Tobias Kongstad (PAS Racing) already had to face up to the reality that there was no flying beneath the radar for him anymore during The Traka 360 and, now that he has also added a win at the Spanish race to his tally, there is no doubt he’ll be one of the marked men at Unbound 200.
"I tried to attack a few times and I felt like they were chasing me down and I was like, what the f***, I’m just an amateur, let me go," Kongstad told Cyclingnews after The Traka victory.
"But then, of course, I thought about it and maybe now that I’ve been second and fifth [at The Traka], and third at Unbound … I think they just want to have me on a little bit shorter chain. But to be fair, Unbound is also a different ballgame."
The rider who placed third last year at Unbound 200, however, also looks to be playing on a different level this season.
"I have been so lucky this year that I have been able to combine my work at PAS Racing, where I have been doing all the logistics and the management of that team, so I have some hours a week to train. I’m not sitting full time at the office any longer," said Kongstad.
"I think that has been nice because there has been a little bit more time to train and, to be fair, I’ve just been training as hard as possible."
Another advantage is that this time Kongstad knows what he is in for as he takes on the 202.4-mile (325.7km) course through the Flint Hills of Kansas.
Last year when he lined up in Emporia it was his first attempt at the long-range gravel event and he was able to slip away in the morning breakaway, which was ultimately caught. After the catch was made, his PAS Racing teammate Chad Haga and eventual winner Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost) went clear, with Kongstad then sprinting to third ahead of Piotr Havik.
It was a stunning debut, a hard act to follow let alone top, but that doesn’t mean the Danish cyclist who has just claimed the crown at one of the biggest gravel races in Europe will be resting on his laurels as he heads to the United States.
"How I have planned to improve on my podium spot in my debut run at Unbound is pretty simple," Kongstad said in the lead-in to the event.
"I have almost done everything similar, but just 5-10% harder this year compared to last year in order to ensure I will still be competitive, even though the competition only gets harder every year with a stronger and deeper peloton."
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