I used to be within the males’s elite subject at Unbound 200 this yr. I’m a privateer racer out of the UK, who spends a number of blocks within the U.S. racing every year. This was my third time taking up the beast that’s Unbound Gravel. And in my profession, I’ve raced all the pieces from Belgian semi-classics to professional stage races and gravel epics. I got here via a few of the world’s greatest improvement groups, and nicely, I’ve crashed extra occasions than I’d like to recollect.
Crashing is an unlucky however inevitable a part of the biking sport. In case you are not prepared to simply accept that, then you definately shouldn’t be racing bikes on the elite degree.
As is commonly the case at Unbound, criticism, debate and complaints from the professional subject started virtually the second tyres crossed the end line. There had been crashes, maybe greater than traditional, and individuals are questioning whether or not there ought to be better regulation within the race.
After all, we must always make racing as secure as doable, however I’m a realist: bike racing is a harmful sport. Should you set off a bunch of motivated professional athletes at a race with the strain and potential rewards of Unbound, then there’s inevitably going to be crashes someplace.
Unbound is hands-down the most important, most prestigious gravel race within the World. A win, or perhaps a top-10 end, right here can do wonders on your profession. And, new this yr, it comes with a stunning payout as nicely. Any race with this degree of strain, media consideration, and potential glory tends to have a variety of crashes. There’s lots to realize and due to this fact, dangers are taken. It’s no totally different from what we see on the Tour de France yearly.
The professional gravel subject appears to be filled with opinions and recommendations. On this article, I’m going to have a look at just a few recommendations which have been made and solid my opinion as a racer.
The Feedzones
(Picture credit score: Snowy Mountain Pictures)
The 2 feeds, or pit zones, at Unbound are carnage. There are lots of of riders moving into all totally different instructions, looking for their crew and get serviced as quick as doable. There aren’t any guidelines in these pit zones. Riders can service on both aspect of the highway. It’s the Wild West. Whereas I don’t assume there have been many (or any) crashes right here within the elite subject, it’s a ticking time bomb.
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That is the one place the place regulation makes essentially the most sense.
We noticed some riders take musette luggage with out stopping, others would pull in for a handful of seconds. At assist station two, the Large crew even had one in all their helpers driving alongside the pack, passing on bottles. This remaining one, whereas completely inside the guidelines, is a shame, and precisely why there must be guidelines.
The explanation riders aren’t prepared to cease is as a result of they’re frightened one other rider will get a bonus.
Each rider should put a foot down in every pit zone. Easy. Solved.
Gravel Classes, or Licenses?
(Picture credit score: Life Time)
Because the gravel self-discipline has grown and professionalised, many are questioning if maybe it’s time to have classes and even professional licenses. It is a horrible concept for a lot of causes. Firstly, it’s inconceivable to implement. Gravel is a mass-start occasion. Which means, a number of classes deal with the identical course and the identical time.
Secondly, it entails making a system that can virtually actually be unfair or have a number of clauses and asterisks. When has any governing physique ever created a good and correct license system? Thirdly, it’s extraordinarily towards the spirit of gravel. I jest, however it’s true.
How would we even determine who will get a license? Is it MTB expertise? A professional highway background? A take a look at? Good luck defining what makes somebody a secure racer. Would Mathieu van der Poel be deemed not secure as a result of he precipitated a crash at an MTB World Cup? After all not. Crashes are merely a part of the enterprise. Everybody crashes. Everybody causes one finally.
I come from a highway background, which implies I’m completely at residence with 5 riders surrounding me inside a few centimetres at any given level. I can fortunately lean on riders and put my bars ready to learn me. Nevertheless, I couldn’t be farther from residence on a brilliant technical singletrack.
What if I lean on a rider who’s an elite MTBer? Perhaps (hypothetically) they’re not as snug with pack expertise and will react negatively. Does that imply I deserve a license and so they don’t?
“However, Unbound shouldn’t be a rider’s first gravel race!”I hear you cry. Why not? I’d argue all day lengthy that Unbound is way simpler to experience in than even a professional kermesse in Belgium. Why block future expertise or hidden gems with some made-up credential?
There’s a level of irony right here. Many large names name for ‘extra respect’, however what precisely is ‘respect’? Everyone seems to be on the identical begin line, so everybody ought to, in concept, be handled equally.
I’m sorry, however the ‘respect’ argument typically simply screams entitlement.
As ultra-racer Chris Mehlman succinctly added:
“If anyone [who] an enormous title doesn’t know causes a crash, it can in all probability be labelled as ‘unhealthy expertise’, or a ‘lack of respect’. Nevertheless, if an enormous title causes a crash, then we simply settle for that’s a part of racing. I feel the worry amongst prime professionals is that their season can be ruined by somebody they assume is a ‘normie’. There isn’t any governing physique of gravel, and that’s what lots of people love. Licensing would require a single governing physique for all races, which might damage the entire expertise in quite a few different methods.”
Licensing received’t make issues safer. It might simply give large names extra energy to outline who ‘belongs’ and who doesn’t. Wouldn’t that make gravel extra unique, the precise factor we’re aiming to keep away from?
Subject Sizes
(Picture credit score: Snowy Mountain Pictures)
It’s primary maths: extra riders imply a better threat of crashes. We are able to all agree on that, proper?
The 2025 version of Unbound noticed 173 elite males and 93 elite ladies registered. These are two numbers which might be very cheap. For reference, on the highway, the UCI caps startlists at a most of 176 riders.
I’d be more than pleased for the Unbound organisers to cap each the elite races at 200 riders. That appears greater than cheap. Nevertheless, if crashes aren’t coming from a bloating subject measurement, then the variety of riders isn’t the issue.
Final yr’s second-place finisher and former WorldTour professional, Chad Haga, commented: “I noticed a variety of crashes [in the elite men’s race], however all lone riders. Nothing like dash stage pileups.”
It’s price asking why the ladies’s race appeared extra crash-prone (this yr). That’s not a judgment on ability or security, it might merely be all the way down to race dynamics. Smaller fields typically result in extra surging, much less drafting, and fewer predictability, which may mockingly make issues sketchier. It’s not about riders being much less succesful. It’s about how the race unfolds when there’s much less construction.
As soon as once more, is that this doable to manage? I feel not.
“The Course Isn’t Secure.”
(Picture credit score: Life Time Grand Prix)
“When Unbound started in 2006, it featured simply 34 individuals on self-supported adventures via the dusty gravel roads of the Flint Hills. It was by no means supposed to be the world’s premier gravel race. It was designed to be a person pursuit the place individuals examined their private limits,” rider and journalist Caroline Dezendorf wrote.
Yeah, sorry, I’m not having that argument. Arenberg Forest wasn’t made for racing both. Neither was that insane singletrack at BWR, nor no matter slender descent within the Tour de France. I agree that it isn’t secure to race at 50kph right into a muddy part like we had at Eskridge in Unbound. However, what are we going to do, put in a pace restrict?
There are inherent dangers to bike racing in any respect ranges. It doesn’t matter for those who’re in a Cat 5 crit, racing the Tour de France, or racing Unbound. Wherever individuals race bikes, there’ll all the time be unavoidable crashes for silly causes.
A Be aware About Medical Help
A rider calling forward to the following assist station
(Picture credit score: Dan Hughes / Life Time)
Whereas racers are glad to shoulder the chance that comes with racing, there’s additionally an obligation of care that ought to come from the organiser. As we’ve seen many occasions, issues can go unhealthy in a short time, and when that occurs, there must be a plan in place.
Ladies’s elite rider Klara Sofie Skovgaard spent 90-minutes injured in a roadside ditch earlier than she acquired any medical help. As soon as taken to hospital, she underwent surgical procedure for a dislocated, fractured shoulder and an open knee wound. It doesn’t matter what the small print on the entry varieties says, that is unacceptable.
For all distances and all riders, that is the place the organisers can enhance. Perhaps there’s an emergency quantity on our body plate that we are able to name in case of an emergency. Perhaps there are medical groups stationed each 20 miles who can act quick. Perhaps the lead group of each professional races, the place crashes are extra possible because of the increased speeds, has a medical motorcycle following.
It’s a logistical nightmare attempting to determine this out on a course like Unbound, however that’s not an excuse. Should you can determine a livestream with a helicopter, you may determine security protocols within the case of an emergency. It would come at a excessive value, however Life Time has the sources.
Conclusion
(Picture credit score: Life Time)
I’m as offended and annoyed as anybody else when I’m caught in, or injured, by a crash past my management. However, if we’re going to begin speaking about regulation to the degrees that some are suggesting, I consider we might create a harmful precedent.
Crashes are horrible, however they’re a part of the sport. If we attempt to over-regulate Unbound, we threat killing the very factor that makes it particular. Sure, we must always repair the plain stuff, like implementing a rule at feed zones and ensuring riders get the medical care they want. However attempting to gatekeep who will get to race, or sanitise the course, misses the purpose.
Gravel, nor any bike racing, is meant to be predictable or completely secure. If you’d like assured security, experience alone. If you’d like glory, settle for it comes with the chance.
*Slams laptop computer closed, sits again, sips espresso, and waits for the feedback to return.*