Sofia Gomez Villafañe found success in mountain biking. Turns out she’s pretty good at gravel too. The Argentine took first place in Unbound Gravel 200 in Emporia, Kansas on Saturday, an edition defined by a muddy parcours caused by scattered showers — which at times became downpours.
Take a look at her Specialized Crux with an Easton cockpit and Shimano GRX drivetrain as it was, mud-splattered, just after crossing the finish line.
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Villafañe ran Shimano GRX gravel components with a Dura-Ace road crank on her Specialized Crux. She’s ‘team aero bars’, attaching the extensions to an Easton EC90 SL handlebar.
The final reading of 321.1 kilometers is a touch under 200 miles. Flooding of part of the course forced a last minute detour that cut out 4 miles. She used a Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT.
Mountain biking has been Villafañe’s primary discipline. She represented Argentina in the 2020 Olympics in cross-country, and it looks like she’s not too bad at this gravel thing either.
Scattered rain showers turned Unbound Gravel into a mudfest. Maybe the most essential tool on this bike is a paint stick strapped to the top tube used for scraping mud off the frame and drivetrain.
Specialized Pathfinder Pro tires were up for the muddy parcours.
Many riders opting for 2x cranks experienced problems with their front derailleurs as the mud caked up. Though Villafañe seems to have gotten on just fine, claiming first place with a final time about 90 minutes faster than last year’s winner.
There’s a GRX logo hidden under that mud clump on this rear derailleur.
Mud got into every nook and cranny on riders’ bikes this year.
Finish line celebrations featured screw-top bottles of sparkling wine, meaning no chance of cork mishaps like the one that took Biniam Girmay out of the Giro d’Italia moments after winning his first career grand tour stage.