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(Photo: Marc Arjol Rodriguez | VeloPhoto)
Unbound Gravel 2026 has arrived, and we have a strong day of racing ahead. The elite men roll out at 5:50 a.m. Central time from Emporia, Kansas, followed by the elite women at 6:05. Here’s the latest from the race as reported by Velo’s on-the-ground and remote team of Logan Jones-Wilkins, Julia Dowd, Jim Cotton, and Josh Ross. All times are Central.
05:45 a.m: Good morning, afternoon, or evening wherever you’re checking in from. Welcome to Velo’s live updates from Unbound Gravel 200.
It’s all calm – and probably very tense – in Emporia as the men line up to start at 05:50. The elite women’s race rolls out at 06:05. Looks dry and clear for today and there’s talk of a very dry course. Expect fast aggressive racing!
05:50: The men’s race is go! The peloton rolls out behind the director’s car for a short neutral section out of Emporia. The women are readying themselves in the elite pen behind.
06:05: The women are rolling out behind a couple of race motos.
Meanwhile the men’s racing has started after the 3 mile neutral section. A group is pushing the pace already as the sun starts peeking over the horizon. Still a long way to go fellas.
06:15: Racing is underway in the women’s race and it’s a chill start.
Meanwhile, Connor Sens and John Borselmann aren’t waiting around in the men’s race. These two have gone off on a two-up flier!
06:30: We’re getting a good view of the dirt here. The skies are clear but overnight rain showers have left the surface a little sticky.
06:35: 1600-ish age groupers are rolling out. Good luck y’all.
06:45 – Women’s race: The attacks have started. Laurel Quiñones is driving the pace with Emma Langley on her wheel. Langley has a radio earpiece – expect team tactics from the Ventum racers.
If you’re wondering who’s racing Saturday, here’s the elite start lists.
Men’s race: OK carnage commences. The bunch has hit a sticky muddy section. There’s some deep puddles around.
A dozen men come to a total halt with mechanicals while the rest are running through the mud with their bikes. That’s brought the group back together.
Big favorite Keegan Swenson having serious problem in this section but he’s got plenty of time to rally.
06:50: The men who were held up are spending some serious time with mud brushes, clearing all the junk out of their frames. One poor fella is pulling fistfuls of mud out from his tires.
Michaela Thompson struggling to fix a puncture in the women’s race.
07:00: The women’s race is back together. Cecily Decker riding at the front with the rest of the bunch largely two abreast behind her. Seems like they’re content to wait to go crazy with the attacks – for now.
07:01: Scratch that. The women’s race has split into bits now they’ve hit the deep muddy section that derailed so many men. Karoline Karolina Migoń and Lauren De Crescenzo among the women who got held up.
07:10 – Men’s race: 80 minutes down and the race seems to have settled a little. 17 riders have come together in a group and settled into a rhythm. Sadly we don’t have a clear idea of miles elapsed.
All the big hitters are in the front split but Swenson is chasing in the main group around 90 seconds back.
07:20 – Men’s race: We’re at around 20 miles here.
Women’s race: There’s a group of around 20 at the front. As a reminder, the women set off 15 minutes behind the men.
All the riders have a nice coat of mud already.
07:35: Matt Beers seems to be trying to control the front group in the men’s race to allow Swenson to catch back on after he was held up.
Race situation 35 miles: Men’s: 17 riders at the front with around 10 chasing one minute back. The lead group includes Schmidt, Bardet, Beers, Borstelmann. Swenson and Morton in the chase.
Race situation: Women’s: 9 riders at the front, including Klöser, Shrosbee, Schiff, Schreurs, Stephens.
07:50: The men are ripping toward the first feed station.
Keegan Swenson has been fiddling with a mobile, perhaps to tell his crew what he needs. The two front groups have come together in the men’s race, but last year’s runner-up Simon Pellaud is dangling 30 seconds back.
07:55 – Women’s race: Klöser is off the back of the women’s lead group of 11 with a face full of mud. She seems OK but has clearly seen drama. The front group includes Schiff, Decker, Lange, Villafane.
08:10: Defending champion Klöser not looking too happy as she chases solo behind a group of 10 women at 40 miles to go. Seems like the attrition is taking its toll already.
08:15: Daxton Mock has gone solo at the front of the men’s race. He’s absolutely plowing over a rocky section here, around 40 seconds ahead. You can tell he’s a CX racer!
08:30 – Mens’ race – 50 miles: A group of 28 are absolutely blasting through a rolling tailwind section here. The dirt is mostly dry with a few small puddles.
Schmidt, Jones, Beers, Swenson, Voss are among the lead split. Pellaud has caught back after he was trailing earlier in the race. And no surprise – Mock’s foray off the front is over. The wildcard racer is in the group.
08:30 – Womens’ race – 42 miles: The Specialized duo Schreurs and Villafañe is doing the pulling in a front group of around 11.
The women just navigated a totally bonkers section of the course with puddles, huge slate slabs, and steep ramps scattered throughout. This is quite the race.
08:40: Nicole Frain just came down in a nasty crash. She’s a bit bloodied up and wrestling to get her handlebars straight.
08:50: The front pack of 8 women are rolling easy through some doubletrack. Frain is looking really banged up with blood on her shin, hands, and shoulders.
09:00: Swenson and Schmidt seem to be doing what their Specialized teammates Schreurs and Villafañe are doing in the women’s – asserting team force.
The two are pushing the pace on the front of the men’s race and have a small gap. Cobe Freeburn has tagged along for the ride to make a lead group of 3.
Swenson and Schmidt also have teammate Matt Beers a few seconds behind.
General race situation: If you’re just tuning in, we have 115 elite men, 62 elite women, and 1,247 amateurs taking on the 200 miler on Saturday. Conditions are mostly dry but some sections are sticky and wet.
09:10 – Men’s race: Ooh err. Rain is falling on the course where the men are right now. Will this change the dynamic? Swenson, Schmidt, and Freeburn are around 90 seconds of a pack of 15 chasers. The group doesn’t seem in too much of a hurry.
09:10 – Women’s race: The front of the women’s race has swollen while the men’s split down. There’s a strung-out group of around 12 now, . Frain is still riding on in the chase group after her nasty crash. Kudos!
Defending champion Karolina Migoń’s tracker seems to have died. She’s not registered an update for more than an hour.
09:20: Lachlan Morton is out! He’s showing as a confirmed DNF. It’s uncertain what happened to the Aussie star.
09:35: Both races are in a bit of a holding pattern right now.
09:35 – Women’s race – 68 miles: 11 out front – Onweller, Schreurs, Klöser, Decker, Preen, Villafañe, Schiff, Lange, Laing, Lejeune, Sheppard, Kröger. The chasers are around 3 minutes behind.
09:35 – Men’s race – 80 miles: Swenson, Schmidt, Freeburn are making good headway, around 4 minutes in front of a group of 15.
09:40: If you’re just tuning in over a morning coffee, take a look over all the great tech features we have on site.
Here’s one to get you started: The Best New Pro Gravel Bikes From Unbound Gravel 2026
09:50: The 3 lead men are headed east on a disgustingly long, dead straight section. Looks pretty greasy out there after a storm just blew through.
10:00: The elites are rolling into hour four.
The split format for the race-start has worked really well in keeping the men’s race separate from the women’s so far. Also, the amateur race isn’t butting into the elite women’s. There does seem to be more broadcast cover of the men’s race, however.
10:10 – Women’s race – 82 miles: Interesting development here. Specialized racers Schreurs and Villafañe are in a lead split with Decker and Klöser.
The chasers just came through the aid station and Frain is taking time to get cleaned up after her nasty fall.
10:25 – Men’s race – 99 miles: Swenson and Schmidt have dropped Freeburn! The chase group is way back at a 6-minute deficit. Is this race going to finish as a Specialized 1-2? Still a long way to go.
The leaders averaged 23 mph through the first half of the race.
10:30 – Women’s race: The four leaders only have a small gap, but they’re rolling through nicely.
10:35: The middle section of this course is filthy. Scattered rain showers for the last couple of hours have turned the gravel into a thin muddy paste in places. There’s a few larger puddles here and there.
10:45: Specialized Off-Road is in control of Unbound 200 right now.
Keegan Swenson and Mads Würtz Schmidt are leading the men’s race. Geerike Schreurs and Sofia Gomez Villafañe are in a group of 4 with Cecily Decker and Rosa Klöser in the women’s.
11:06 – Geerike Schreurs, Sofia Gomez Villafañe, Cecily Decker, and Rosa Klöser are about 4 minutes up on the next group of 4 with Paige Onweller floating between.
11:09 – The woman are averaging 20.5 mph, and the men 23 mph, even with a muddy race.
11:13 – Men’s front of Mads Würtz Schmidt and Keegan Swenson continue to stick together and work together but Swenson appears to be struggling a bit with small gaps opening then closing.
11:17 – Paige Onweller has managed to bridge to the lead group in the elite women’s race at about halfway through the race.
11:23 – Robin Gemperle is leading the Unbound XL race up by about 11 miles. Keep in mind that Gemperle is riding one of two Scott 32-inch prototype bikes.
11:28 – Women’s lead group of Geerike Schreurs, Sofia Gomez Villafañe, Cecily Decker, Paige Onweller, and Rosa Klöser is up by 6-minutes ahead of the chase group.
11:30 – Although Gemperle is leading the XL race on the 32-inch bike, Cam Jones is on the other matching bike and he’s sitting way back in 34th in the Elite 200 race.
11:35 – 80 miles to and at the front of elite men’s race Keegan Swenson continues to look like he’s suffering on the wheel of Mads Würtz Schmidt who looks like he’s time trialling and completely in control.
11:42 – Women’s chase group has dropped to only three. Sarah Lang, Hayley Preen, and Nele Liang are covered head to toe in mud and working together but the gap is remaining without clawing back any time against the lead group.
11:48 – Men’s elite chase group is 9-minutes down and includes Cam Jones, Paul Voss, Cobe Freeburn, Tobias Kongstad, Matthew Beers, Brendan Johnston, and Emil Herzog
11:50 – Paige Onweller has fallen off the women’s Elite lead group. She’s still close enough she could catch again but there’s a significant gap.
11:51 – She got it! Onweller closed the gap and is back with the lead group.
11:53 – Mads Würtz Schmidt and Keegan Swenson have stopped because Mads Würtz Schmidt has a flat that he has had to plug. He’s used 4 plugs and they are working together getting the tire inflated but they are having trouble.
11:54 – Swenson just handed his rear wheel to his teammate and it looks like that’s the end of the race for him.
11:55 – Keegan has been left behind and is attempting to fix the flat as the moto leaves him by the side of the road. He is currently attempting to put a tube in.
11:58 – As Keegan is getting a tube in, he still hasn’t been caught by the chase group.
12:00 – Keegan continues to struggle with this tire but he hasn’t been caught yet.
12:02 – He’s got it! Keegan Swenson has an inflated tire and he is riding. He’s lost over 10 minutes and the chase group caught him. Now he has to chase back to that chase group.
12:03 – Swenson is back off the bike and he just ran back to the spot where he changed the wheel. He seems to be looking for lost pieces of the cassette. Even if he gets this back together this race is over for him.
12:06 – Back to the women, Onweller continues to hang slightly off the back from the main group.
12:08 – Keegan is riding again but he looks like it’s taking it easy on the wheel and tire.
12:10 – Brendan Johnston is off the chase group in the men’s elite 200.
12:19 – Unbound XL has finished and Robin Gemperle takes the win on the 32-inch bike. Average speed was 16.7mph for 21:20:04
12:24 – Crash in the front of the women’s group but it was at slow speed and it looks like everyone is staying in touch with minimal damage.
12:25 – Mads Würtz Schmidt went through the final aid station and picked up a new wheel before heading back out. Women’s lead group is stretched but still handling double track as the cameras to the XL winner.
12:28 – Robin Gemperle is sharing that he puked and “exploded” plus walked/ran a half marathon as part of the race. He is also praising the 32-inch wheels.
12:29 – Chase women’s group trapped behind a train crossing and it looks quite long. There’s a group of some elite men and women’s racers gathering while they wait.
12:33 – Just to give you an idea of the speeds involved in this race the men’s leader is averaging 22.82 mph while the chase group is holding 22.20 mph. There’s 54 miles still to go.
12:37 – Leading women came out of the technical section where a group dropped off but they are now back together minus Paige Onweller
12:40 – 7 minute gap to the chase group of the Elite men’s 200 and it’s whittled to three including Cam Jones on a 32-inch bike.
12:42 – Matthew Beers, Cameron Jones, and Tobias Kongstad are the men’s elite 200 chase group fighting for second and third podium spots.
12:51 – Cam Jones just fell off the chase group and is sitting up. Doesn’t seem to be a mechanical. Chase group is 2.
12:58 – Men’s elite 200 chase group of two (Matthew Beers and Tobias Kongstad) is down by just under 8 minutes with 39 miles to go. Specialized is cleaning up on the new Specialized Crux 5 with at likely least two on the men’s podium and possibly the same on the women’s podium. Cam Jones is another minute back.
1:09 – Women’s race coverage has been disrupted by weather but they are back and the same group of four (Geerike Schreurs, Sofia Gomez Villafañe, Cecily Decker, and Rosa Klöser) is working together.
1:11 – Surprise move, Paige Onweller chased back and she’s in the mix again. Broadcast is reporting 20-30mph winds are a factor which makes the Onweller on again off again even more impressive.
1:18 – Mieke Kröger is about 8 minutes back from the lead women after making the split that happened at the train crossing.
1:23 – Cecily Decker fell off the lead group but the group seemed to wait a bit and she’s back on. Commentators are discussing needing to pee in the bibs.
1:25 – Mieke Kröger is on her own pushing hard into the wind and giving us a good view of aero hacking. She’s wearing the POC Procen Air and she’s running her hydration bladder in the front for an aero advantage.
1:29 – Women’s lead group coming through the feed zone. Paige Onweller stopped while Rosa Klöser dropped a bottle and had to go back. Cecily Decker, Geerike Schreurs, and Sofia Gomez Villafañe are the three who are together coming out.
1:32 – Paige Onweller is off the back again with Cecily Decker closer but struggling to catch while Geerike Schreurs, Sofia Gomez Villafañe, and Rosa Klöser push hard to try and create a split.
1:34 – Geerike Schreurs, Sofia Gomez Villafañe, Cecily Decker, and Rosa Klöser have come together and you can’t see Paige Onweller currently.
1:39 – Mieke Kröger is coming through the feed stop now and the wind is a serious part of the race right now plus the sun is coming out and it looks hot.
1:41 – Once again Paige Onweller is back to the main group.
1:47 – On the men’s side nothing has actually changed. As he comes over the Kahola climb Mads Würtz Schmidt has a significant lead while Cam Jones is around 10 minutes back. The real race that’s still up for grabs is to fill out the lower steps on the podium. Who will get second or third between Matthew Beers and Tobias Kongstad?
1:54 – Keegan is sitting in 8th place for the race currently and assuming that things stay the way they are Matthew Beers will move into first for the Grand Prix while Keegan will sit at second.
1:56 – Despite repeatedly falling off the lead group Paige Onweller is currently looking great and taking turns in the group.
2:01 – Matthew Beers has broken away from Tobias Kongstad. Wind is currently gusting at 35mph and the men’s race has Specialized riders in first and second place both alone in the wind with 21 miles to go.
2:11 – Mieke Kröger is 10 minutes down on the lead women’s group in a solid 6th place
2:19 – The race on both men’s and women’s sides is looking very stable. On the men’s side it’s three solo riders in first, second, and third with big splits. On the women’s side it’s a group of five working together with everyone looking strong.
2:32 – Matthew Beers has put three minutes into the lead ahead of Tobias Kongstad and closed the gap with teammate Mads Würtz Schmidt by about a minute. Brendan Johnston has passed Cam Jones for fourth place.
2:35 – Keegan has held a top ten despite all the issues he went through with a mismatched cassette after trading a wheel to help his teammate Mads Würtz Schmidt.
2:42 – Mads Würtz Schmidt appears to have a slow leak and has lost some pressure, or he’s just tired. He’s not stopping but he’s looking around and slowing his pedalling.
2:45 – Seems like his tire is okay and he’s back to pedaling. Not long left and he has about a 6 minute lead, he just has to keep doing what he’s doing. He looks tired in this wind and long breakaway.
2:49 – Schmidt just turned onto the course with the 100 mile riders and he is clearly suffering. He is coasting on small descents and he’s hanging his head but the other riders on the course seem like they are helping his motivation.
2:53 – Paige Onweller is again off the front women’s group but there’s no context to know if she’s right there or way off.
3:00 – Time splits at the front of the men’s is Schmidt with a 6 minute lead then it’s another 3 minute gap with Tobias Kongstad leading Matthew Beers. On the women’s side Paige Onweller is off the back but still has the possibility of making it back. The lead group doesn’t appear to be working that hard.
3:05 – It’s official Mads Würtz Schmidt is the 2026 winner of the Unbound 200 men’s event.
3:10 – – takes second place in the 2026 Unbound 200 men’s event.
3:12 – Paige Onweller is back in the lead group of the women’s race
3:15 – Tobias Kongstad takes third place in the 2026 Unbound 200 men’s event. That put’s the entire podium on the new Specialized Crux 5
3:16 – Brendan Johnston will take 4th place in the men’s race.
3:24 – The women’s lead group is acting like they are all on the same team. They are all taking turns at the front and cooperating comfortably.
3:30 – Next group of men including Cam Jones and Keegan Swenson are all coming in together and fighting for position. Keegan get’s 5th overall. 32-inch wheeled bike is in the top 10 for the 200 and under the winner of the XL. The women’s group remains unchanged.
3:34 – Mads Würtz Schmidt is thanking Keegan in his victory interview for handing him a wheel after 8 plugs failed to fix his tire.
3:45 – Keegan was about to be interviewed but took time to sign some autographs. When he sits down he talks about how an early chase used a lot of matches and when it was time to decide about the wheel he knew that he wasn’t the best to try for the win. He specifically talks about being there as a team from the very beginning.
3:52 – 15 miles left for the women and the lead group is still the same five riders with no attacking. The wind looks brutal and they appear to be barely moving despite the effort they are likely putting out.
4:01 – Mieke Kröger continues to hold 6th place at 14 minutes off the lead with two minutes ahead of the next contender.
4:04 – Lauren De Crescenzo has now passed Mieke Kröger and has about 1.5 minute lead.
4:12 – Max Agut in second and Alex McCormack in third round out the podium for the Unbound XL race.
4:17 – Attack happened. The Specialized athletes text each other then Geerike Schreurs attacked. Rosa Klöser makes the break with her.
4:18 – It doesn’t stick. The group is back together.
4:33 – the women are soft pedalling and looking for something to happen as the group comes into Emporia State University campus. When will it come?
4:35 – attack is happening at the top of the climb. Geerike Schreurs takes off but Rosa Klöser shuts it down again.
4:36 – They are into the barriers and Rosa Klöser is sitting at the front.
4:37 – Sofia Gomez Villafañe makes the move to the outside and it’s a big gap.
4:38 – Sofia Gomez Villafañe puts it across the line Teammate Geerike Schreurs follows and it’s another 1 and 2 for Specialized at the front. Cecily Decker is third.
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