Lachlan Morton crashes out of Unbound Gravel and Dekker DNFs: 'Have no words for it right now'

Unbound Gravel 2026 is a race that many participants will not forget in a hurry. The event turned into a real mud fight in Kansas, which meant many riders failed to reach the finish because of crashes or mechanical problems. EF Education-First's Lachlan Morton and Thomas Dekker failed to finish because of a crash and mechanical problems respectively.

Dekker did not have the ideal build-up to the famous American gravel race, but he was still motivated to make something of the 200-mile event on Saturday. After Unbound 2024 had been his last race, he did not really know where he stood going into this one.

“And it has rained a lot during the night, so I’m curious what that will bring in the first part,” he said shortly before the start in a final update.

Lachlan Morton abandoned the race early on. The EF Education-EasyPost rider was among the early names to disappear from contention in the brutal conditions, as the mud, crashes and mechanical trouble took their toll across the course.

Morton’s departure added to the long list of high-profile DNFs in a race that became a survival test rather than a normal gravel event. He released a video via his team's Instagram account explaining the crash.

"I had a big slam in one of the rocky sections," said the popular Australian. "It was of my own doing. Landed on my hip quite hard which is pretty sore right now. The organisers did a great job, they checked me out for concussion once I got back to the aid staion. Otherwise, I'm ok."

The race was eventually won by Dane Mads Würtz Schmidt, by which time Dekker already had a DNF next to his name. A few hours before Schmidt finished in Emporia, Dekker had already posted a video on his Instagram Stories.

In it, we see him sitting on the road, completely covered in mud, with his bike next to him. “I’ll explain what happened in a minute, but I honestly have no words for it right now...”, Dekker said in the video. To be continued...