2023 Unbound: who to watch in Kansas this weekend
Canadians expected to battle for wins in Emporia
Photo by:
Life Time
Unbound gravel once again looms large on the mixed-surface race calendar. As race weekend approaches thousands of riders, pro and amateur, descend on the tiny town of Emporia, Kansas.
What has become a major event in the gravel scene continues to attract big-name riders from all corners of the cycling world. They’ll line up alongside amateur racers intent on proving themselves on the 200 mile course.
Canadians to watch
2022 Unbound was a big year for Canadians. Rob Britton and Haley Smith both finished sixth overall. Both are looking on form again, winning the Belgian Waffle Ride Canada over the weekend on Vancouver Island. As brutally hard as that 220 km course was, it could be a good warm-up for the 200 mile (322km) Unbound course for pros like Smith and Britton.
Smith, of course, went on to win the entire Life Time Grand Prix series in its first year. That was her first season of racing gravel, and Unbound was her first gravel race. The Maxxis Factory Racing rider has likely learned a few things over the course of the season that she’ll be bringing to her second Unbound.
“I’m most looking forward to getting to take off for such an epic race as a field exclusively of women. We get to have our own race!” Smith said, when asked about her most, and least anticipated parts of the Unbound event. “I’m least looking forward to the anxiety and nervous energy that’ll be there until the “moves” go within the race.”
She’ll be joined in the elite women’s race by Red Truck’s Nadia Gontova. The Vancouver rider already has a stage win on the road at Redlands Classic this year.
Britton wasn’t the only fast Canadian in the men’s race last year. Adam Roberge had a big result with a 10th overall. With a win last week in Texas, the Quebec racer is looking primed to improve that result this year. Andrew L’Esperance, 24th at Unbound last year and also part of the Life Time Grand Prix again this year and will be looking for a result to keep him in the standings in that series.
Favourites to watch in Emporia
As usual, Unbound has attracted a mix of returning favourites and international stars. Both 2022 winners, Ivar Silk and Sofia Gomez Villafane, are back in Emporia to defend their Unbound titles. Amity Rockwell, the 2019 winner, is also joining the party.
Men’s Unbound 200
On the men’s side, Keegan Swenson will be looking for redemption after finishing second to Silk last year. The U.S. mountain biker dominated the Life Time Grand Prix series in its debut year, and is off to a similar start to 2023 after winning the Sea Otter Fuego XL this spring. While silver is good for his GP season standings, it is not nearly as fun as winning.
Swenson isn’t the only rider returning to Kansas looking for just a little bit more. Ian Boswell, third in 2022, and fourth-place finisher Laurens Ten Dam are both back on the start line. They’re joined by Cape Epic mountain bike specialist and Life Time Grand Prix racer Matthew Beers of S. Africa. Other notable names are ex-World Tour pro Nathan Haas, mountain bike marathon world champion and multiple-time Leadville 100 winner Alban Lakata and French mountain bike legend Julien Absalon. Absalon it still tied for the most career World Cup XCO wins with Nino Schurter.
Women’s Unbound 200
For the women, Sofia Gomez Villafane returns to defend her Unbound throne. Like Swenson, Villafane is off to a roaring start to 2023. With a win at Sea Otter, again at Belgian Waffle Ride Arizona and once more at Whiskey 50, the Argentinian will land in Kansas with confidence.
Much of the 2022 podium is back for more. With the new, separate start, it should be a different dynamic to the women’s race than past years. Texas’s Emily Newsom, third last year, Colorado’s Whitney Allison (4th) and Utah’s Melissa Rollins (5th) are all back, as is sixth-place finisher Haley Smith. Kona’s Rebecca Fahringer lands in Emporia hot off of a third-place finish at Belgian Waffle Ride Canada last weekend, too.
As always, with an event like Unbound, the best of intentions and ideal preparations only count for so much on race day. So much can happen over 322 kilometres. Favourites can fall to mechanicals or an off day. Lesser-known riders can rise to the occasion. It will, like every year, be exciting to watch!
