Kiel Reynen and Quinn Simmons will represent Trek Segafredo in next week's Unbound Gravel Race in Kansas. This 200-mile gravel adventure is expected to be a huge battle, with 2019 winner Colin Strickland looking to defend his title against a host of World Tour riders and gravel experts.

Lehnen has been preparing for this event for the past few months, finishing in the top 10 at the last race held in 2019. That experience will help the 34-year-old's hopes of holding up well during the race, which is expected to be the main event; two years ago, the American was unlucky and had an early mechanical problem that killed his chances. He spent most of the race running solo in the chase.

"Experience counts in gravel races as it does in road races, so I'll be more prepared this time, but it was tough the first time around in that you never know what can happen," he told Cycling News from his home in Bainbridge Island, Washington.

"How much food to bring, how many water bottles to pack, everything was unknown. I don't think I ever mastered it, but at least I have a baseline of what to bring."

Since returning to the US from Europe after the Classic campaign, Reynen has taken time away from the world tour to spend time with his family.

Things have changed since the last Unbound Gravel. For starters, the race name has changed, but COVID-19 has taken a year of competition away from the gravel community, meaning that although several events have been held in recent weeks, many riders are not sure of their exact level. Reynen expects the form book to go out the window once the race starts on June 5.

"Gravel Fork hasn't had a lot of races in the past year, so I think it will be different than last time. There wasn't a lot of gravel racing last year, so I expect it to be different than last time. It's hard to know where everyone is at, but I think the hype will give everyone a lot of energy."

"I was sixth, but fourth in my age group. I'm an old guy now, so I have my own category. I think it was unfortunate that I lost a tire last time. I was chasing by myself the whole time. It was fun in its own way, and I enjoyed the experience, so I'm going to enjoy it no matter what happens."

One of the questions World Tour riders like Lehnen face when competing in gravel races is how seriously they take the event. There is a perception that overall fitness and talent trump experience and gravel prowess, but as Strickland showed two years ago, experience is critical. Reynen has been through the process in 2019 and knows how hard unbound can be.

Not only that, but he has a strong desire to respect the race, the organizers, and the discipline as a whole. From the details he shared about his training and preparation, it seems that he takes his World Tour goals just as seriously as he does his own.

"I think it's easy to look at gravel racing and think, 'It's just for fun.' It doesn't have the depth of the Giro, and I'm not going to say that 100 riders are at the World Tour level and happen to be racing gravel. So when I race in Europe, I don't care where my water bottle comes from. On the other hand, in gravel, just getting into a race raises a lot of questions. How many riders competing in the World Tour know how to change tubular tires?

"What you are not used to as a World Tour rider is more difficult. I'm more concerned about what I'm packing than how many intervals I did last week. It's the biggest racing day of my career in terms of what I've done. It's like doing three Grand Tour stages in a row."

"I'm taking it more and more seriously. The competition is getting more and more intense and we owe it to the organizers to take it seriously. I respect the organizers for trying to create something different from the World Tour races."

One of the hot topics for 2019 was the debate over aero bars (sometimes called comfort bars in gravel circles). Reynen is not sure what the final setup will be, but he is open to using aerobars in unbound as he did two years ago.

"That remains undecided. I know there's a lot of debate about whether or not we should use aerobars, and I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other; I know we used them quite a bit in 2019, but I never thought, 'I've seen this aero advantage and I'm going very fast.' I used it because I needed more positions

"When you're running alone for 11 hours straight, you need to mix it up. But if somebody says, 'I'm not going to use it,' I'm not pessimistic. I don't think it would make a big difference, and it depends a lot on the conditions of the course. It's not the difference between riding a TT or a road bike in a mass start."

"Everyone is always looking for something to discuss and get excited about. At the end of the race, there were no strong opinions one way or the other. This is because the camaraderie, inclusiveness, shared experiences, and lack of elitism that road racing has is something I value. Gravel racing has an individualism that road racing does not have, and we should embrace that."