Alex Wild breaks down the 2025 Unbound 200 in brutal detail—from the radical carb-loading strategies that broke the 9-hour barrier to the tactical early breakaway that decided the race before the final feed zones. He's honest about his own mistakes, the punctures that derailed a potential podium, and what really happens in those chaotic chase groups when no one's willing to work together.
Key Takeaways
- Elite gravel racers are now consuming 170-195g carbs per hour (vs. survival mentality in previous years), with winner Cam Phillips at 194g/hour for an 8:37 finish—this isn't optional, it's physiologically necessary at those power outputs (295W average)
- Technical terrain and feed zone chaos create the real selection in modern Unbound—early breakaways work because they avoid the negative racing dynamics of big chase groups, where unmotivated riders kill momentum and splits happen at terrain bottlenecks rather than pure power
- Tire choice matters significantly: 50mm Tracer treads were too thin for rocky sections; 45mm Pathfinders or 22mm Air Tracks would've been better—but setup decisions are race-specific and even small margins (tire pressure, wheel swaps under 5 seconds) compound over 200km
- Team dynamics are still nascent in gravel; even sponsored groups ride as privateers without coordinated chase tactics, meaning individual strength and technical ability dominate over organized team strategies seen in WorldTour racing
- The Lifetime Grand Prix is rapidly reshaping gravel's competitive hierarchy—European road/mountain bike pros are now treating Unbound as a priority event, raising the overall level and creating unpredictability that favors aggressive early positioning over late-race heroics
Expert Quotes
"If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you're no longer a racer. So yeah, it's kind of just an outcome of we are racing and we are racing for a lot of prestige and a lot of money."
"In my mind, Unbound was always going to be the hardest one or the most unknown for me in terms of points, but I still wanted to scrape as many points as I could. You never know what's going to happen at the other races."
"It's never been done before. The most organized chase seems to be a group of mates rather than anything that's brand loyal because I know Matt Beers, Keegan, and Russell train together. It's kind of a little bit of an Arizona click going on."