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Keegan Swenson stepped-up from his second-place finish of 2022 to claim victory in the Garmin Unbound Gravel presented by Craft race this year. Swenson outsprinted the seven-rider-leading group at the finish to take the win from Petr Vakoc and Lachlan Morton.
The weather closed in during the later stages of the 200-mile race in the Flint Hills of Kansas and Swenson explained his sprint finish tactics to Cyclingnews at the finish.
“Everyone seemed like they were going pretty well. There were attacks in the last few miles. The finish chute was quite hectic, so I figured I would go a little bit long.”
Swenson is a Santa Cruz athlete and uses the brand’s Stigmata gravel bike for drop bar racing. The bike was kitted out with a mix-and-match Sram drivetrain and brakes, Reserve wheels fitted with Maxxis tyres as well as a Zipp handlebar stem and Prologo saddle.
The bike was caked with mud and dust at the finish and there were a few little tweaks and additions included to help get the bike through the testing 200-mile event unscathed.
Swenson’s frame and fork itself look a little bit different to a stock Stigmata frame and could be a prototype or custom frame for the rider or perhaps a sign that there is a new Stigmata frame and fork in the works from the American brand. As well as the frame differences the red colour the frame is painted appears to be custom and isn’t offered as an on option on the Santa Cruz website.
Something that’s already being discussed is whether Swenson raced on a prototype or custom Stigmata or even a brand-new Santa Cruz gravel bike.
The front end of the bike is where the differences from a stock Stigmata are most noticeable. The fork legs appear to be wider than the stock fork and the crown also appears to be a slightly different shape.
The headtube and junction between the top and down tubes also appear to have different profiles. Swenson rides a small frame size which highlights the differences more clearly.
This shot highlights the different-looking fork crown and headtube junction area most clearly, could this be custom geo or a prototype…
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