Last year, when Carolyn Schiff won the Unbound Gravel 200, the Canyon CLLCTV rider had already revealed that she was a growing force in the Gravel world, winning in Gravel Locos and Traca, but given that she still made her debut in the race, she was a top-tier rider. It was not a favorite. 

The 200-mile event was unknown to Schiff, and how she would fare in Flint Hills, Kansas, was not even known to her rivals. More than 11 hours later, the 2023 ride revealed a lot, and now the defending champion Schiff is the biggest target.

"I have so many great memories of this race. Sure, it's also not easy to deal with all expectations, but I don't put too much pressure on myself," Schiff told Cyclingnews the week before the race. "I can just give my best.

Schiff knows well, but sometimes even the best is not enough.

"This race is not just about strength and fitness. It is also luck to be freed from mechanical problems. You have to have a perfect day.

Brutal conditions in the 200-mile (321km) race caused great damage in 2023 and what had been described as peanut butter mud, Schiff faked to the end She still took off at the end of her rivals at 60 miles, rolled down the line at 11:46:39 and crossed the gravel world. He claimed the victory of the precious gravel that reverberated through the city.

"Last year's victory at Unbound was a very important milestone," Schiff said. "The race attracted a lot of attention, and suddenly a lot of people realized that I was a serious sports woman."

with Gravel not the beginning of her journey, but Schiff racing with the Andy Shrek-CP NVST-Immo Roche team in 2021 and 2022, Gravel is probably where he found himself most at home.

"I really love what I do at the moment," Schiff said. "I always felt that I couldn't reach my full potential in road cycling," he says. At Gravel, I had the opportunity to show what I could do. I also got the ideal environment to develop as an athlete because of my great sponsors."

Winning Unbound early on in a gravel journey is a hard act to top, but winning it 2 times will be something else together.

In 2023, Schiff may not have had any direct knowledge of Unbound before race day, but she entered the race in an apparently powerful form. The victory of the Traca 200 and Gravel Locos was a clear indicator, but there were also wins in Spain's UCI Gravel World Series Round, La Indomable and Aachen's 3r.

This year Schiff has stood on the podium in the early races of the UCI series, at the 3rd Wertersee and at the 2nd La Indomable. Then the German champion worked her way up to the top step at Utopia Gravel Fest in May and defended her title at the Traka 200 at the start of the month, Schiff said, boosting great confidence on the road to unbound. 

However, there was a small break in her well-planned build when her appearance at 2024's 3Rides ended with a sudden crash as she slipped in a corner.

"The crash was very annoying and I am angry at myself that I took so many risks in this situation. It was unnecessary. I had a very large, deep, dirty wound on my right knee and needed to be fixed in the hospital," Schiff said. "Fortunately, the injury healed very well (thanks to a great doctor) and it didn't affect my preparation much."

Given that injury, the run-in might not have been perfect, but it was pretty close, and now it's just a matter of seeing what will unfold on race day to discover if Schiff can have one of those perfect days on 6/1/1. 

If Schiff can claim victory again, she will be the winner of the women's Unlimited Gravel 200 since 2016 – when Amanda Nauman made it 2 consecutive to defend her title.

"I've done all of the preparation I can and I have a great team behind me," Schiff said. "If that's not enough, I can accept it too."