Three years have passed since Keegan Swenson (Specialized Off-road) last won Unbound Gravel 200. He told Cyclingnews he has fully recovered from a hip injury suffered in Spain in February and "back to where I needed to be" after two "quiet" weeks of altitude training in New Mexico.
He brimmed with confidence, and noted two other key tell-tale indicators that the podium was attainable next Saturday in Emporia, Kansas - riding this time with a full powerhouse roster of Specialized Off-road and a return to the southern route in the Flint Hills, where he won in 2023.
"It was nice to get a few weeks to just kind of buckle down and train, try and get back to where I needed to be. Just nice to do a nice couple of big weeks of volume, and get the motor tuned in nicely.
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"I was originally planning to race Traka earlier in the year. With my accident at the door back in February, I just felt like I was missing a bit of training," Swenson told Cyclingnews.
His season, with a target on winning the Life Time Grand Prix for a fourth time in five years, was derailed in mid-February when he collided with a car door in mid-February just before his season opener at Santa Vall. He took a full month off to recover from a hip fracture.
"I was fit enough to have a decent Sea Otter. And after being in California for a couple weeks, it's always nice to go somewhere that's peaceful and quiet. I've been there previously, and Silver City, New Mexico is relatively close to Tucson, only a three-hour drive.
"I just felt like I was missing a bit of training. It was nice to do it in a nice quiet place at altitude and on some different roads. Sofia was out racing Traka [where she won Traka 200 - ed.], so I was on my own, just the dog and I. I had a friend come down for a little bit, otherwise was just nice and calm." he said about "hermit mode in the mountains".
Swenson is prepared for the storm after the calm. It's his fifth trip to the Kansas gravel giant, which will put him in the 1,000-mile club, though he admitted that status never entered his mind when he first lined up in 2022, going second to Ivar Slik in the rain.
This is the first time he'll ride Unbound with more than one teammate for support, and any of the trio - himself, Matt Beers, Mads Würtz Schmidt - could win the overall. While Swenson is placed second in the Life Time Grand Prix after Sea Otter, Beers is fourth in the standings. Würtz Schmidt is not in the series, but he remains a force with four victories this season, including The Traka 360.
"It's definitely nice to have teammates out there that help look after each other, and kind of take some pressure off in a way that they're not just one of us trying to get it done," Swenson said.
"I think it's pretty cool to have a team like we do. Mads has had a lot of experience on the road. Matt and I come from a mountain bike side. Together, we have a pretty good wealth of knowledge of tactics, and how races can go."
The 32-year-old has made it a habit to frequent the podium since he won Unbound in 2022, including a world title at the UCI Cross-country Marathon Mountain Bike Championships and the Life Time Grand Prix multiple times. He had already sent a signal in 2021 by winning Leadville Trail 100 MTB, and has gone on to hold that title ever since. Unbound remains a major target.
"I'm excited, heading south a little bit again. Last time I went south, I won, so good memories going that way. So, the course is similar to that, some of it's new, and what I can see on the map it seems it will be good. We'll have an extra feed zone this year as well. [That will] make it a little more reasonable and more professional."
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