Peter Sagan will compete in his first gravel race next weekend.

Three-time road race world champion Peter Sagan will not be participating in the flagship 200-mile route, but will instead take part in a 100-mile version. The route is 167 km long through the Flint Hills of Kansas, with an elevation gain of 5,270 m.

Sagan has ridden gravel before, having ridden many dirt road sections at the Gran Fondo in Truckee, California. He has also participated in the promotion of Specialized's Diverge gravel bike.

His participation in Unbound is tied to a sponsorship deal with Specialized, but nonetheless represents a step into the burgeoning gravel scene: the 32-year-old has long spoken of his desire to compete in gravel, and has hinted that he may enter the sport once his road career is over. He has hinted that he may enter the gravel scene once his road career is over.

The Garmin Unbound Gravel presented by Kraft returns for its 15th edition on a tire-shredding, sun-drenched route over the rugged roads of the tallgrass prairie in the central United States. After a modest run in the years before gravel racing exploded in popularity, the event now draws more than 4,000 participants over five distances. The 200-mile event is the second round of Mazda's Lifetime Grand Prix series.

Last year's men's winner of the Unbound Gravel 100 was Stephen Hyde and the women's winner was Lauren Stevens.

Sagan is currently in Utah for a high-altitude training camp and will travel from there to Emporia, Kansas on June 3 to run Unbound on June 4. The following day he will return to Europe and spend a few days in Monaco before returning to racing in the Tour de Suisse.

Sagan will then head to the Tour de France, his first race with Total Energies, in search of his eighth green jersey.