Rosa Klöser has claimed the win at the Unbound Gravel 200 pro women’s race, sprinting to victory at the gruelling event through the Flint Hills of Kansas to take the most prestigious title in the gravel world.
The 203 mile (327 km) race with 11,850 feet (3,612m) of climbing ended with a lead group of nine heading into the final mile and, while it broke up a little in the technical run in, the race ended with a sprint battle for the podium placings.
Klöser got the gap on the dash to the finish line in Emporia, Kansas, crossing ahead of Geerike Schreurs (SD Worx-ProTime) who took out second place and in third it was Paige Onweller (Trek-Drftlss).
It was an unparalleled bunch sprint in the mega-distance gravel race for pro women, eight riders sprinting to the line. It was also the fastest edition of the race on the north course, as the roads dried out so there was little to be seen of the dreaded peanut butter mud seen recently in reconnaissance rides, with Klöser finishing with a time of 10:26:02.
Last year’s solo winner Carolin Schiff (Canyon CLLCTV) came sixth in the sprint finish while 2022 winner and 2023 runner-up Sofia Gomez-Villafañe (Specialized) came over the line in 15th place, 12:28 back from the winner.
Villafañe said she didn’t get to enjoy the women’s race very much, which saw no men among the main contenders, because of two flat tyres and a mechanical, but simply stated, ‘that’s bike racing’.
Klöser, who has only been racing bikes for two and a half years, found herself in the mix of the women’s best riders at the world’s biggest stage for gravel racing with 54 miles to go. But after the second checkpoint at Council Grove, she crashed and then lost more time when she could not get her Co2 to work with a flat tyre.
“I told myself I’m going to die trying to close this gap back, and I made it. I only lost around two minutes to the lead women. I closed the gap and was pretty cooked,” the 27-year-old German said at the finish.
“In the end I knew that I had a pretty OK sprint after a long day out, I’m definitely not a pure sprinter,” she laughed. “In the final corner, I was in quite an OK position and then I kept going. I could tell no one was coming close when I was in the front and then I won!”
It was a debut at Unbound Gravel 200 for both Klöser and runner-up Schreurs, and both are relatively new to gravel racing.
“No one really knows me. Actually I am still a full-time PhD [student] and do cycling, or professional racing, part time. It’s been going quite well,” said Klöser, who before Unbound had been a podium regular in numerous UCI Gravel World Series rounds and also came third at the Traka 200 last month. “And I think an Unbound victory is amazing. I still don’t believe it. It’s slowly beginning to sink in.”
How it unfolded
The women said goodbye to Emporia in front of the Granada Theatre at 6:05 a.m. CDT with cool, overcast skies and dry conditions. It was the first time in the 16 years since women had competed in the 200-mile event (there were only 37 men the first year) that their field had a significant time gap for a dedicated start – 15 minutes after the pro men and 25 minutes ahead of the 1,200-plus amateurs.
The total distance, 202.8 miles, included 11,849 feet of elevation gain, 2,000 more than the year before. There were no recent downpours to convert the gravel roads into mud pits or creeks into rivers, the pace was high from opening miles.
Through the opening 40 miles, the majority of the 61-rider field still packed together at the front, including Carolin Schiff, Sarah Sturm, Lauren De Crescenzo, Hannah Otto, Paige Onweller, Tiffany Cromwell, Geerike Schreurs and Heather Jackson. Sofia Gomez Villafañe, who had a flat tyre, led a second group of seven riders 40 seconds back, and they were all together 15 miles later.
The small town of Alma at mile 70 served as the first of two checkpoints, where riders were authorised to receive assistance for anything from nutrition to mechanical support, and it was also the launching point for the new climbing sections on Divide Road. Here, the lead pack had been cut in half, now 31 riders surged ahead of any chasers by a full minute. Otto, Jackson, Sturm, Onweller and Minori Minagawa set the pace at the front, last year’s top two riders Schiff and Villafañe marking each other in 11th and 12th places.
The lead group pounded out a steady tempo and speeds averaging close to 20 mph as they crossed the northern-most section of the course, still a women’s-only race at this point. With 80 miles covered, 22 remained out front, the pace driven by De Crescenzo. Caroline Tory dangled off the back while Anna Hicks seemed to struggle a bit from a mechanical issue. Isabel King led a chase group of four riders with a gap of 1:12.
De Crescenzo opened a small gap on the way to Little Egypt, the roughest road of the route, which riders approach from a new direction this year. The 2022 Unbound 200 winner opened a sizeable gap of 1:44 on that section, with 10 riders left to chase, but Schiff fell off the back of that group.
Remnants of the original lead group were scattered across the road after Little Egypt, including Cromwell, two and half minutes back, and Villafañe, 4:39 back.
The ‘water oasis’ at mile 112 in Alta Vista saw De Crescenzo riding solo with an advantage of just 46 seconds to 11 riders – Sturm, Rosa Klöser, Otto, Jackson, Schreurs, Schiff, Onweller, Jenna Rinehart, Alexis Skarda, Haley Smith and Sarah Lange. Cromwell was chasing with Danni Shrosbree and Whitney Allison another 2:55 back and Villafañe was eight minutes back.
De Crescenzo was caught and Rinehart dropped on the crunchy, twisting roads 20 miles later, now there were 11 riders at the front of the race.
Once through the final checkpoint at Council Grove with 54 miles to go, the temperature warmed under sunny skies and the heat was on for the 10 riders still driving the pace, this time Klöser lost contact going over Kahola Hill, but she soon rejoined.
At the final time check at the water oasis with 14 miles to go, De Crescenzo went to the front with Otto, Jackson, Schiff, Smith, Sturm, Klöser, Schreurs and Onweller. The race continued to hold a high pace as the gravel faded to the pavement in the closing 10 miles back to Emporia.
Behind, Lange and Skarda chased two minutes in arrears. Shrosbree rode alone seven minutes behind the lead group, Rinehart was eight minutes back and Villafañe was 12 minutes down.
