over 20% are common. Random sharp turns appear out of nowhere.

This year’s The Traka 360 winner and former Unbound champion, Rosa Klöser, said, “The key difference is that Traka is far more technical and terrain-driven, with constant climbing and descending, whereas Unbound is all about endurance, resilience, avoiding mechanicals and managing the unknown over an incredibly long day.”

There were moments where passing groups of amateur riders without accidentally entering their draft felt almost impossible. And once I finally fought my way to the front because I was trying to follow the rules, entire groups of amateur men would often stay attached to my wheel.

That’s one of the biggest cultural differences I’ve observed between European gravel and American gravel right now.

In the U.S., especially at the bigger races, there’s become more of an understanding that the elite women deserve their own race with no interference. A lot of that has been reinforced by the Life Time Grand Prix over the last few years. At The Traka, it felt less defined.

Wrong turns part of the race

Both races have unmarked courses. At Unbound, navigation mistakes can happen, but the options are generally simple: left, right, or straight.

At Traka, the course constantly twists through tiny intersections, wooded sectors, alleyways, and random connectors that appear out of nowhere.

At Unbound, there are long stretches where I can mentally disappear into the effort and focus entirely on power, fueling, and survival.

At The Traka your brain never really shuts off. You’re constantly reacting, constantly checking the route, constantly scanning for riders, corners, turns and random alleyways.

By hour 12, I was hallucinating. Not metaphorically, literally, and somehow I kind of liked it.

So, which race is harder?

Despite all the chaos, there were parts of The Traka that genuinely impressed me. The repeated climbing creates more natural selection and rewards pure fitness in a way that feels different from American gravel.

The course marshalling was top-notch. Drivers were respectful. In Girona, cycling is deeply woven into the culture, yet it still feels aspirational in many parts of the United States. Cars stopped immediately. Nobody seemed annoyed that thousands of cyclists had completely taken over the roads for the day and that stood out to me.

Unbound Gravel 200 still feels 'heavier' to me because of its history, the Flint Hills, the weather, the unpredictability, the peanut butter mud and the psychological weight the race carries in American gravel culture. But The Traka pushed me into entirely new kinds of discomfort: descending gravel in the dark, fighting through endless groups, constantly navigating, constantly reacting, never knowing what’s around the next corner.

Same distance, completely different experiences. Maybe that’s why both races work so well.

And honestly maybe that’s the spirit of gravel – the unknown.

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Following a pair of victories in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to conclude the USA CRITS series, Marlies Mejías (Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28) completed a four-for-four sweep on the US Memorial Day weekend campaign, taking wins at Easton Criterium on Sunday and Tour of Somerville on Monday.

It was the second consecutive year the Cuban sprinter has been the best woman at Somerville. Lucas Bourgoyne (Cadence Cyclery PB Waldo Racing) duplicated efforts for a second year and won the men's elite title at the New Jersey race.

Just a week ago, Mejías rode to second on general classification at the six-day Tour de Bloom in the Pacific northwest, winning two stages.

Next, she was firing on all cylinders for the final two stops of USA CRITS, winning solo at Streets of Fire Criterium and then attacking from a three-rider breakaway for the win at Winston-Salem Classic, her teammate Rylee McMullen taking second.

At the Easton Criterium p/b Lehigh Valley Health Network and Tour of Somerville p/b Unity Bank, both races came down to bunch sprints, where Mejías powered clear in the final metres, opening a significant gap to second place.

Jenna Netman (Automatic Racing) and Paola Muñoz (Fearless Femme /b The Beasley Firm) rounded out the women's podium at Easton, while Skylar Schneider (L39ION of Los Angeles) and Odette Lynch (HigherDOSE-Renova) completed the top three in Somerville.

“I could not have done this without my teammates. Rylee [McMullen] and Sofia [Arreola] were phenomenal all weekend, keeping things under control and putting me in the right position. Thanks to my coach, Kristin Armstrong, I continue to get stronger," Mejías said.

"The first part of the year was focused heavily on track, and that has also made me faster on the road. Paired with our new STROMM aero road bikes, I feel like I have gained a lot of speed this year.”

Following a victory by Luke Fetzer at Winston Salem Classic, Team Cadence Cyclery pb Waldo Racing was on the hunt for two more victories. Both races were full-on with team tactics and high-speed field sprints.

Jim Brown (L39ION of Los Angeles) thwarted the momentum of Cadence Cyclery in Easton when he swooped around their team leader Bourgoyne for the win. James Wilson (Whoosh-NZ Cycling Project) took third ahead of Jordan Parra (Foundation Cycling New York). One day later, it would be Bourgouyne countering with the victory, leaving L39IOIN in third place behind Alejandro Che (Kelly Benefits).

It was a sixth year for the Easton Crit and the 81st edition of the Somerville, New Jersey race, now the longest-running one-day race in the country.

Full results can be found from organisers for Easton Crit and Tour of Somerville.