It Is Time For Pro-Only Unbound

From the 2024 UNBOUND Gravel highligths video by Life Time Events

 The fall-out from this year's Unbound Gravel is still coming down and once again, there is "beef", as it has been called in the past. Meaning that there were circumstances which the Elite Women's field saw which prompted some articles online afterward disparaging how the event is set up for Elites and for how support is rendered in a couple of different instances. In today's post I want to, once again, discuss the idea that Pro/Elite racing, which is a job/money-making venture for most in this field, is not compatible with the amateur/original intentions for this event.

First, I want to point out a few previously published articles on this subject which I have written. The most directly related of which is one I wrote three years ago now entitled " State Of The Gravel Scene: Mid-Term 2022- Is It Time To Separate The Pros From The Rest?" . The next article which pertains to this year's "beef" is entitled "UNBOUND Makes Changes To Event But Will It Matter?". That one is also from 2023. Finally, another related article is entitled "Unbound Gravel: The Real Heroes of the Event", also from 2023. I will be drawing from these articles for the following thoughts I have concerning the issues brought forth this year.

Briefly, let's touch upon "the beef" part. What is going on which is making waves? I'll hit some Googled results for "Unbound issues/news". Here are the top four results:

• From Cyclingnews:  "Unbound Gravel 'needs standards, not red tape' "Elite riders feeling the squeeze in Kansas amid lightly vetted fields and chaotic aid stations"
• From Outside:  "Unbound Gravel Is Becoming More Dangerous Every Year" "Many riders had safety concerns after Saturday's race, between the feed zones, sizes of fields, and the aggressive racing."

• Again - From Cyclingnews:  'Good day until blood came out' - The Unbound Gravel ...   "A catalogue of the crashes, broken wheels, barbed wire encounters and wrong turns that ended races and curtailed results."

•  From Cycling Weekly: Unbound rider left injured, in ditch for 90 minutes before ..  "Klara Sofie Skovgaard (Canyon Factory Racing) suffered a serious crash early in the women's elite race at Unbound Gravel on Saturday, ..."

From social media: Roads were troublesome all week.

The fifth return was an Outside feed for the event but was tag lined with the same news about the Elite woman rider's crash and being in the ditch.

So, let's clear up a few things here. All of the following five points are big parts of what Unbound is today and figure heavily into what is seemingly going on there. 

 One- The event payed out for placings, for the first time, if I am not mistaken. Of course, Unbound figures heavily into brands, teams, and other sponsors marketing for the year in gravel also. The event now is a plum prize in terms of how athletes can be rewarded financially and by other means. Basically, the perception is that Unbound is important to success for athletes and cycling related business. 

Two: The event was purchased by Life Time Events as a turn-key, ultra-distance format gravel event, primarily focused on amateur athletes, but with a distinct Pro/Elite presence at the front of the field. The event was not as large as it is now. In 2018, when Life Time purchased the Dirty Kanza Productions company, the event hosted 2,500 riders in total. Now, in 2025, the event has an estimated 5.000 riders. In 2018, the event was seen as a challenge, there was no prize purse, and there was no separate field for Elite athletes.

Three: The Dirty Kanza 200, the event which eventually became Unbound in 2020, was based on a couple of other events. One called Trans Iowa, and another called the Flint Hills Death Ride.  These were events which were based on self-reliance, risk-taking, and adventure. The founders of the DK200 took these elements, infused them into their event, and added elements to appeal to business and to enhance the riders finish line experience. A focus on all rider's experiences was top of mind in those days.

Four: It is undeniable that the DK200 revitalized Emporia, Kansas in several ways. Unbound has pumped even more economic impact into the area. According to this article in the "Emporia Gazzette", Unbound gravel is estimated to have a 21.7 million dollar impact on the economy of the city.  So, the health of this event is important to the businesses in the area which are affected by Unbound's impact.

Image courtesy of Life Time

 Finally: I could add a fifth category here, and this would relate to how Unbound Gravel is a platform for people to overcome 'mountains' and stretch their perceptions of what their bodies and minds can handle. There are several stories from this year's event which show this to be true. People overcoming inhibiting factors like cancer, age, and disabilities. I've seen stories concerning all of these factors and more, which are inspiring, and obviously immensely meaningful to the participants, their friends, and families. This, in my estimation the most important aspect of Unbound, is often not reported in the major news outlets for cycling, (as noted above).

What To Do? 

The trouble seems to come with the doubling of riders since 2018 and the demands from professional riders who want to have every advantage when competing, and if something looks unfair, you are going to hear about this. I would submit that the medical issues regarding response to the woman who was "left in a ditch" (a bit over dramatic there, in my opinion as "the ditch" is not the awful place to wait it is made out to be. I know, having sat in several myself.) could be mitigated in the future. Actually, I think a simple solution to much of the issues here would be to have women and men Elites race on separate days and the amateurs on their own day as well.  Medical response times would be reduced for the Elites, since there were only 76 starting women and 143 starting in the Men's field. (Numbers taken from Life Time results page) An ambulance could be the sweep vehicle, or at least follow the field closely.

Now, I know, having ridden there, that there are "roads" which you just cannot get a vehicle down unless it is a Jeep, an off-road 4X4, or an ATV.  Conditions play into this also. So, a certain amount of risk has to be assumed by the rider, given the terrain and circumstances of any particular day. This is why follow cars and team vans are ....well, stupid at Unbound. Not to mention all the unnecessary dust. 

There was concern over the |F-1 style pit stops" at aid/support points. In the former days of the event, this sort of thing was highly frowned upon as well. So, make it self-supported by drop bag. Really self-supported. This would even the playing field as every rider would have to take care of their own bottles, food, wheels, bike, or whatever you allow to be changed out.

Some complained about "not very well vetted competitors". Supposedly Unbound does vet the Elite field, so whatever measuring stick they use there may have to be discussed, but you will get people making mistakes in big races. It happens at UCI sanctioned Pro road events all the time.  Relegations for poor sprinting, bad maneuvers in the field bringing riders crashing down, and other miscues happen every year in these sanctioned and sanitized events. What makes anyone think it can be "cleaned up" for Unbound by vetting riders? Even the best make mistakes. Riders will be crashed out of events, cut off from chase groups, and more.

Image courtesy of Life Time

Obviously Unbound is far too important to Emporia, and to the huge field of amateurs, to let it fade away, or stop. Life Time likely doesn't want to see any shrinkage of the event either as it probably has a big impact on their bottom line. So, all this complaining and problems brought on by a small percentage of the riders (Elites) which gets over-amplified by media, seems a bit much. Yes, there needs to be some examination of how things are done, and in my opinion, Life Time could easily clean this up with a few decisions which - if enforced with impunity - would clear up any future concerns.

Starting with a separation of days for Elites and amateurs would be a big one, and honestly, I really do not think this idea is the negative some make it out to be. For an example: Have the Amateur race on Friday, the Women's on Saturday, and the Men on Sunday. You'd be out of there by dinner time on Sunday after awards. Oh, and hold awards for each group immediately after their event, with the amateurs awards being on Saturday morning as the women race. That's just one idea. I'm sure others smarter than I could come up with solutions which would not only work, but actually enhance the experiences for all involved.