‘Breaks my heart’ – Villafañe laments lack of drafting rule change for Unbound Gravel

The door had been opened to the possibility of a rule change for Unbound Gravel in 2024 to cut out drafting between riders from differing categories – an issue often of particular relevance to the pro women’s race. However, concerns over enforcement appear to have prevented the move, a decision lamented by dominant gravel rider Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized).

“I truly believed Life Time Grand Prix/ Unbound Gravel were going to figure out a way to give the elite women a race that would be protected from start to finish and not allow any men to affect the race dynamics or outcome,” said the 2022 winner and 2023 runner-up in an Instagram post.

“So much progress has been done over the past two years and I am thankful for the separate start that was implemented in 2023 and the added time buffer that will go into effect in 2024 but we still have a long way to go.”