Unbound Gravel 2026 Start List: Dirt Specialists and WorldTour Road Pros in Kansas

The start list for the 2026 Unbound Gravel 200 is stacked.

And so it should be.

Saturday’s 200-miler through the Flint Hills of Kansas is the prize every gravel racer wants on their palmarès.

Defending Unbound champions, former WorldTour road pros, and stalwart gravel OGs will share the early-morning start line in Emporia this Saturday, May 30.

A total purse of $60,000 up for the taking, split evenly between the top-5 men and women. But for the winners, the paycheck will be just a bonus after they earn gravel immortality.

Jones and Migoń lead the off-road specialists

Cameron Jones is back to defend his Unbound Gravel 200 with a controversial new bike. Karolina Migoń is likewise looking to go back-to-back after she blew up the dirt in 2025.

Mads Würtz Schmidt and Rosa Klöser just won Unbound’s European rival, the Traka 360. They will be among the favorites Saturday as they hunt a unique double of marquee victories for 2026.

Other specialists in the hunt for the biggest win in gravel include U.S. national champion and Life Time Grand Prix leader Bradyn Lange and off-road all-star, Keegan Swenson.

Newly signed to Specialized Off-Road, Swenson will team up with Schmidt and Matt Beers to form the strongest unit in the 200-mile race.

Alexey Vermeulen, Russell Finsterwald, and Ivar Silk are other dirty veterans to keep tabs on in the men’s race.

Gravel veterans and former Unbound winners Lauren de Crescenzo and Sofia Gómez Villafañe join three-time national champion Lauren Stephens in the deep crew of specialists in the women’s race.

Woods, Bardet, De Gendt among the WorldTour converts

Like always at Unbound, the WorldTour peloton is contributing some interesting characters to the start list for this year’s race.

Recently retired grand tour stars Romain Bardet and Mike Woods debut in Emporia on Saturday. They should both feature at the front of the action after they found immediate success on fat tires.

Lachlan Morton, Thomas De Gendt, Chad Haga, Lukas Pöstlberger, and 2025 Unbound runner-up Simon Pellaud will be familiar faces to these former roadies.

On the women’s side, Axelle Dubau-Prévot (yes, she’s the sister of Tour de France Femmes winner, Pauline) and Ashleigh Moolman Pasio have both tossed aside their road wheels to line up in Emporia.

Geerike Schreurs returns to Unbound Gravel 200 hot off the back of a super-successful debut gravel season after she quit racing pavement with SD Worx this winter.

One last joker in the pack?

Taylor Phinney.

The 35-year-old will race Unbound for the first time since 2019 as he flips between racing on the dirt and training on the velodrome in the quest for selection at the LA Olympic Games.

Follow along with Velo

Be sure not to miss the action Saturday – here’s our full guide to how to watch the race live.

And while you wait for the flag to drop, check our guide of all the tech the pros have been using through the Life Time Grand Prix series.

Want to see who from your weekend group ride is racing Saturday? Here’s the amateur start list for the Unbound Gravel 200.

2026 Unbound Gravel 200: Women’s pro start list

2026 Unbound Gravel 200: Men’s pro start list