A second event has been added as a qualifier for Unbound Gravel, with riders having a chance to obtain one of a hundred early entries to the popular event in Kansas by racing at the Rad Dirt Festival in Colorado on September 28.
A hundred qualifier coins will be up for grabs, half going to those who deliver top results among their category and the other half randomly distributed to finishers of both the 110 and 70-mile races.
The Rad Dirt Festival is the second qualifying event for Unbound, with Belgium's Heathland Gravel on August 11 announced as the first earlier this year. There are 50 spots available through the 100-mile race in Europe.
Unbound draws 4,000 riders to Emporia, Kansas at the start of June each year with its headline 200-mile event (322km) one of the most prized victories in the gravel scene. The race, which took place on June 1, was won this year by German rider Rosa Klöser (MAAP-Rose) and Australian Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost).
The race started with 34 participants in 2006 but now demand for places outstrips those available, which led to the introduction of an entry lottery. The riders in the Life Time series are guaranteed a place on the start line at the race and now the qualifiers offer others an opportunity to secure a certain spot before the lottery takes place.
The newly announced Unbound qualifier, the Rad Dirt Fest, was made a part of the Life Time Grand Prix series last year, with the professional field taking on the 110-mile course – starting and finishing in Trinidad, Colorado – with over 10,000 feet of elevation gain. The 2023 winners were Alexey Vermeulen and Lauren De Crescenzo.
The Colorado Rad Dirt Fest is the fifth race in the 2024 Life Time Grand Prix series, a competition where 60 selected athletes compete for a prize purse of $300,000 over seven events. After Unbound, the second race in the 2024 series, Haley Smith (Trek-Driftless) leads the women's standings and Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz) is at the top of the men's leaderboard.
