'I had as good a chance as anyone' - Cameron Jones wins Unbound Gravel after spending 150 miles in a breakaway with Simon Pellaud

Cameron Jones (Scott) has won the 2025 Unbound Gravel after a 150-mile breakaway with Simon Pellaud (Tudor Pro Cycling). The unlikely duo broke free after just 50 miles of racing and consequently spent the majority of the day working together as teammates. But as the gravel turned to pavement in the final miles of the race, Jones took control of the outcome, riding Pellaud off his wheel and powering to victory on his own.

"I knew I had as good a chance as anyone. Training's been going good and it's a course that suits me but so much in the race has got to come together. I had great legs today. It's always fun to be leading a race," the New Zealander said, adding that hearing the occasional time split gave the duo the 'extra watts and morale' needed to bring them home.

Forty seconds after Jones crossed the finish line to thunderous applause and a spray of champagne, 32-year-old Swiss rider Pellaud followed, claiming a major victory for himself and the Tudor Team.

With Norwegian Torbjørn Andre Røed rounding out the podium, this is the first time Unbound Gravel did not have an American rider on the elite men's podium. And with a finishing time of 8:37, this was also the fastest 200-mile Unbound Gravel race yet.

How the race unfolded

“I don’t think a duo is going to get away this year,” the men’s peloton predicted the day before Unbound Gravel. “No one’s going to let that happen again.”

Yet that is exactly what happened.

After a crash early in the race, the front end of the peloton was broken up as it manoeuvred through the technical Divide Road, allowing Jones, a former mountain biker, and Pellaud to make a break for it. It was opportunistic, early, and bold but it paid off. The duo was never to be seen again.

“I came here to show my qualities and to make a show,” Pellaud shared, adding that his preferred racing style, always, is to be chased rather than having to do the chasing. A characteristic that has earned him combativity awards at Grand Tours like the Vuelta a España.

As the two found a rhythm pretty quickly, Americans Ian Boswell and John Borstelmann were among the first to spring into action. The chase group soon swelled to include Australian national gravel champion Brendan Johnston, Keegan Swenson, Joris Nieuwenhuis, Andrew L’Esperance, Torbjørn Røed and Jasper Ockeloen.

But as the miles ticked by, the notoriously rough terrain claimed some victims with punctures (Magnus Bak Klaris), crashes (Keegan Swenson) and broken chains (Mattia di Marchi), as did the sheer attrition and the rising temperatures. The chase group splintered, reformed and splintered again.

With 125km to go, the duo had stretched out their lead to seven minutes. There was a lot of ground yet to cover, but without cohesion among the chasers, the victory was at risk of slipping away.

The dispersed groups of chasers never managed to rejoin and instead small groups or trios were strewn across the course. At one point, the 2021-winner Boswell was attempting to secure a third-place finish, but the heat, headwind and previous efforts proved to be too much.

The leaders continued to take even pulls over the rollers, working in unison to make their efforts stick.

“The hardest moment was just after Council Grove, that final headwind stretch,” Jones said. “I definitely had to dig deep there. But when we turned the corner, we had cross- or tailwinds all the way home.”

“When we got the eight-minute time splits, it was actually pretty cruisy toward the end.”

But while Jones was cruising, Pellaud began faltering and was unable to take turns.

“We’d been together all day and worked so hard together that it was good to just get both of us home,” said Jones.

On the final climb into town, the Kiwi put in a final dig and rode to the finish solo.

With this win, Jones also punched his ticket for a wildcard spot in the Life Time Grand Prix, which means we’ll be seeing him compete at the Leadville 100 next.

Unbound Gravel Men's Elite Top 10

1. Cameron Jones - 8:37:09
2. Simon Pellaud - 8:37:51
3. Torbjorn Roed - 8:42:31
4. Mads Wurtz Schmidth - 8:42:33
5. Brendan Johnston - 8:47:43
6. Ramon Sinkeldam - 8:48:15
7. Keegan Swenson - 8:49:09
8. Ian Boswell - 8:49:09
9. Jasper Ockeloen - 8:49:09
10. Tobias Kongstad - 8:49:54