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Geoff Kabush calls out absent men’s podium while continuing to stir-up debate at Dirty Kanza

Canadian has been at the center of conversations involving aero bars at mass start events, the purity of gravel and now WorldTour pros staying for the podium ceremony

June 3, 2019
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The 2019 edition of Dirty Kanza was one of the most hotly contested editions of the big gravel event yet. In the top-5 of the men’s race, there were three UCI WorldTour pros. The women’s race was also fast with the top women finishing the 200-mile event in under 12 hours.

However, despite the fanfare and high-profile coverage the race got because of such a stellar field, Geoff Kabush a former podium finisher at Dirty Kanza noticed something was off about the podium ceremony. While all the women stayed for the ceremonial procession across the stage, none of the riders in the top-5 of the men’s race stuck around to be celebrated for their results.

Kabush has been the center of a great deal of debate around Dirty Kanza. In particular, he has challenged the lack of a rule prohibiting the use of aero bars which he vehemently argues are far too dangerous for a mass start event.

Stetina, who would finish second posted some commentary on social media that seemed directed at Kabush. “I thought ‘purity’ of gravel was about no rules, no judgement, just ride your bike. If you want to change positions over a 10+ hour day, get aero bars. If you want a simple setup, skip the bars. If you want to race the pros or your friends, great,” Stetina wrote on Twitter.

The Tweet, of course, drew a response from Kabush who replied “Hey Pete. Not trying to make any judgement on purity of anything. My only concern is safety and setting an example. A lot of people look up to you. Last year people rode them in middle of pack, crashed people out of the race. Aerobars, mass start event, on loose gravel?”

Then, following the top men’s racers skipping the podium ceremony, Kabush had more words directed specifically at the WorldTour riders taking part in the event. “If I was a ‘Pro’ rider or team trying to embrace alternative events like Dirty Kanza 200, I’d probably show up for the podium presentations,” Kabush said in a Tweet with a picture of the empty podium attached. “All the women did. Nice work ladies,” he continued with a picture of the full women’s podium.

Not one to pass up an opportunity to launch a spicy Tweet, Phil Gaimon jumped in on the online controversy. “All this trolling about purity of gravel but note the Lifetime Fitness logo. They own DK now and they’re about as corporate as it gets in the event business,” Gaimon Tweeted. In response to Kabush noting none of the men stayed for the podium ceremony, Gaimon said, “I know better than most that there’s plenty to gripe about with WorldTour, but the specific folks getting flak here are some of the best humans in the sport.”

The only one of the adbsent men’s podium finishers to respond to Kabush’s Tweet was Payson McElveen who had an explanation for his absence. “Ugh, yeah. I’ll admit that I screwed up on planning. Flying straight to Europe and told them I had to be out by 8:30. Squeezed in my age group podium, but sounds like this one happened at 8:35. Not proud of it.”

Dirty Kanza is a gravel grinder that takes place southwest of Kansas City in Emporia, Kansas and features a 331-km course of unpaved and gravel roads. Billed as one of the biggest gravel races in the world, the race attracts a strong field of experienced racers from a range of disciplines. The presence of WorldTour racers in 2019 meant the field that contested the full course was stronger than ever.

However, it was Colin Strickland who snuck away solo from the WorldTour riders to take a surprise win ahead of Peter Stetina (Trek-Segrafedo) and Alex Howes (EF Education First). Lachlan Morton (EF Education First) was fourth and Kiel Reijnen (Trek-Segrafedo) was sixth. Kabush finished in 14th. In the women’s race, Amity Rockwell (Easton Overlander) won ahead of Alison Tetrick and Sarah Max.