2025 Unbound Gravel: What is Unbound, who's racing and where to watch the world's premier gravel event

Scenes from the 2023 Unbound Gravel.

In just a week, all eyes will once again turn to the rough, unpaved and windswept roads of middle-of-nowhere Kansas, where thousands of amateurs and pros will chase glory at the world’s premier gravel race, Unbound Gravel.

Now in its 19th year, Unbound Gravel has grown into the world’s marquee gravel event, offering five race distances and drawing more than 5,000 registered riders, along with thousands more in support, media, and spectators. This is a far cry from its humble beginnings of just 34 riders in 2006.

The event distances range from 25 miles to 350 miles, and while competition is fierce in every distance, the 200-mile race is the celebrated flagship event where cycling careers are forged (or extended) and winners become legends.

The race is a true test of endurance, self-sufficiency and equipment. In addition to needing to fuel oneself for 10+ hours of riding, the sharp flint rocks are notorious for slicing tyres and dashing podium aspirations. Along the way, riders also need to contend with the undulating terrain and the weather.

The Midwest is notorious for its unpredictable weather. The end of May brings a dynamic mix of thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail, sudden temperature swings from unseasonable heat waves to chilly spells, and even the occasional tornado, meaning that riders must be prepared for anything.

Yet despite its tough conditions, the race attracts amateurs and elite pros alike, including Grand Tour winners, world champions, Classics victors and Olympians from around the globe, all chasing glory in the infamous Flint Hills.

Organisers added a 350-mile option in 2018 for those seeking the ultimate challenge. This epic, named the Unbound XL, sees riders suffering for more than 20 hours, sometimes even double that. The race has been growing fiercer every year, with this year's contenders including Laurens ten Dam and Lachlan Morton on the men's side and former winners Lael Wilcox and Serena Bishop Gordon in the women's category.

Unbound Gravel: Riders to watch

This year's all-star cast of competitors in the 200-mile race includes America's best off-road racers, such as the dominant Keegan Swenson, Alexey Vermeulen and former winners Ian Boswell and Pete Stetina. The ever-growing international presence has never been stronger with the likes of Olympic and Roubaix champion Greg van Avermaet returning for a second attempt, former Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix winner Niki Terpstra, Grand Tour stage winner Thomas De Gendt and of course, the so-called Dutch Mafia with 2022 Unbound winner Ivar Slik among them, all taking to the start on May 31.

In the women’s Unbound 200 field, many champions from past editions will be returning, including Carolin Schiff, Sofia Gomez Villafane, Lauren De Crescenzo and Rosa Kloser. But competition will be stiff. Among the list of favourites said to be present are Traka 360 winner Karolina Migoń, past podium finishers Sarah Sturm and Paige Onweller.

Those racing the 100-mile event may rub elbows with Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM), the newly crowned Australian gravel champion, and retired Giro d'Italia Champion and World Time Trial Champion Tom Dumoulin, who's making his Unbound debut.

Unbound, like many gravel races , is a mass-start event, meaning various race categories—men and women, professionals and amateurs—tackle the course at around the same time. This format has led to several issues and controversies, particularly within the women’s professional field. Firstly, the starting frenzy and mingling of fields force riders to navigate heavy traffic before they can race on their own terms. Secondly, some female riders have capitalised on the presence of male riders to gain an advantage. To minimise conflict, Life Time Grand Prix events like Unbound now feature separate race starts for the men's and women's elite fields. Unbound has introduced a dedicated finishing chute, and as of this year, inter-field drafting is no longer legal. This means that elite riders will not be permitted to draft off those who aren't competing in the same category.

Also new in 2025 is a prize purse. Up until now, winning Unbound 200 yielded little more than a wooden trophy but this May, the pros will be splitting a $30,000 cash purse, which pays five deep for the top men and women.

Sofia Gomez Villafañe after winning Unbound 200 in 2022 (Image credit: Life Time)

Contributing to the stacked fields of the 200-mile event is the fact that Unbound is also the second stop of the Life Time Grand Prix series, in which a cast of 60 handpicked WorldTour roadies, cyclocrossers, gravel pros and MTB Olympians compete for a $250,000 prize purse over the course of the U.S.'s hardest gravel and mountain bike races.

Unbound Gravel: The 200-mile Course

Mind the cattle! (Image credit: Snowy Mountain Photography)

The Unbound courses change every year, utilising the many less-travelled roads north or south of Emporia.

Following the mud-bogged mayhem of the 2023 event, characterised by ripped-off derailleurs and broken frames, the 2024 edition promised a challenge of a different kind with its chunkiest and most technical Northern course yet. But while Matej Mohoric was among the unlucky ones who scratched due to mechanical issues, the course actually delivered its fastest finishing time yet. Winner Lachlan Morton's completed the course in 9:11:47 with an average speed 22 miles per hour.

This year, the course again heads north, retracing much of the roads used in 2024. The northern courses traditionally feature rougher roads and more climbing than the southern courses. This year, participants will tackle 10,122 feet of climbing over the 202.4-mile route. There are two checkpoints along the way where riders' support crews will help them resupply their nutrition and check their equipment. There are two additional neutral water supply stops, called oases.

See the courses here.

How to follow Unbound Gravel live

In 2022, Dutchman Ivar Slik became the first non-American winner of the 200-mile Unbound race (Image credit: Life Time)

For the first time ever, the elite men’s and women’s 200-mile Unbound Gravel races will be broadcast live, in full, to a global audience without paywalls or georestrictions.

The event’s producer, Life Time, has announced it will stream seven full hours of live coverage of the 2025 Unbound Gravel presented by Shimano exclusively on the Life Time Grand Prix YouTube channel. The coverage kicks off at 10:00 a.m. CT on Saturday, May 31, with a pre-show before jumping into uninterrupted race action and post-race interviews.

Commentary will be provided by Life Time Grand Prix athlete Payson McElveen, who’s currently sidelined due to an injury he sustained at the series’ opening round at Sea Otter, and Meredith Miller, a former U.S. road and cyclocross pro. Longstanding cycling announcer Bill Elliston will join the two athletes in the commentary box, while Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Nat Ross and former pro Lauren Hall will be providing live updates from the course.

For those unable to watch the full broadcast, extended highlights of both the men’s and women’s elite races will be posted on the Life Time Grand Prix YouTube channel in the days following the event.

Elite Start Lists

Men's Elite Unbound 200

	Name	Country
1	Matthew Beers	South Africa
2	John Borstelmann	San Luis Obispo, CA
3	Zach Calton	Ogden, UT
4	Mattia De Marchi	Italy
5	Hugo Drechou	France
6	Griffin Easter	Park City, UT
7	Sean Fincham	Canada
8	Russell Finsterwald	Tucson, AZ
9	Tsgabu Grmay	Ethiopia
10	Finn Gullickson	Colorado Springs, CO
11	Brendan Johnston	Australia
12	Bradyn Lange	Fairfax, CA
13	Lawrence Naesen	Belgium
14	Cole Paton	Cashmere, WA
15	Simon Pellaud	Switzerland
16	Torbjørn Røed	Grand Junction, CO
17	Keegan Swenson	Midway, UT
18	Alexey Vermeulen	Boulder, CO
19	Alex Wild	San Jose, CA
20	Evan Arthur	San Francisco, CA
21	Caleb Bottcher	New Zealand
22	Alexis Cartier	Canada
23	Andrew Dillman	Louisville, KY
24	Julien Gagne	Canada
25	Truman Glasgow	Alpine, UT
26	Joseph Goettl	Sandy, UT
27	Alex Howes	Nederland, CO
28	Cameron Jones	Blacksburg, VA
29	Andrew L’esperance	Canada
30	Taylor Lideen	Bella Vista, AR
31	Justin Mcquerry	Austin, TX
32	Kyan Olshove	Traverse City, MI
33	Tobin Ortenblad	Santa Cruz, CA
34	Carlos Julian Quintero	Colombia
35	David Ramon Rubinat	Coronacorona, CA
36	Jacob Richards	Salt Lake City, UT
37	Adam Roberge	Canada
38	Trey Shepard	Clarksville, IN
39	Rogan Smart	South Africa
40	Jim Snitzer	Boulder, CO
41	Nathan Spratt	Millcreek, UT
42	Marcus Spratt	Millcreek, UT
43	Ryan Standish	Durango, CO
44	Skyler Taylor	San Anselmo, CA
45	Petr Vakoc	Czech Republic
46	Daniel Van Der Walt	South Africa
47	Deven Van Greuningen	Roseville, CA
48	Brennan Wertz	Mill Valley, CA
49	Jaxon Wiggins	Pleasant Grove, UT
50	Matthew Wilson	Portland, OR
51	Henry Nelson	Durango, CO
52	Takayuki Abe	Japan
53	Emil Åberg	Norway
54	Alan Adams	Bozeman, MT
55	Zachary Allison	Fort Collins, CO
56	Sam Andrews	United Kingdom
57	Maurice Ballerstedt	Redmond, WA
58	Stefano Barberi	Reno, NV
59	Elliott Baring	Lafayette, CO
60	Lukas Baum	Andorra
61	Nico Bell	South Africa
62	Cody Berta	Danville, CA
63	Francesco Bettini	Italy
64	Metheven Bond	United Kingdom
65	Ian Boswell	Barnet, VT
66	Jordy Bouts	Belgium
67	Nathan Brown	Amarillo, TX
68	Tyler Butterfield	Niwot, CO
69	Greg Capelle	Catonsville, MD
70	Jaime Castrillo Zapater	Spain
71	Maxence Coquet	France
72	John Davis	Australia
73	Thomas De Gendt	Belgium
74	Thomas Dekker	Netherlands
75	Justin Dillon	Laguna Niguel, CA
76	Brad Domann	Australia
77	Guido Dracone	Italy
78	Jackson Duncan	Richmond, CA
79	Cullen Easter	Carlsbad, CA
80	Georg Egger	Germany
81	Caleb Fairly	Amarillo, TX
82	Christian Fairly	Amarillo, TX
83	Eli Ferguson	Denver, CO
84	Tiago Ferreira	Portugal
85	Trevor Foley	Boulder, CO
86	Matteo Fontana	Italy
87	Daan Grosemans	Belgium
88	Nathan Haas	Spain
89	Dave Haase	Fond Du Lac WI
90	Chad Haga	Fort Collins, CO
91	Billy Harness	Australia
92	Coulton Hartrich	Jupiter, FL
93	Matthew Holmes	United Kingdom
94	Declan Irvine	Australia
95	Logan Jones-Wilkins	Phoenix, AZ
96	Charles Kagimu	Kenya
97	Kyle Kalish	Columbus, IN
98	Connor Kamm	Ann Arbor, MI
99	George Kasch	Golden, CO
100	Magnus Bak Klaris	Denmark
101	Oliver Knudsen	Denmark
102	Tobias Kongstad	Denmark
103	Adne Koster	Netherlands
104	Alban Lakata	Austria
105	Jacob Langham	Australia
106	Bruno Langlois	Canada
107	Joe Laverick	United Kingdom
108	Carter Lembke	Columbia, MO
109	Lukas Löer	Germany
110	Mathijs Loman	Netherlands
111	David Lozano	Spain
112	Joshua Lundgren	Omaha, NE
113	Lukas Malezsewski	Belgium
114	Amando Mart‚Àö‚†Nez Galvan	Mexico
115	Tim Mcbirney	Madison, WI
116	Cian Mccann	Portland, OR
117	Kyle Mcdonald	Apex, NC
118	Chrisitan Meier	Spain
119	Leandro Messineo	Argentina
120	Lucas Miers	Reno, NV
121	Alexander Miller	Namibia
122	Finn Mitchell	Portland, OR
123	Jorge Munoz	Laredo, TX
124	Luis Neff	Switzerland
125	Joris Nieuwenhuis	Netherlands
126	Simen Nordahl Svendsen	Norway
127	Jasper Ockeloen	Netherlands
128	Mauricio Ordonez	Colombia
129	Jonas Orset	Norway
130	Felipe Orts	Spain
131	Jake Oswald	Alpine, CA
132	Freddy Ovett	Spain
133	Lukas P‚Àö‚Àçstlberger	Austria
134	Oscar M Pachon	Colombia
135	Alex Paton	United Kingdom
136	Blair Perkes	Fruita, CO
137	Toby Perry	Spain
138	Benjamin Perry	Canada
139	Frederik Rassmann	Germany
140	Felix Ritzinger	Austria
141	Matti Rowe	Longmont, CO
142	Paul Sandmann	Germany
143	Mads Wurtz Schmidt	Spain
144	Ryan Sellner	Circle Pines, MN
145	Julian Siemons	Belgium
146	Ramon Sinkeldam	Netherlands
147	John Skarupa	Chatham, MA
148	Ivar Slik	Netherlands
149	Ole Bj‚Àö‚Àèrn Smisethjell	Norway
150	Aj Snovel	Davis, CA
151	Daan Soete	Belgium
152	Mat Stephens	Dallas, TX
153	Peter Stetina	Santa Rosa, CA
154	Austin Sullivan	Chattanooga, TN
155	Nathan Surowiec	Forest Hill, MD
156	Harry Tanfield	United Kingdom
157	Niki Terpstra	Netherlands
158	Ben Thomas	United Kingdom
159	Antonio Torres	San Jose, CA
160	Greg Van Avermaet	Belgium
161	Jelle Van Damme	Belgium
162	Arno Van Den Broeck	Belgium
163	Aaron Van Der Beken	Belgium
164	Quintus Vermeulen	New Zealand
165	Aaron Verwilst	Belgium
166	Paul Voss	Germany
167	Chase Wark	Winona, MN
168	Cj Wiggins	Pleasant Grove, UT
169	Jesse Yates	United Kingdom
170	Jenson Young	United Kingdom
171	Kristian Yustre	Italy
172	Thomas Turner	Canton, GA
173	Tanner Cook	Amarillo, TX
174	Will Pfeiffer	Chapel Hill, NC
175	Hayden Pucker	Rosendale, WI
176	Leo Gullickson	Colorado Springs, CO
177	Jonny Brown	Amarillo, TX
178	Tim Declercq	Belgium
179	David Millar	Spain
180	Jan Stöckli	Switzerland

Women's Elite Unbound 200

	A	B
1	Crystal Anthony	Bentonville, AR
2	Ellen Campbell	Durango, CO
3	Lauren De Crescenzo	Boulder, CO
4	Cecily Decker	Santa Fe, NM
5	Axelle Dubau-Prévôt	France
6	Annabel Elizabeth Fisher	Switzerland
7	Sofia Gomez Villafane	Midway, UT
8	Stella Hobbs	Whitefish, MT
9	Sarah Lange	Lyme, NH
10	Cecile Lejeune	Tucson, AZ
11	Deanna Mayles	Colorado Springs, CO
12	Paige Onweller	Bella Vista, AR
13	Hannah Otto	Salt Lake City, UT
14	Hayley Preen	South Africa
15	Jenna Rinehart	Mankato, MN
16	Melisa Rollins	Alpine, UT
17	Samara Sheppard	New Zealand
18	Courtney Sherwell	Australia
19	Alexis Skarda	Grand Junction, CO
20	Haley Smith	Canada
21	Michaela Thompson	Durango, CO
22	Haley Dumke	Minturn, CO
23	Amelia Durst	Shingle Springs, CA
24	Jenny Fletcher	Frisco, TX
25	Siena Hermon	Big Bear City, CA
26	Colleen Maher	Brevard, NC
27	Rachel Mccloskey	Circle Pines, MN
28	Emily Newsom	Fort Worth, TX
29	Irena Ossola	Santa Fe, NM
30	Olivia Pantano	Asheville, NC
31	Laurel Quinones	San Francisco, CA
32	Amity Rockwell	Truckee, CA
33	Hannah Shell	Longmont, CO
34	Leah Van Der Linden	Boulder, CO
35	Anna Yamauchi	Truckee, CA
36	Morgan Aguirre	Seattle, WA
37	Ann-Christine Allik	Estonia
38	Marine Allione	Austin, TX
39	Whitney Allison	Fort Collins, CO
40	Gabby Arnold	Indianapolis, IN
41	Lauren Baker	Thomasville, GA
42	Caroline Baur	Switzerland
43	Michelle Beltran	Chico, CA
44	Alexandra Benda	Fredericksburg, VA
45	Clara Brown	Cumberland Foreside, ME
46	Andrea Buttine	Wilmington, NC
47	Sophie Byrne	Australia
48	Maria Doering	Banner Elk, NC
49	Alex Dzierewienko	Oklahoma City, OK
50	Nathalie Eklund	Sweden
51	Maude Farrell	Woodside, CA
52	Nicole Frain	Australia
53	Emma Grant	Boulder, CO
54	Lucy Hempstead	Canada
55	Gabrielle Henry	Tulsa, OK
56	Maja Johansson	Sweden
57	Laura King	Richmond, VT
58	Rosa Kloeser	Germany
59	Nora Klingfus	Longboat Key, CO
60	Anna Kollmann-Suhr	Austria
61	Bella Kroutil	Georgetown, KY
62	Emma Langley	Richmond, VA
63	Annika Langvad	Denmark
64	Karolina Migon	Switzerland
65	Minori Minagawa	Dublin, OH
66	Peta Mullens	Australia
67	Angela Naeth	Chatham, MA
68	Violette Neza Irakoze	Rwanda
69	Mie Nordlund Pedersen	Denmark
70	Madeleine Nutt	United Kingdom
71	Eden Nykamp	West Olive, MI
72	Catherine Ouellette	Canada
73	Liza Ray	Hillsborough, NJ
74	Kirstine Frida Rysbjerg	Denmark
75	Carolin Schiff	Germany
76	Geerike Schreurs	Netherlands
77	Danni Shrosbree	United Kingdom
78	Hayley Simmonds	United Kingdom
79	Sierra Sims	Hendersonville, NC
80	Klara Sofie Skovgaard Hansen	Denmark
81	Kylie Small	Centennial, CO
82	Lauren Stephens	Dallas, TX
83	Sarah Sturm	Durango, CO
84	Alayna Szuch	Evergreen, CO
85	Anna Gabrielle (Gabby) Traxler	Canada
86	Jade Treffeisen	Germany
87	Constance Valentin	Austin, TX
88	Luise Valentin	Switzerland
89	Monique Van Den Boogaart	Boulder, CO
90	Sophie Vitzthum	Lebanon, NH
91	Jennifer Wheeler	Georgetown, KY
92	Eleanor Wiseman	Palo Alto, CA
93	Sophie Wright	Spain
94	Catherine Van Doorn	Lexington, KY
95	Ruth Astle	United Kingdom

Latest Unbound Gravel 2025 News

Carolin Schiff on her way to win the 2023 women's race (Image credit: Life Time)

• 'I’ve already won the 200, so what else could I do?' — Lachlan Morton takes on 350-mile XL at Unbound Gravel
• Grand Tour winner Tom Dumoulin to race Unbound Gravel and Sea Otter Classic — 'I’m not unfit but I’m not racing for the prizes'
• 'It's really extreme': How hard is Unbound, really? Greg van Avermaet and other Euro pros give perspective
• Is Unbound too 'epic'? Legends of gravel race defend its difficulty and revisit its gnarliest editions
• Two Dutch ex-pros say they were arrested and jailed for 'indecent behaviour' ahead of Unbound Gravel