Unbound Gravel Power Analysis: Würtz Schmidt Is a Mud-Busting Metronome of Mega Watts

Fifteen miles into Unbound Gravel, almost the entire peloton came to a standstill in peanut butter mud. The leaders hopped off their bikes and grabbed paint sticks to clear the mud as quickly as they could.

Some riders spent a minute cleaning their bikes, others lost even more time. A few riders watched their bikes fall apart in front of their eyes, while professionals like Mads Würtz Schmidt wasted hardly any time in the mud.

The European gravel champion was one of, if not the, first riders to escape the first muddy section of the race, but it wouldn’t be the last time he faced major adversity en route to the finish line.

Matt Beers, Würtz Schmidt’s teammate on Specialized Off-Road, was another one of the strongest riders of the day, posting the single most impressive power file that I’ve ever seen. The South African averaged 338w for more than nine hours. Yes, his Danish teammate finished more than five minutes ahead of him.

This is the story of “Mudbound” 2026, and the absolute domination of Specialized Off-Road in both the men’s and women’s elite 200 races.

When the skies opened at 3AM the morning of Unbound, everyone knew there would be mud. What they didn’t know was exactly where the mud would be, and the impact these sectors would leave on the race. Rumours were circling that there would be mud at mile 12, the first minimum maintenance road (MMR) on the 207-mile Unbound course. But when the peloton reached mile 12, the mud was packed and fast.

Many breathed a sigh of relief, but that feeling was short-lived as the route turned south onto an uphill MMR. Within seconds, the peloton was scattered across the road, reaching down to clean out their bikes.

Drivetrains were stuck, chains were thrown off, tires and forks were clogged…this was a disaster. Those who managed the mud best were quickest to escape, and a lead group formed at the front of the elite men’s race.

Würtz Schmidt – Mud Sector Splits the Race

Time: 17:07
Average Power: 336w (4.8w/kg)
Normalized Power: 369w (5.3w/kg)

Würtz Schmidt was in the front group, alongside Beers, 2025 Unbound winner Cameron Jones, Romain Bardet, and about 15 others.

For the next 35 miles, the front group seemed to work together as the chasers behind scrambled to close the gap. Countless favorites had been left behind in the mud – some struggled to remount their chains, others had shifting problems, and many pulled out of the race before they truly got going.

The longest climb of the race was next: Texaco Hill. It’s only a few miles long, but the steady uphill gradients mark the toughest uphill portion of the 207-mile route. If there was anything for the climbers at Unbound, it was this climb with 145 miles to go.

If you thought Tadej Pogačar was crazy for attacking with 100km to go, imagine if he attacked with 238km to go. That is what Specialized Off-Road did on Texaco Hill.

Würtz Schmidt, Beers, and Keegan Swenson – who had battled back from an earlier mechanical – went clear on Texaco Hill, but that wasn’t the trio that crested the climb.

Cobe Freeburn came across to join them, while Beers dropped his chain and went back to the chase group. Freeburn hung on for as long as he could, but he too succumbed to the pace of Würtz Schmidt. The European gravel champion even had Swenson on the ropes.

The duo were teammates, communicating and trading pulls, but Swenson was suffering. Würtz Schmidt pulled the majority of the time, opening up a massive gap to the chasers.

It was reminiscent of Unbound 2025 where a two-rider breakaway dominated the race. In that instance, it was Cam Jones who came away with the win, but the Kiwi was now more than nine minutes behind as Specialized Off-Road powered away.

This middle section of the race was one of the toughest in terms of weather and mud.

Heavy thunderstorms destroyed the smooth gravel roads, and most riders had to remove their sunglasses that were caked in mud. There were hundreds of riders with bloodshot eyes at the finish, having ridden hours in the mud and gravel without eye protection. There was no other choice, yet, Würtz Schmidt and Swenson built an insurmountable lead before the final aid station. But then, disaster struck.

On a typical stretch of Kansan gravel road, Würtz Schmidt hit a rock that sliced the side of his tire open. Swenson stopped immediately, and the duo worked together to fix the flat. Eight plugs didn’t work, so Swenson gave up his wheel so that Würtz Schmidt could ride away.

The American spent more than 15 minutes on the side of the road fixing the flat, but he would still go on to finish 5th at the end of the day. A few miles up the road, Würtz Schmidt kept chugging away.

The Dane rode the last three hours alone, having already done the majority of the work after Texaco Hill. In other words, Mads Würtz Schmidt rode the final 148 miles of Unbound mostly by himself.

Any other rider would have exploded in the headwind that plagued the final 50 miles. But Würtz Schmidt solidified his lead. The only rider who could come close to catching him was Matt Beers, who still finished more than five minutes behind.

When you look at power files like these, you wonder how it is possible.

Is the Specialized Off-Road team that much stronger than everyone else, or is it their equipment, position, or setup that separates them from the rest? Specialized has a wind tunnel, and I would bet that their top gravel riders spent a few hours in there for aero testing. Würtz Schmidt won the U23 UCI world championships time trial in 2015, plus The Traka 360 and Santa Vall earlier this year. There is no doubt that the Dane is slippery, but the secret to winning Unbound is the ability to maintain power for more than 200 miles.

Schmidt metronomic in plowing through mud

Here is how Würtz Schmidt did it.

You can see exactly where the Dane broke away from the field – hour 4 after Texaco Hill – because his average power increases while the Normalized Power decreases. This is because he was now taking longer and steadier pulls in the breakaway.

Hour-by-hour breakdown of Mads Würtz Schmidt’s win at Unbound Gravel.

• Hour 1: Average Power: 238w (3.4w/kg) Normalized Power: 308w
• Hour 2: Average Power: 260w (3.7w/kg) Normalized Power: 293w
• Hour 3: Average Power: 284w (4.1w/kg) Normalized Power: 333w
• Hour 4: Average Power: 298w (4.3w/kg) Normalized Power: 320w
• Hour 5: Average Power: 300w (4.3w/kg) Normalized Power: 313w
• Hour 6: Average Power: 300w (4.3w/kg) Normalized Power: 311w
• Hour 7: Average Power: 311w (4.4w/kg) Normalized Power: 318w
• Hour 8: Average Power: 294w (4.2w/kg) Normalized Power: 306w
• Hour 9: Average Power: 295w (4.2w/kg) Normalized Power: 300w
• Final 14 Minutes: Average Power: 272w (3.9w/kg) Normalized Power: 283w

Official Finish Time: 9 hours 14 minutes and 51 seconds
Average Power: 285w (4.1w/kg)
Normalized Power: 311w

Based on historical data, we’re guessing that Würtz Schmidt weighs around 70kg. His teammate, Matt Beers, weighs about 82 kg, a much heavier weight that translates to more raw power.

The South African was the second-strongest rider on the day, finishing just a few minutes behind Würtz Schmidt and more than 21 minutes ahead of 4th place. If you finished just inside the top-20 at Unbound, you would have been more than 42 minutes behind Mads Würtz Schmidt.

This is how Beers completed the 1-2 for the Specialized Off-Road Team.

Beers – 2nd at Unbound Gravel

Official Finish Time: 9 hours 19 minutes and 54 seconds
Average Power: 338w (4.1w/kg)
Normalized Power: 368w

Villafañe teaches rivals never to take her to a sprint

In the women’s elite race, a group of four riders went clear between the first MMR and Texaco Hill. Specialized Off-Road put two riders in the lead group – Sofia Gómez Villafañe and Geerike Schreurs – but that lead group became five when Paige Onweller bridged back from no woman’s land. The leaders traded attacks in the finale, but no one could gain a decisive gap on the return to Emporia.

After 207 miles and more than ten and a half hours in the saddle, Unbound Gravel was going to be decided by a sprint.

Gómez Villafañe was the first to blink, launching a monster sprint from a few hundred meters out and winning Unbound with authority. Her teammate Schreurs finished second, while Cecily Decker completed the podium.

With an unbelievable amount of fatigue in the legs, Gómez Villafañe hit a 5-second peak power of 905w (16w/kg) in her final sprint. Now we can understand why no one was able to come around her before the finish, no one was even close.

Gómez Villafañe – Sprint to Win Unbound Gravel

Peak 5-second Power: 905w (16w/kg)

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Power Analysis data courtesy of Strava: Strava sauce extension