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Unbound<\/a><\/p>\n W\u00fcrtz Schmidt and Villafa\u00f1e take top honors in Unbound’s premier event. <\/p>\n Josh Weinberg<\/p>\n Sticky overnight mud, flooded underpasses, and race-day rain made the 2026 Unbound Gravel 200 even more brutal than usual, perhaps fitting for the event’s 20th anniversary. <\/p>\n The men’s race was won by Mads W\u00fcrtz Schmidt, current European gravel champ, and the women’s was won by Sofia Villafa\u00f1e<\/a>, who took her second crown via a five-way sprint after more than ten hours of racing. <\/p>\n Read on for how it happened, and a big, beautiful, very muddy photo gallery. <\/p>\n Men’s report: Mads through the mud<\/p>\n W\u00fcrtz Schmidt’s win topped off a superb month that also included victory at The Traka 360. Matt Beers (Specialized Off-Road) finished second, more than five minutes back, with Tobias Kongstad (PAS Racing) third.<\/p>\n Overnight storms turned early miles into a mudbath. Riders were forced to dismount to clear mud before the race had even properly begun. A lead group of around 20 formed, but after Texaco Hill at mile 62, W\u00fcrtz Schmidt, teammate Keegan Swenson, and Cobe Freeburn accelerated clear. By the halfway point, the trio’s lead extended to over six minutes.<\/p>\n Freeburn was dropped shortly after, leaving the Specialized pair to press on alone. Then came the race’s first real crux point, via a rear flat for Wurtz Schmidt with 75 miles remaining. Swenson stopped, attempted a repair, then handed over his own wheel so his teammate could continue. It was an act that effectively ended Swenson’s race. He didn’t realize it at first, but during the wheel swap, he lost what appeared to be the star ratchet out of his freehub, rendering his bike unpedalable. He was forced to head back to find it, all viewable via the race’s live stream. <\/p>\n “He sacrificed his race and his Grand Prix, and everything for me,” said W\u00fcrtz Schmidt after the finish, adding: “I couldn’t have done it without Keegan.”<\/p>\n Brief results: Mads W\u00fcrtz Schmidt – 9:14:51Matthew Beers – +5:03Tobias Kongstad – +9:52Brendan Johnston – +21:55 Keegan Swenson – +24:28Women’s report: Villafane will not be stopped<\/p>\n Just days ago, Villafa\u00f1e (also Specialized Off-Road, it was a good day for the crew in red) told our own Alex Hunt that her “job is to beat you,”<\/a> and that’s exactly what she did. <\/p>\n Villafa\u00f1e claimed her second Unbound Gravel 200 title, outsprinting four rivals after more than 10 hours of racing across a wet, nasty course. Teammate Geerike Schreurs finished one second back in second place, with Cecily Decker (PAS Racing) third.<\/p>\n The women’s race was shaped early by the same overnight mud that disrupted the men’s field. A lead group of twelve formed in the opening miles and worked well together for some time, but eventually whittled down to just five riders: Villafa\u00f1e, Schreurs, Decker, Rosa Kl\u00f6ser (Canyon-SRAM-MAAP), and Paige Onweller (Trek Driftless). All five arrived at the final climb together.<\/p>\n Schreurs attacked on the climb, Kl\u00f6ser responded, and all five came to the line together. Villafa\u00f1e timed her sprint perfectly. <\/p>\n “The plan was for Gee to try to go solo and put in attacks and then I would help her in any way I could with that,” said Villafa\u00f1e. “But then if it came to the sprint, we were going all in on my sprint, and to go one two is unreal.”<\/p>\n Onweller took fourth, with Kl\u00f6ser fifth.<\/p>\n Brief results: Sofia Gomez Villafa\u00f1e – 10:31:37Geerike Scheurs – +01Cecily Decker – same timePaige Onweller – same timeRosa Kl\u00f6ser – +02<\/p>\n And now, a huge gallery from the day from Josh Weinberg. <\/p>\n This post is for paying subscribers only Already have an account? Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n Did we do a good job with this story?<\/p>\n \n \ud83d\udc4dYep![\"Caley](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/CF_PROFILE-150x150.png\")
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