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Ian Boswell and Lauren De Crescenzo take 200 mile titles at 2021 Garmin UNBOUND Gravel

  • Ron 

The 2021 Garmin Unbound Gravel wrapped up on Saturday with a former road atop the podium 11 years after his last victory and a honeymoon break for the winner of the ‘s race.

Ian Boswell Takes Men’s Race

Retired WorldTour pro roadie Ian Boswell’s last victory took place 11 years ago at the Nevada City Classic Stage Race. But as an important domestique for winning WorldTour teams like Team Sky and Katusha, he raced in all three grand tours throughout his career and was a part of several team victories.

Ian Boswell

Boswell came into this year’s World Series of Gravel as cool and relaxed as Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High,  and left as the champion of the 2021 Garmin UNBOUND Gravel presented by Craft .

“You know that Toby Keith song? I ain’t as good as I once was, But I’m as good once as I ever was.” Ian Boswell said moments after his UNBOUND Gravel victory.

When asked what the win meant to him, he added: “Not much, really. It’s a gravel race. I’m a retired athlete, nothing really changes. I’m going to work on Monday,” he said. “But I can’t believe I won a sprint!”

Boswell said that it was an eventful day in the pack, going so far as to call it ‘mayhem.’

“People were racing like squirrels… and typical [for me], I was the last person to make every split.” Boswell’s years of riding for Team Sky and Katusha translated into expert pack riding skills and an ability to close gaps; he knows where to be in a bike race.

De Crescenzo on a Honeymoon Break

Women’s race winner De Crescenzo got married in Colorado on Sunday and, on a detour to Emporia on the way back to Atlanta, won the 2021 Women’s Garmin UNBOUND Gravel race.

“This is our little honeymoon to Emporia,” said De Crescenzo at the Garmin UNBOUND Gravel press conference in the Emporia Chamber building. “We had to do a big push. I was just focused on getting married. And then I just was focused on Unbound Gravel. We’re on a road trip back to Atlanta and we had to make a little pit stop in Emporia on the way home.”

This wasn’t De Crescenzo’s first time at Unbound, but it was definitely her best. She first raced at the 2019 event, but a crash left her with a broken collarbone. After being in the lead early on with her teammate, Flavia Oliveira, it looked like this race could have gone a similar way. For a few moments it appeared De Crescenzo’s race might suffer an untimely and disappointing retirement for a second time, but this time it was De Crescenzo’s bike that took the beating. She suffered two flats in the first third of the race and looked to be out of the mix early.

“I had two pretty bad flats,” said De Crescenzo. “It was very stressful. I put a tube in, it wasn’t sealing. I was like ‘awww, my race is over,’ but then I was like, ‘no, I’ve got this.’”

If nothing else it would have been good training for her, as she will toe to the line in , Tenn. for the Professional races in two weeks.

“Every time I was by myself I would get in the drops,” she said. “I’ve been training on my TT bike a lot getting ready for Pro Nats in two weeks…I’m getting very used to the position. So this was good training for Nationals. It really helps, being lower and not in the wind.”

At the end of the day, just after 6pm CDT, Lauren proved that she did in fact have this. The one remaining question to answer is how UNBOUND Gravel training works for Pro Nationals.

Complete Results as of :10pm CST on 6/5/2021:

200-Mile Distance Men’s Division

  1. Ian Boswell, 30, of Barnet, Vt. with a time of 10:17:23:13
  2. Laurens Ten Dam, 40, of Oudorp, North Holland, with a time of 10:17:23:28
  3. Peter Stetina, 33, of Santa Rosa, Calif., with a time of 10:18:34:62
  4. Ted King, 38, of Richmond, Vt., with a time of 10:18:34:65
  5. Colin Strickland, 34, of Austin, Texas, with a time of 10:25.34

200-Mile Distance Women’s Division

  1. Lauren De Crescenzo, 30, of Atlanta, Ga. with a time of 12:06:49
  2. Amity Rockwell, 28, of Oakland, Calif., with a time of 12:22:15
  3. Emily Newsom, 37, of Fort Worth, Texas with a time of 12:30:52
  4. Whitney Allison, 33, of Fort Collins, Colo., with a time of 12:34:19
  5. Shayna Powless, 27, of Jacksonville, Fla., with a time of 12:37:50

100-Mile Distance Men’s Division

  1. Stephen Hyde, 34, of Easthampton, Mass. with a time of 5:20:13
  2. Nate Maddox, 24, of Edwards, Colo.  with a time of 5:27:09
  3. John Croom, 27, of Colorado Springs, Colo.,  with a time of 5:34:35
  4. Wiens, 56, of Gunnison, Colo., with a time of 5:36:33
  5. Shadd Smith, 49, of Overland Park, Kan., with a time of 5:41:22

100-Mile Distance Women’s Division

  1. Lauren Stephens, 35,  of Dallas, Texas, with a time of 5:41:58
  2. Emma Langley, 25, of Richmond, Va., with a time of 5:51:11
  3. Jessica Cygan, 28, of Colorado Springs, Colo., with a time of 6:13:39
  4. Marisa Boaz, 34, of Waukee, Iowa, with a time of 6:16: 18
  5. Karen Jarchow, 36, of Eagle, Colo. with a time of 6:17:41

350-Mile (XL) Distance Men’s Division

  1. Taylor Lideen, 31, Phoenix, Ariz., with a time of 22:57:14
  2. Will Loevner, 23, Allison Park, Pa., with a time of 24:32:40
  3. Mat Stephens, 38, Dallas, Texas, with a time of 24:48:12
  4. Jay Petervary, 48, Victor, Idaho, with a time of 24:58:53
  5. Jesse Stauffer, 33, Selinsgrove, Pa., with a time of 25:00:59

350-Mile (XL) Distance Women’s Division

  1. Lael Wilcox, 34, Anchorage, Alaska, with a time of 26:55:24
  2. Amanda Nauman, 31, Lake Forest, Cali., with a time of 29:01:51

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