The rain of recent days in Emporia Kansas has given way to sunshine, leaving an expectation among key contenders that the course they will be facing in Unbound Gravel 200 on Saturday will be largely dry, though patches of mud could still help shape the outcome.
"This year I think we will encounter some mud in a few spots but, fingers crossed, I don't think it will be like we had in 2023 or 2022," Haley Smith (Trek Driftless), who took fourth last year, said at a Life Time Grand Prix athletes panel on Friday. "But I think it will potentially create a few separations and make some smaller groups out on the road."
