EF Education First’s Alternative Racing Debut At Dirty Kanza Captured In New Rapha Film
Rapha chronicles the First Pro Tour participation in this marquee gravel race in its Gone Racing series.
From mountain bike epics to week-long ultras, EF Education First Pro Cycling has pledged to send select riders to race a calendar of alternative, mixed-terrain, multi-discipline events during the 2019 season as a part of the team’s partnership with Rapha.
The Garmin Dirty Kanza, a 200-mile gravel race in Emporia, Kansas, was the first event on Education First’s alternative racing calendar. Three EF riders — Lachlan Morton, Alex Howes, and Taylor Phinney — took the start, looking to test themselves in a very different type of challenge than that of traditional road races. Dirty Kanza, operated by Life Time Fitness, sends riders on a self-supported, 200-mile journey across the Flint Hills of Kansas with no team car in site. To go behind the scenes with the team, check out the latest episode of Gone Racing. While the description makes the race sound simple, 200 miles of tire-shredding flint and heat stroke-inducing sun with hours between aid stations is anything but. Course aside, there was top pro competition and formidable amateur talent for the trio to contend with. But it’s also not just about racing and performance — it’s about the experience, as Morton says: “I’m very conscious being a world tour rider coming to an event like this. We didn’t want to bring World Tour Cycling to Kanza. This is a great event, and we didn’t want our presence to change anything. We were just a group of friends here to participate in this amazing event, and, and that’s exactly what it’s been. We went out there and gave it our best and tried to have fun doing it.”
Great mini montage video on Howes, Phinney, and Morton’s Ride at the brutal Dirty Kanza 200 mile gravel race. It made me tired just watching it!
EF Gone Racing documents the highs and lows of the riders’ experience at Dirty Kanza, whether that’s Alex Howes “coming apart pretty bad,” or puncture after puncture for Taylor Phinney, who sums it up by saying, “people just come here to lose it.”
Still to come this year: Leadville 100 MTB, GBDURO, Three Peaks Cyclocross, and the Taiwan KOM Challenge will offer up a range of challenges for the riders of EF Education First as they continue to explore the world of alternative racing.
About Rapha
Rapha was established in 2004 to address a need for stylish, high-performance cycling clothing. It now provides products for every cyclist and continues to push the boundaries of innovation in cycle wear. Alongside this, Rapha has cultivated a global community of passionate riders who come together as members of the Rapha Cycling Club (RCC), the largest club of its kind in the world. Rapha’s retail model and unique brand values come to life in its many rides and events and a global network of Clubhouses that combine retail, cafés and cycling culture all under the same roof.
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