She won the 135-mile-long Belgian Waffle Ride in 2019, but before Saturday Sarah Sturm had never taken on a ride as long as Unbound Gravel 200. Eleven hours and 14 minutes after rolling out of Emporia, Kansas with 4,000 others, she crossed the line in an impressive sixth place aboard her Specialized S-Works Crux.
Get a closer look at the lightweight bike that does double duty for cyclocross and gravel racing. Sturm runs SRAM AXS components and Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels.
Sturm had a 1x SRAM AXS groupset for Unbound, running a 42T chainring with a 10-52T XX1 Eagle cassette.
Sturm’s dog Norman is never too far away, and seems to be even more popular than her, impressive given her 31,000 Instagram followers.
Sturm’s cassette and rear derailleur are both finished with an oil slick rainbow effect.
Once a bit of an odd-wheel-out in the Zipp catalog, the 303 has become the go-to choice in the brand’s lineup for gravel, cyclocross and anything else that calls for a tough, lightweight, aero wheel. The latest Firecrest version features hookless rims with a 25mm internal rim width to support wide tubeless tires at low air pressures.
Revelate creates tough bags that are more than up to the challenge of Unbound Gravel.
Sturm uses a Zipp Service Course SL stem.
Specialized Pathfinder Pro tires helped Sturm keep up a 17.8 mph average for the 200-mile course.
She used a Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT computer attached with a K-Edge mount.
A Specialized S-Works Power saddle with Mirror technology provides extra comfort, especially helpful for a gravel ride as long as Unbound.
A SRAM Quarq power meter kept Sturm up to date on how hard she was working.