Correct. He came up the highway well ahead of the pack. I didn’t realize who he was. I commented to my son that it looks like a late 110 mile finisher was sprinting in ahead of the pros. Then we realized he was the winner lol. I don’t even think the announcer knew who he was as he said nothing as he crossed the line and kept talking about the group coming up the road.
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To be fair Sea Otter is two loops of the XC course… but on a gravel bike.
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Somebody put out a recap right after Sea Otter. I thought it was, but maybe it wasn’t a Lifetime production…
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Strade Bianchi has entered the chat… 
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I agree with you…
Remember a few years ago at Cape Epic Nino Schurter got upset and started yelling at Henrique Avancini becuase he wasn’t pulling during the stage. Afterwards Avancini said Nino was NOT the nice guy hey portrayed to be in public .becuase he said some mean things to Avancini during the stage and it upset Avancini… Yes he hurt Avancini’s feelings but really did Nino expect him to help the worlds greatest XC MTBer…
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From a cultural standpoint, from the level of competition they aren’t anywhere close.
But the courses are (or can be) incredibly attritional and selective. The gravel races I do aren’t ones I attend because of the “pros” or the “spirit” or tradition or anything like that.
But, look at the profile of the Barry Roubaix below… see any spots that might be ripe for a selection or an attack? Does it look flat? It’s not the Paterberg or the Trench of Arenberg … and it may only matter to a few thousand people in Michigan every year … but some of those hills have names (truly) … and if the pros raced it, it would be amazing. But they don’t. Which is why I do. And it’s cool. And it’s only 15 years old, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I like it🤘
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That’s actually the Barry Roubaix. From two months ago 
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I’m not going to pretend that Unbound will ever be PR or Flanders, mainly because the field is totally different. But Unbound isn’t totally featurless. There’s no Arenberg but there is Little Egypt. There’s no Oude Kwaremont but there is Teter Hill, Texaco Hill, The Judge, etc.
I would never watch Unbound. That’s not because of the course though…but because it’s, in reality, amateur racing. I would watch Unbound if it was a World Your race and I bet it would be a pretty damn good race.
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As a race that was going to be made for broadcast, I think Leadville remains the best of the LT GP events for that. It’s got a pretty great history for a domestic U.S. race, it has multiple major climbs where the race could break up and decisive moves could happen, gear is always a big discussion and differences in bike setups could be discussed during the broadcase, and there are enough other things that could happen like mechanicals/flats that could add to intrigue. Many years the race is decided on Powerline inbound, but other story lines also unfold like last year when Keegan was gunning for the record. Or Lachlan and Payson flatting early and chasing back. Finsty breaking a wheel and Sofia giving him hers and then walking down Columbine say “not my day”. It would still be a long broadcast, but if I wasn’t racing it I’d be pretty interested in seeing it. As a racer, it is always fun seeing the leaders coming down Columbine and seeing how things are shaping up.
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It’s racing. It’s not some group training or group love ride! Recent example at the Giro:
edit: Not sure why the second vid of the same tweet only shows as a link, but it’s must see as well, "I’m not doing 
“
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Great example. The gravel locos hoopla also reminded of the the recent Thibaut Pinot VS Esteban Chavez drama in the Giro. I recall Pinot getting his fair share of criticism for being stronger and racing harder, but tactically less than ‘smart’. In the end, winning is product of strength, tactical smarts and luck.
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I can understand the frustration of the pros when another pro isn’t pulling their weight in the lead group vs. an amateur just trying to hang on for dear life, particularly if the other pro, after saving X watts/energy after not trading pulls for many kilometres then uses those energy savings to go for the win.
I get that tactics come into play, but to me there’s also an element of basic fairness - i.e. share the workload or f**k off out of the lead group. I get that tactics naturally come into play in the last 5 or 10kms when people start playing cat and mouse, but it seems like a big difference when a highly trained professional athlete is wheelsucking for 30, 40, 50km+ whilst the other pros in the group are all trading pulls fairly equally. Just seems like a dog move and I can understand the frustration of the others, because it doesn’t leave it an even playing field at the end of the day.
In his defence they both tried to drop him on the climb and he then spent five minutes clawing his way back up to them. Wtf would he then help them?
Also Bewls co-hosts a fun podcast called the social distance podcast.
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The tactics start when the gun fires and the playing field is level to begin. The core concept of mass start bike racing revolves around tactics to shift the playing field to your advantage for the next x hours of racing. Every time you stick your nose in the wind or push the pace should have purpose. The purpose might be to pull for the good of the group to keep a gap or catch a break up the road. It might be to soften up the wheel suckers in a cross wind. It’s not a last 10k thing when the tactics start.
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I regret that I have but one upvote to give.
That’s not the game. It’s not keep the playing field even until the last 10km, it’s get across the line first.
If you’re in the break and you don’t like that somebody’s not working, your options are:
- Try to convince them to work
- Also stop working and then try again with a different group after the catch
- Attack to try to split the group into a composition you like better
- Keep working, either because you’re confident that you can beat the rest in a sprint, or because you’re happy with any top-N place
That’s bike racing, and we’ve all seen all of those tactics a gajillion times, in a gajillion races, in all disciplines, and I am still baffled by the expectation some of these guys seem to have that a bike race would not have bike racing.
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The finish of the race was kind of dumb. If it would have come down to a sprint with 3 or 4 guys, it would have been a mess. A hard right hand turn from tarmac to lose-ish gravel, then 30 yards to the finish.
Agreed. But it was a pretty good uphill drag with a tailwind to the finish, so good conditions to stretch things out a bit (especially after a long day). It wasn’t likely going to get to the line shoulder to shoulder. It’s also possible they saw the finish beforehand and agreed that it wasn’t worth the risk taking that turn at speed and had a gentleman’s agreement (doubtful). It really wasn’t that tough of a turn if you hit it right. A solo rider a few minute before them decked it coming in though. I was in group of 3 at the end and had no interest in a fight near the line and hit it about 1k out which was perfect with the tailwind and slight uphill.
Obviously this is a thread focused on a bigger gravel race with pros and there’s always discussion of Unbound and BWR. But I’m always surprised when I hear somebody say “oh Unbound is my first gravel race”. It surprises me because there are so many small local gravel races all around the country.
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I’d bet it depends on where you live. In central TX, you could probably race 3x a month between Feb and May and not drive more than ~2 hours to any of those events. Also, some of those races can be tough to find if you aren’t already plugged into a cycling network.
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