'I walked half a marathon' - Robin Gemperle wins 350-mile Unbound Gravel XL on 32 inch wheels

Swiss endurance rider Robin Gemperle won a disastrously mud-clogged 2026 Unbound XL, arriving back in Emporia, Kansas, after 21 hours and 16 minutes.

An increasingly popular alternative to the 200-mile flagship event at Unbound Gravel, the 350-mile XL event remains a completely self-supported ultra-endurance race.

Riders are prohibited from receiving outside assistance of any kind. They must manage their own nutrition, navigation and mechanical repairs while refuelling only at occasional gas stations along the route. There are no support crews and no aid stations.

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As rain and thunderstorms rolled through the Flint Hills region on Friday and Saturday, the 2026 edition of the ultra-endurance gravel race brought the muddiest conditions since 2023, forcing riders to hike through ankle-deep mud for dozens of miles.

"I walked probably half a marathon distance," Gemperle told Cycling Weekly post-finish.

The 356-mile race marked Gemperle’s second appearance at Unbound XL after making his debut in 2025, when he finished third in a course-record-breaking year of fast, dry roads.

"It was completely different!" Gemperle said of the two editions.

After racing Unbound XL in 2025, Gemperle went on to the Tour Divide, where he set a new course record by completing the roughly 2,700-mile unsupported race in 11 days, 19 hours and 14 minutes.

This year, Gemperle said he is focusing on shorter ultra-endurance events, and he was not prepared to settle for another third-place finish.

"This time I'm only here for the Unbound, and I kind of felt if there's no second chance, I need to make it count. And to do good," he said. "I did it for myself."

Gemperle also revealed that, in addition to the difficult course conditions, he battled stomach issues severe enough that he feared he might have to abandon the race.

But he persevered, finishing with a comfortable lead over second-place rider Max Agut.

As widely reported ahead of the race, Gemperle competed on a prototype Scott bike built around 32-inch wheels. Scott announced before the event that Gemperle and fellow rider Cam Jones would ride the unreleased platform across the Flint Hills course.

Scott stated the bike “will never be released on the market,” but Gemperle was impressed with its performance.

"I think this bike is just amazing. The wheels rolled so smoothly over everything," Gemperle said.

Asked about mud clearance, Gemperle laughed.

"There's never enough clearance."

At the time of publication, only Agut and Gemperle had reached the finish, while the remaining riders and the women’s race were still ongoing.

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Cycling Weekly's North American Editor, Anne-Marije Rook is old school. She holds a degree in journalism and started out as a newspaper reporter — in print! She can even be seen bringing a pen and notepad to the press conference.

Originally from the Netherlands, she grew up a bike commuter and didn't find bike racing until her early twenties when living in Seattle, Washington. Strengthened by the many miles spent darting around Seattle's hilly streets on a steel single speed, Rook's progression in the sport was a quick one. As she competed at the elite level, her journalism career followed, and soon, she became a full-time cycling journalist. She's now been a journalist for two decades, including 14 years in cycling.