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Gravel races don’t come much bigger than Unbound. Not just in length – 200 miles (320 km) for the flagship distance – but in reputation and significance to those within the gravel scene.
This past weekend, the best gravel racers in the world converged on Emporia, Kansas, USA for the latest edition of an event that started back in 2006 with just 34 participants. Nowadays, Unbound attracts north of 4,000 riders for one of the toughest day’s racing in the world, in any discipline.
To find out how the elite men’s and women’s races unfolded, be sure to check out Ryan Simonovich’s report here at Escape. For a gallery chock full of images from the weekend, courtesy of Taylor Chase and the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix, scroll or swipe your way down the page (this and all galleries on Escape look best on a wide-screen monitor).
Racing the 200-mile event meant an early start: 5:50am for the elite men, and 6:05am for the elite women.Brendan “Trekky” Johnston was one of several Aussies at the startline …… along with Peta Mullens …… and Lachlan Morton.Also in attendance: gravel world champion, Matej Mohorič.Few riders get through Unbound without at least some sort of mechanical issue.Spotted, fourth from left (#241): Escape member and occasional Wheel Talk co-host, Matilda Raynolds.The “peanut-butter mud” that ended so many riders’ Unbound last year wasn’t nearly as much of an issue in 2024.Lachlan Morton on the front, and not for the last time.The 320 km race took in more than 3,000 metres of climbing.Mullens would end up being a DNF on the day.Note the paint stirrer in Morton’s back pocket, a key tool in the Unbound rider’s arsenal for removing any mud that might be clogging their wheels.The elite men’s race would come down to former road pros Chad Haga and Morton.Tiff Cromwell (left) on her way to 12th in the elite women’s 200-mile event.Aussie gravel champ Justine Barrow was coming off a couple of wins in the lead-up. She would end up 26th.In the sprint that decided the men’s race, Morton bested Haga, more than three and a half minutes ahead of the next riders on the road. The Aussie’s winning time was 9 hours 11 minutes 47 seconds, an average speed of more than 35 km/h and the fastest-ever time for the event.It was a sprint from a small group that decided the elite women’s race, with Germany’s Rosa Klöser taking the victory. Her time of 10:26:02 was the fastest women’s time in the event’s history too.The podium for riders who are part of the Life Time Grand Prix for 2024: Morton with the win ahead of Payson McElveen (eighth overall), and Dylan Johnson (10th overall).Paige Onweller was the highest finisher among the Life Time Grand Prix athletes in third overall.And with that, Unbound is done for another year.
