In the three times Geerike Schreurs has raced Unbound Gravel, the race has ended in a bunch finish twice. And both times, she finished second.
Saturday’s finish left the Dutch rider visibly emotional after another near-miss at gravel racing’s marquee event. Despite strong results throughout her career, including success in the UCI Gravel Series and wins at The Gralloch and Gravel Desert, Schreurs is still chasing a breakthrough victory at the sport’s biggest races.
"The dream is to win this race someday," Schreurs said after helping the Specialized Off-Road team secure a one-two finish behind teammate Sophia Gomez Villafañe. "But yeah, two times second place. That’s kind of the story of my life."
Like her second-place finish in 2024, Schreurs again found herself in a reduced group sprint at the end of one of gravel racing’s most demanding events. And like that year, victory narrowly slipped away.
The 2026 edition was made even harder by brutally muddy sectors that turned the race into an attritional battle long before the finish in Emporia.
"It was so hard," Schreurs said. "We encountered mud for the first time about 30 kilometres in, and after that it was relentlessly hard. But I was always well positioned near the front, and at the moments where it mattered most."
Schreurs spent much of the day in the breakaway and eventually took matters into her own hands when cooperation in the front group began to fade.
"At one point, we were riding with a big group, and then half the group didn't work. That’s super annoying," she said. "So then I thought, well, I’m just going to push the pace."
It proved to be one of the defining moves of the race, reducing the front group to a smaller and more committed selection that stayed clear into the finishing chute.
But once the riders made the final left-hand turn onto the finishing straight, the outcome felt almost inevitable.
"Of course I wanted to win," Schreurs said. "But this was agreed beforehand, that the finish would be for Sophia [Gomez Villafañe], and I’m happy she was able to finish it off, and I’m happy I could complete the podium for the one-two."
Schreurs attempted to attack before the sprint but could not make the move stick.
"I was going to try to attack," she said. "But yeah, unfortunately, it didn’t work. Looking back, I think I should have started the sprint a bit earlier, but I got boxed in a little."
Schreurs acknowledged that turning second place into victory may require more progress mentally.
"I’ve worked a lot on the mental side," she said. "But I think I still need to believe in myself a bit more."
Asked whether she would return to Unbound to chase victory again next year, Schreurs was unsure.
"Who knows," she said. "Maybe I’ll come back next year. Who knows."
Still, Schreurs said she was proud of the team result after Specialized dominated the women’s race, and swept the men’s podium aboard the new S-Works Crux.
"It was a super good weekend for the Specialized team," she said. "And I’m incredibly proud to be part of it and involved in it."
