Unfinished business for TNN at Unbound Gravel

27 May 2025

Unbound Gravel is the world’s premier gravel race where dreams can be realized or come spectacularly undone on the unforgiving dirt roads of Kansas and Missouri.

For Team Novo Nordisk’s David Lozano and Declan Irvine the return to Kansas is both round two and round redemption after mixed fortunes in the 2024 race.

Irvine memorably made his dreams come true with a stunning 24th place in the elite 200 mile event while 36-year-old Lozano suffered terribly. Cruelly crashing out after 30 miles, fracturing his shoulder in multiple places and spending the rest of the day in the hospital in Emporia. (Big shout out to the staff there who were amazing BTW).

“Last year couldn’t have gone better for me really,” began Irivine. “I mean apart from either winning or being on the podium, but I was only 10 minutes down on Lachlan Morton and I’m still stoked with that ride for my first Unbound and my first time racing 200 miles. Anything can happen in the Flint Hills, but this year I feel like I’m better prepared for the distance and the terrain.”

“A key take away is the fuelling and what I learned about what my body needed to take in and when. Unbound really improved that for me and I’ve continued to get better. I felt like I had that dialed in recently at Traka in Girona, where my nutrition was spot on in terms of performance and diabetes management.“

For Lozano a second attempt is not only something special, but what he’s been thinking about since that fateful day a year ago.

“This time last year I travelled to Kansas full of excitement to take on one of the most iconic gravel races in the world: the Unbound 200,” began Lozano. “I had spent months training with discipline, dreaming of that finish line, of the dust and endless landscapes. But fate had other plans. A crash took me out of the race The physical pain was intense, but the disappointment was even greater.”

While Irvine was still out on the course, battling against the world’s best, Lozano was in the hospital awaiting the prognosis, but already knowing that bones were broken. The unmistakable pain. A pain that was already driving a desire to come back to Emporia set things straight. 

“Not being able to finish something I had prepared for with so much passion really affected me,” continued Lozano. “I knew I had to come back. My goal is a simple one – to reach the finish line. That’s non-negotiable.”

“This isn’t just another race — it’s a chance to close an unfinished chapter, to make peace with the course and with myself and there’s only one way to do that.”

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