Unbound Gravel is the world’s most prestigious, highest-profile gravel race. It takes place at the beginning of June each year (although it's actually at the end of May in 2025), starting and finishing in Emporia, Kansas.
A town of around 24,000 residents, Emporia swells over the event weekend as thousands of gravel racers, support crews and spectators descend for the racing.
There’s not just one Unbound race. The most prestigious is is the 200 mile event, but there are also 25-, 50- and 100-mile courses, a junior race over 50 miles and Unbound XL – a 350 mile overnight epic for the hardcore.
All take in the extensive network of gravel roads in the Flint Hills, with the exact route and distance varying from year to year.
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- How to watch Unbound 2025 for free anywhere in the world
The routes are undulating, with Unbound 200 including over 10,000 feet of climbing. There are rivers to ford and, if it rains before or during the event, some stretches can comprise sticky mud.
In 2023, many contestants did not finish or took to walking parts of the course, due to the ‘peanut butter-consistency’ mud clogging their wheels.
There are watering points and checkpoints along the way. There are four on the Unbound 200 course, but Unbound XL riders are unsupported and left to fend for themselves at stores en route.
Riders of the shorter distance events must have a support crew stationed at a checkpoint to supply food and fluids, assist with mechanicals and collect them if they abandon the race
When does Unbound Gravel 2025 take place?
Rather than a one-day event, there’s a series of ride-outs, exhibitions, concerts, and more spread out over close to a week leading up to Unbound.
The main gravel races are on a Saturday, although Unbound XL starts on Friday afternoon. There’s an awards ceremony on Sunday morning.
In 2025, the main Unbound Gravel races start on Saturday 31 May. By tradition, the mass start from Emporia is at 06:00, with the elite races starting ten minutes earlier.
Unbound XL starts at 15:00 on the afternoon of Friday 30 May and participants ride overnight, finishing on the Saturday. There are cut-off times for all distances.
Who races Unbound?
At the pointy end, Unbound 200 is raced by an international cast of elite gravel pros, and a fair few current and former road and MTB professionals.
The 2024 women’s event was won in 10 hours, 26 minutes by German rider Rosa Klöser, who bagged a pro road racing team place with Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto on the back of her win. She’s back to defend her title this year.
The men’s winner was EF Pro Cycling’s Lachlan Morton.
The Australian is famous for endurance riding feats, such as his 30-day, 14,000km circumnavigation of Australia in Autumn 2024. He completed the 200-mile course in just over 9 hours, averaging over 22mph and won from a two-up sprint to the line against Logan Casper. For 2025, he’s taking on Unbound XL.
Unbound Gravel tech
Much like the Ground Tours on the road side, Unbound is a key event for gravel tech, with pros taking part in the elite event given the pick of their sponsors’ best kit.
It often includes as-yet-unlaunched products, making Unbound a great place to spot new gravel race bikes, wheels, groupsets and more.
For example, in 2024, the 13-speed SRAM Red XPLR AXS groupset made its first appearance in the elite race.
But Unbound isn’t just a pro event. Anyone can apply to ride any of the Unbound distances. It’s oversubscribed each year, so potential riders have to apply to a lottery for places, which for the 2025 event was in November 2024, with only successful applicants charged the entry fee.
Riders are allowed to draft each other, and larger groups tend to form over the long, open gravel roads. Aero bar extensions can also be used, although not by the elite riders, for safety reasons.
How many Unbound Gravel races have there been?
The Unbound Gravel race began in 2006, when it was called Dirty Kanza. There were just 34 riders and only the 200-mile distance available. Only 15 finished.
As the race’s popularity increased, the shorter distances were added in 2013, and Unbound XL was added in 2018.
The number of participants across all races has increased to almost 5,000, with close to 1,500 for Unbound 200 and an even larger number for Unbound 100.
The name change to Unbound took place in 2020.
Can I watch Unbound Gravel?
Yes. In 2025, the Unbound Gravel 200 elite race will be broadcast via the Life Time Grand Prix YouTube channel.
The channel has coverage of other events in its sponsored Life Time Grand Prix gravel series, interviews and more.
Life Time promises close to seven hours of coverage, starting at 10 am US Central Time on Saturday 31 May 2025. The race will have been underway for over four hours by then, because it traditionally begins at around 6 am.
Unbound 2025 coverage start times around the world
| Region | Time zone | Coverage start time |
|---|---|---|
| Western US | Pacific Daylight Time (PDT, UTC−7) | 8:00 a.m. PDT |
| Mountain US | Mountain Daylight Time (MDT, UTC−6) | 9:00 a.m. MDT |
| Central US | Central Daylight Time (CDT, UTC−5) | 10:00 a.m. CDT |
| Eastern US | Eastern Daylight Time (EDT, UTC−4) | 11:00 a.m. EDT |
| United Kingdom | British Summer Time (BST, UTC+1) | 4:00 p.m. BST |
| Central Europe | Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2) | 5:00 p.m. CEST |
| Australia (Sydney) | Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST, UTC+10) | 1:00 a.m. AEST on Sunday, June 1 |
| Australia (Adelaide) | Australian Central Standard Time (ACST, UTC+9:30) | 12:30 a.m. ACST on Sunday, June 1 |
| Australia (Perth) | Australian Western Standard Time (AWST, UTC+8) | 11:00 p.m. AWST on Saturday, May 31 |
There will be catch-up from the start and early racing, followed by live coverage until the end of the men’s and women’s elite races and post-race interviews.
There will be extended highlights of the men’s and women’s races posted a few days later.
