Unbound delivers a surprise winner: German PhD student Rosa Klöser wins in a thrilling bunch sprint

In an unprecedented and thrilling finish at the Unbound Gravel Race, the women's elite competition culminated in a nine-person sprint, a first in the race's history. The victor came as a surprise, with German rider Rosa Klöser clinching one of the most coveted titles on the calendar just 2.5 years after taking up cycling. 

"I started cycling only 2.5 years ago so that probably also why no one really knows me,” Klöser commented with a laugh. "Actually I am still a full-time PhD [student] and do cycling, or professional racing, part time. The Unbound victory is amazing. I still don’t believe it."

Dutch rider Geerike Schreurs (SD Worx-ProTime) secured second place, while Paige Onweller (Trek-Drftlss) emerged as the top American finisher, claiming third.

"What I really appreciated is the separate start of the men, being 15 minutes behind them and also a big gap with amateurs men so we basically had our own race from start to finish, which is awesome," said Schreurs post-race. "The strongest woman won today."

How the race unfolded

As Schreurs noted, the women's elite field received their own race start at Unbound this year. While it isn't the fully independent race they've been asking for, it's progress and certainly played a part in how the racing unfolded today. The women started 15 minutes behind the elite men and 25 minutes minutes ahead of the amateur men. 

Thanks to drier-than-anticipated weather, the 200-mile course before them was in better shape than the legendary tough race has seen in years. As a result, the pace was high and there was little intermingling between the different race categories. 

The first 40 miles saw little break up and a pack of around 50 riders cruised through the opening miles together. Notably missing from the main group, however, was race-favorite and former winner Sofia Gomez Villafañe, who suffered a flat tire early on and found herself in the chase.

She successfully got herself back on, but today wouldn't be her day as she'd suffered a crash and a second puncture and would spend the rest of the day unsuccessfully trying to claw herself back into contention. 

At the first checkpoint at mile 70, the lead pack had dwindled down to 31 riders with Hannah Otto, Paige Onweller and Sarah Sturm leading the group as the course's new climbing sections approached. Once the roads started to point up, climbing-specialist and former Unbound winner Lauren De Crescenzo got ready to make her mark, setting a tempo so high that no one could follow.

On the way to Little Egypt, the rockiest part of the course with a technical descent, De Crescenzo had opened up a gap of nearly two minutes and successfully blown up the lead group behind. Once reorganized, the chase group was left with just 10 riders. 

De Crescenzo entered the optional Alta Vista water stop with a gap of 46 seconds and a chase group of 11 hot on her tail ,and 90 miles left of racing. The chase group consisted of Otto, Sturm, Klöser, Schreurs, Onweller, Haley Smith, Sarah Lang, Heather Jackson, last year's winner Carolin Schiff, Jenna Rinehart and Alexis Skarda.  

At the second checkpoint, with 54 miles of racing remaining, De Crescenzo had been caught and it would appear that a winner would be coming from the lead group. The group had lost Klöser, however. After getting a flat tire, she rode 30k (18 miles) on just the tire insert. With less-than-ideal control, she hit a rock along the way and crashed hard. By the time she received a new wheel at the checkpoint, the lead group was at leats two minutes up the road and riding fast. Klöser put in a herculean effort to catch the leaders. 

"My day was definitely adventurous," commented Klöser at the finish. "I told myself 'I'm going to die trying to close this gap back', and I made it. I was pretty cooked."

The front group lost Skarda and Langa and continued to set a high pace. Yet everyone knew the race would likely come down to a rare bunch sprint. With the lack of teammates, it was every woman for herself, and the return to town was all about positioning.

"In the end, I knew that I have a pretty OK sprint after a long day out, but I'm definitely not a pure sprinter," the 27-year-old German said. "In the final corner, I was in a quite OK position and then I kept going. I could tell no one was coming close when I was in the front, and then I won."

Unbound 200 - Top 10 Women

1. Rosa Klöser (GER), 10:26:02
2. Geerike Schreurs (NL), 10:26:03
3. Paige Onweller (US), 10:26:03
4. Haley Smith (CAN), 10:26:03
5. Heather Jackson (US), 10:26:03
6. Carolin Schiff (GER), 10:26:03,
7. Sarah Sturm (US), 10:26:03
8. Hannah Otto (US), 10:26:04
9. Lauren De Crescenzo (US), 10:26:11
10. Sarah Lange (US), 10:30:43