Matej Mohorič set to race Unbound Gravel in 2024

Matej Mohorič has told GCN that he will race Unbound Gravel in 2024.

The men’s UCI Gravel World Champion confirmed that he would race the premier US event on June 1, 2024 during an interview at the Bahrain-Victorious training camp in Calpe, Spain.

The 29-year-old will remain loyal to road racing next year, with the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix his major objectives in the spring before another Tour de France in July. Mohorič’s entire gravel programme has yet to be decided but he will race between three and five off-road races, with Unbound Gravel central to his schedule. He will race the 200-mile version of the race.

“I probably won’t race gravel that many times because we’re still a road-focused team but I will do some gravel races, between three and five, that we’ll try and fit into the calendar. I’m likely to be at Unbound Gravel. I’ll do the 200, the big one, for sure,” he told GCN.

• Read more: UCI Gravel World Championships: Matej Mohorič uses climbing strength to win rainbow jersey

Mohorič only made his gravel debut at the Worlds in Italy in October but stormed to the win and the first senior rainbow jersey of his career. His participation in Unbound Gravel will be a major coup for the race organisers and the cycling industry as a whole, with more European pros taking up the discipline in recent years. Mohorič is playing down his chances when it comes to Unbound, but the Slovenian will line-up as one of the main pre-race favourites.

“We’re still evaluating the other races. I think that’s good for the sport and I’m happy to do it. I’m definitely interested in it. I’m excited to explore this new avenue. It’s still a big unknown for me but I’m happy to take on the challenge. I’m not confident that I can be [well] because I’ve never done it and I have zero experience but I wasn’t confident about Gravel Worlds, so we’ll see. It’s nice for the world champion to be there at the biggest races and Unbound is a bit where it all started,” he said.

Mohorič is aware that his gravel commitments need to be finely balanced with his road aims but over the coming days the rider and the Bahrain-Victorious staff will flesh out those plans in more details.

“It’s an addition but we do need to be careful and not add too many things on top of what we already do. If you start to do too many things then you can lose your focus and it’s hard. You need to choose carefully. Unbound sits in a nice place within my calendar as I finalise my preparations before the Tour de France. By that point, I’ll have done all the aerobic capacity work for the Tour and after Unbound I’ll finalise my training with more intense efforts,” Mohorič added.

• Read more: Did Matej Mohorič win Gravel World Championships on an unreleased Merida bike?

“The off-season was very busy but I’m confident that I’ve got enough rest and that I’m ready for next year. We’ve got some big goals ahead so I’m very focused and motivated. We’ve got the perfect environment here to start to get ready and then I’ll go back home from here.”

The Slovenian enjoyed the most successful season of his career so far in 2023 with a Tour de France stage, the overall at the Tour de Pologne, and his gravel title the obvious highlights.

“I consider it my most successful year so far. I didn’t expect the win in the Gravel World Championships to be this popular but the entire discipline is on the upward trajectory. I think that’s good, and the partners are pushing a lot for this as it’s a new market for them. For me personally, it’s something new and different. It brings up the memories of my childhood when I used to ride off-road. I even started to want to race off-road before concentrating on the road,” he said.

If you can't wait for gravel racing to kick off why not check out our 8 hidden gems of US gravel racing in 2024