How the Race Unfolded
Sofia Gomez Villafane (Specialized Off-Road) mastered a tactical sprint finish at Unbound Gravel to take her second career win at the 200-mile gravel race.
A lead group of five women dominated the majority of the race, with representation from Villafane, her teammate Geerike Schreurs, Cecily Decker (Pas Racing), Rosa Klöser (Canyon-SRAM), and Trek’s Paige Onweller.
It was largely a stalemate until the final miles when Schreurs launched two attacks that hurt the rest of the group but didn’t pull out any time. Villafane waited until the final turn onto the finish straight to open her sprint that none of the other women could match.
Schreurs took second to make it one-two for Specialized.
Emma Langley (Ventum Racing) and Laurel Quinones (Ride BMC) were the first women to go off the front. At the same time, chaos erupted in the middle of the peloton with Peta Mullens (Liv) and Stella Hobbs (MAAP) hit the deck but appeared to be uninjured. In an unrelated incident, Michaela Thompson (Allied Cycle Works) suffered an early flat tire.
The Pas Racing duo of last year’s winner Karolina Migon and Morgan Aguirre were well-positioned for the first mud section but were both forced off their bikes to scrape the peanut butter-like mud off their bikes.
After the mud section, the lead group formed with representation from Danni Shrosbree (Argon 18), Cecily Decker (Pas Racing), Nicole Fraine (Factor Racing), Lauren Stephens (Aegis), Geerike Schreurs (Specialized Off-Road), Carolin Schiff (Canyon ATR), Samara Sheppard (Velocio-SRAM), Rosa Klöser (Canyon-SRAM), and Paige Onweller (Trek Driftless).
Several splits and surges mixed up the lead group over the first 50 miles. Trek’s Cecile Lejeune crashed in a water crossing and forged a fierce chase to rejoin the leaders. Fraine crashed hard after a touch of wheels on a fast section; she was slow to get back started with a bloody leg.
Three hours into the race, the front group consisted of Specialized’s Sofia Gomez Villafane and Schreurs, Trek’s Paige Onweller, Lejeune, and Decker, as well as Schiff, Klöser, Sarah Lange (Pivot, Kenda, Hunt), Hayley Preen (Factor Racing ), and Nele Laing (Canyon ATR).
At 150 miles to go, the leaders had settled in with not much aggression. Then an attack reignited the hostilities on one of the courses only paved sections with Villafane, Schreurs, Decker, and Klöser going off the front.
The front four rode steady and regrouped after briefly splitting after the second feed zone.
As the women rode trough the rain and mud (which stayed wet and mostly did not turn to the dreaded peanut butter consistency), Onweller made a hard effort to bridge from the chase to the leaders, making it a group of five. Onweller contributed to the pace setting, but it was unclear how her legs felt after the chase to get up front. The Trek rider has also been recovering from injury this year.
With 85 miles to go, the leading group of five had a 6 minute advantage, while Mieke Kröger (Rose Racing Circle) mounted a solo chase. Thirty seconds behind the German was Lange, Laing, and Preen.
The technical W Road split the group, with Villafane, Schreurs, and Decker exiting the section in the lead. Decker hit the deck during a water crossing but quickly remounted her bike. Klöser managed to bridged back up to the group, and Onweller dropped off the back.
As the leaders were navigating W Road, the chasers were stopped by a freight train on a level crossing, allowing the third group on the road to combine into a larger group two.
Onweller continued to yo-yo in and out of the lead group of five. Meanwhile, Kröger held steady in sixth while Lauren De Crescenzo (Argonaut Cycles) joined Lange and Preen in the third group on the road.
Schreurs was the first to let an attack fly on the flats in the final miles. Klöser successfully closed, while Onweller towed Villafane and Decker back up.
The group then soft pedaled to the final climb on Highland Hill, where Schreurs went again but couldn’t get any gap.
Villafane opened her race-winning sprint after the left turn onto the finishing straight on Commercial Street. Schreurs followed for second place while Decker took third.
