Unbound Gravel 100: Tiffany Cromwell wins second title while Hayden Christian outsprints Isaac Allred for men's victory

Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) dominated the women's division at Unbound Gravel 100 on Saturday, while Hayden Christian out-sprinted Isaac Allred for the men's title.

Cromwell won the elite women's 100-mile contest in 4 hours, 59 minutes, 13 seconds for her second victory in three years in Emporia at that distance. 

A pair of under-23 riders competing in the Life Time Grand Prix U23 Program completed the podium, with Ruth Holcomb in second, 5:12:31, and Alexandra Charles in third, just 23 seconds later. Raylyn Nuss was fourth for elite women, just under 16 minutes after the Australian winner.

"The goal was to win, and I got the win," Cromwell told select media, including Cyclingnews, at the finish.  "I was pretty sure I was in the lead. I felt strong."

The 100-mile event returned for a sixth edition on Saturday, measuring 108.5 miles and including approximately 3,600 feet of climbing, using the same northbound, counter-clockwise loop as last year. From a mass start of men and women together, Cromwell rode in the front group across the opening section of gravel

The men's podium was a sweep by the U23 riders, all in the Life Time Grand Prix competition. Christian posted a time of 4:40:12, with Allred finishing one second later. Then Jonas Woodruff took a four-rider sprint for the final podium spot, 6:49 after the lead duo.

The opening 26.8 miles shared the path that the 200-milers used just an hour before, then detoured for a rough 10 miles to the south-west and rejoined the longer route again at the junction of Old K-4 Road and Des Moines Road. The two distances then share the final 36 miles back into Emporia, where the final 1.5 miles includes the punch Highland Hill climb and fast finish on Commercial Street.

The Australian Women's WorldTour rider had a small gap on several other women at the water crossing before the one and only aid station at Council Grove. 

"It was a bit scary and hectic early on, a lot of crashes. Obviously, after breaking my collarbone two months back, I was trying to avoid that [crashes]. And then another crash at the water crossing."

Once through Council Grove and on the back half of the course, Cromwell carved out a 2:36 solo lead to the trio of US riders in pursuit - Raylyn Nuss, Ruth Holcomb and Alexandra Charles.

She said the women were riding "pretty strong early on" and she just kept on the gas to hold off any advancements. "I was happy they were behind and I could just play for something," she added.

Cromwell built on her leading time once arriving at the Kahola Lake dam, now almost 12 minutes ahead of Nuss, Charles and Holcomb.

Passing the final checkpoint on the course at Americus, Cromwell was in time trial mode with over 10 minutes in hand to second-placed Holcomb, and Nuss beginning to waiver a little behind the U23 rider. 

Men's race

Once across the first section of gravel and 15 miles into the race, Allred carried a solo lead. But Christian soon joined him and the became well acquainted with each other for the remaining 75 miles.

"He and I linked up, and we're like, 'let's go, let's roll this'. So we just rolled it the entire day. Just steady pace the whole time, and just held onto the gap," Allred explained.

At the midway point of the race, which took place at the Council Grove aid station, Allred and Christian had moved away with a three-minute margin on a large pack of 26 riders. 

After the long climb to the Kahola Lake dam, Allred and Christian continued at the front of the race with 27.5 miles to go and built almost five minutes to a group of five riders chasing - Griffin Hoppin, Jonas Woodruff, Elouan Gardon and Justin Peck. Nicolas Roche rode in solo eighth place.

The complexion of the race remained the same across a long, straight stretch passing Americus, as Allred and Christian led the way and then contested the sprint on Commercial for the victory.

"He led it out and I went around him. I went too early. He was able to hang on my wheel and get around me again. So, yeah, it's all good, a good learning experience," Allred said about the final sprint. "

Results - top 5s