10 hours, 20mph average, 300km: Strava stats reveal brutal efforts behind Unbound Gravel 2021

Unbound Gravel may not have been a familiar event for many cycling fans before this year, but the 2021 event appears to have captured the imaginations of a whole new audience.

This year’s Unbound Gravel, previously called Dirty Kanza before the name change due to its links to a Native American tribe, attracted a star-studded field as former WorldTour riders reinvent themselves as off-road specialists.

After more than 300km of racing through the Flint Hills of Kansas Ian Boswell, a former Team Sky and Katusha-Alpecin rider, emerged victorious ahead of another former top tier pro rider, Laurens ten Dam. 

The women’s race was won by Lauren De Crescenzo after 12 hours of racing. 

But how tough was the race? Strava stats might just offer some insight. 

Ian Boswell, who raced in the WorldTour from 2013 until his retirement from road racing in 2019, completed the gruelling 331km race in 10 hours, 17 minutes, and 24 seconds, with Ten Dam finishing right behind on the same time. 

According to his Strava file, Boswell put out a staggering 246 watts during the 10 hours, averaging a mind-blowing 20.04 miles per hour (32km/h) for the whole ride.

Ten Dam, 40, who also retired from the WorldTour at the end of 2019, pushed 285w only to be beaten at the line by his US rival.

Boswell climbed around 3,386 metres during his ride and claimed three Strava KoMs along the way. 

Other notable rides from the men’s event came from Peter Stetina (formerly Trek-Segafredo), who pushed 235w to finish third, while Ted King came fourth with an average power of 266w, and an average heart-rate of 143 beats per minute. 

>>> Trek-Segafredo's Kiel Reijnen ran 18 miles barefoot after breaking wheel at Unbound Gravel

Unfortunately, the winner of the women’s race hasn’t shared her data on Strava, but second place finisher Amity Rockwell did share her file. 

After De Crescenzo won the race after 12 hours and six minutes, with an average speed of 17.02mph (27kp/h), Rockwell was next across the line with a time of 12 hours and 22 minutes.