Swenson uses second place at Unbound Gravel to prove point for mountain bikers

Off-road specialist Keegan Swenson came into Unbound Gravel 200 as the early men’s series leader in the Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda. The reigning US mountain bike national champion in both short track and cross country, won the opening round in his specialty at Sea Otter Classic in the Fuego XC 80K. He came to Emporia, Kansas for the new challenge in the longest off-road race in the Life Time series. 

A combination of inclement weather, a crash and a fast pace in the decisive five-rider breakaway culminated with a second-place finish, a bike length behind winner Ivar Slik. The podium finish gave him a slight pad of five points over Russell Finsterwald and eight points over Alexey Vermeulen in the Life Time series, but he was there in the Flint Hills of Kansas for the first time to prove a point.

“There has been some talk about the mountain bikers not being able to perform at Unbound. I feel like I put a stop to that,” Swenson told Cyclingnews after his ride of a little more than 9 hours, 22 minutes left him one second from the victory. “It was full gas all day and I felt really good. Honestly, I thought I had the legs for the sprint. But I made some tactical errors and kind of blew it. But I’m happy where my fitness was.” 

Similar to last year, Unbound Gravel 200 was a race of attrition and avoiding big mistakes, but this year heavy rains in the days leading up to the competition turned the dusty trails to mud bogs. In fact, the recent storms flooded some roads selected for the southern route, with organisers modifying the course two days before the start. 

With 40 miles to go, Swenson had made the select front group with Slik, Vermeulen and defending champion Ian Boswell and Vermeulen. They were joined a few miles later by Laurens ten Dam, who finished second last year in a photo finish against Boswell.

“The last couple hours were hectic in the mud. There was probably a three mile stretch of pretty greasy sloppy stuff and luckily it hadn’t gotten too thick yet so it wasn’t collecting on the bikes which was nice. I was pushing the pace there trying to pop those guys.” 

Swenson crashed while pushing the pace in one mud section and damaged his shifter. Boswell went around Swenson and then promptly crashed himself. 

“I laid myself out pretty good, I broke my shifter. I must have just tagged a rock when I crashed. It still worked but I had to baby it the rest of the day,” said Swenson, and added that his Santa Cruz Stigmata was 'flawless' otherwise. 

“When Ten Dam bridged back up, I knew there was going to be some Dutch ‘mafia’ action and there was,” Keegan said about the two Dutchmen, Ten Dam and Slik, looking to line up for top spots as the lead group charged on the pavement through Emporia State University, just a few miles from the finish. “Ten Dam went in the campus, no one was going with him and I closed it down. That was definitely a tactic to try and wear me down for the sprint. I think I mistimed my sprint a bit but I gave it what I had.

“With the 100 milers finishing, it made it hectic trying not to hit them and trying to sprint with a line. It wasn’t perfect, I made some tactical errors in the final few kilometers but you know, it is what it is.”

Swenson scored top points in the first two of six events in the LifeTime Grand Prix series, as Slik is not part of the invitation-only participant list. The third event  of the series comes on July 9 at the 70-mile Crusher in the Tushar in Beaver, Utah, which is a home race for the Park City native. The defending champions for Crusher in the Tushar are both part of the Life Time series, the men’s champion Peter Stetina, now ninth overall, and the women’s winner Sofia Gomez Villafane, now leading the women’s division with 59 points.

Swenson last raced the Crusher, named for the brutal climbing in the Tushar Mountains of southern Utah, in 2017 when he was third overall. 

“The rest of the events should be good. Unbound is the longest and arguably the hardest. The rest it’s not smooth sailing but less unknown. I’ve raced all the other races except Big Sugar,” added Swenson.