Ten Dam took a solo lead with 120 miles to go, and held the lead for another 15 miles.īy mile 147 a new group of five formed at the front - Boswell, Vermeulen, Stetina, Swenson and Silk. Ten Dan was the next rider to move out front after the aid station transition, with Stetina part of the chasers behind.īy mile 92, Paul Voss took a turn in the lead, but 12 miles later Ten Dam and Matta De Marchi had pushed in front of him, leaving 13 riders behind to chase about two minutes back. When the 200-milers began their stops at the first of two checkpoints, mile 77.3 at Eureka, Owen and Swenson were back in a lead group with about 18 other riders. Logan Owen launched a solo attack from the large lead pack at mile marker 41.3, and he was soon joined by Swenson. In opening 20 miles, a large lead group included Spain’s Freddy Ovett, Dutchman Thomas Dekker, Samuel Hunter Grove, Stefano Barberi, Brennan Wertz, Alexey Vermeulen, Lance Haidet and Keegan Swenson. Riders encountered rain and wind on the middle section of the course, with the sun coming out to dry some muddy areas by the second checkpoint. The 200-mile riders departed downtown Emporia, Kansas under cloudy conditions, the course already soaked from heavy rain storms earlier in the week, prompting organisers to modify the far southern section of the course late Thursday by taking out a few miles of impassable roads. He’s got a lot more power than me in a sprint.' How it unfolded Ivan, gravelmeister, he’s freaking strong. Like I said this morning, my hope was that someone would win that was the strongest rider. 'Once it was four of us, and Laurens came back, and it was similar to last year, everyone in that front group rode a great race. I had a flat really early and some other bike issues. This year I had a lot more go wrong, I guess. Last year was for myself, it was smooth sailing, like I had no issues, no flats. 'I think I’m more proud of this year than last year. That was awesome,' Boswell said at the finish, covered in mud. He added custom aero bars to his equipment setup this time around and noted that was an advantage this time around. It was a second appearance at Unbound for the 29-year-old Dutchman, who raced the past two seasons on the UCI Continental team ABLOC CT out of the Netherlands.

Slik raced in a special kit with large stars to pay hommage to the American stunt performer Evel Knievel and won in 9:22:04. Peter Stetina and Rob Britton rode together in the chase with Ten Dam close behind.īy mile 186, less than 15 miles to go, Ten Dam had worked his way back to the lead group, having passed Stetina and Britton.Īfter nine hours of racing and a route littered with mud and puddles in every pothole, the men’s field came down to a five-rider lead pack across the final 24 miles and through the final paved section through Emporia State University into downtown Emporia.

The four leaders worked together, taking turns at the front with some flatter sections of hard-packed dirt roads, passing a long line of riders headed to the finish of the 100-mile event. A quartet of riders had made separation with under 36 miles to go, just after the second checkpoint - Slik, Boswell, Swenson and Vermeulen.

Slik photos