It takes a team to get on the podium

In what transpired to be an amazing battle, Piotr Havik sprinted to 4th place after an intense 327 km of unforgiving gravel terrain. While Piotr had to do the pedalling by himself, a highly motivated team was with him to support him throughout the ride. A superfast 'F1 pitstop style' wheel change to deal with a slow puncture at a critical moment in the race made all the difference, and although Toby Perry had to quit after 100 miles due to sickness, it did not stop him from taking action in the support car.

Another success story for us was the young Belgian racer Arno Van den Broeck, who received a phone call from Team Manager Nick Sannen just seven days before the race. “Do you want to race Unbound for us? We have a rider registered who, unfortunately, is injured and can’t go?” Arno did not hesitate and finished his first Unbound 200 in an impressive 30th place at 23 years of age. His excitement to be part of the Unbound team gave everybody a big smile. Annabel Fisher, unfortunately, also had to stop the race because of injuries.

"The Powershift Hub really made a difference on the course. Thanks to the 54 front chainring I could literally launch myself towards the climbs and then shift under full load to my ‘inner chainring’ without losing any watts or momentum, which saves a lot of energy on such a long course."  
Piotr Havik, Classified x Ridley Factory Team

A big step closer to the top

Assisted by Ridley mechanic Michael and Classified US Key Account Manager Matthew Houston, they all came to the finish, welcoming the riders and celebrating Piotr’s 4th place podium. “We are very proud of all our riders coming out of Unbound as a stronger team than ever. We are very thankful to all our partners and supporters,” said a very happy Nick. The riders left Emporia happy, tired, and with great memories and experiences, motivated for the rest of the season.

The goal was to race for victory or get a top three. Piotr came quite close. In such a tremendous strong field, in the biggest gravel race of the world, we just need to be happy and proud with this result for now and stay hungry for the upcoming editions. Lachlan Morton (1st) and Chad Haga (2nd) put out an impressive effort, starting their move with more than 100k to go. Piotr tried to bridge the three minute gap with 70k to go, but one minute was the closest he got. The final 5k to go Piotr broke out again and raced for the podium.