He "stormed down every descent," but Matej Mohoric realizes that Unbound is different kind of beast

Gravel World Champion Matej Mohoric embarked on a new adventure with Unbound Gravel, but after the American gravel race, he had to conclude that this was indeed a different kind of beast. Along with teammates Lukasz Wisniowski and Matevz Govekar, Mohoric withdrew from the race.

Unbound's social media crew encountered the trio on the circuit after they had officially left the competition. Mohoric had initially made a good impression in the opening stages, attacking several times. "He stormed down every descent," Thijs Zonneveld observed. "You take a risk with that, so he also broke his rim later. He and Keegan Swenson (last year’s Unbound winner, ed.) were keeping a close eye on each other, but eventually, their domestiques were also gone."

Wisniowski and Govekar indeed had to drop out in the first half of the race, after which it was up to Mohoric himself. The Slovenian suffered a flat tire and had some other issues with his equipment, which led him to decide to step out just after he was halfway through the race. Together with his Bahrain Victorious teammates, he was headed towards Emporia.

"We'll stick to road cycling," Mohoric joked. "Enjoy this day, it’s nice weather for biking. The roads here are a bit rougher. My tires didn't like that very much. Hopefully, my spare tires will hold up, although some stuff still broke after I hit several stones. It's really rocky."

"We're taking the short route to the checkpoint and are going to enjoy a shower and some food," Mohoric said. Wisniowski raised his arms to the sky and jokingly said that he would return next week, while the young Govekar said he found this quite an experience at his young age. Unbound was eventually won by Australian Lachlan Morton.

Video: Mohoric and Bahrain Victorious teammates after withdrawing from Unbound