The numbers are in and cycling fans responded in a big way to a seven-hour live broadcast of Unbound Gravel 200, provided for free on the Life Time YouTube channel.
Life Time reported that 185,000 unique viewers tuned in for the groundbreaking live coverage of the 200-mile race, which began approximately four hours after the elite fields took the course. The footage received more than 332,000 views in 50 countries across the weekend.
At The Traka 360 earlier in the season, a live stream from organisers of that Gravel Earth Series event attracted more than 72,000 views for 10 hours of live coverage.
Cyclingnews, which provides live reports from Grand Tours, major one-day Classics as well as UCI Road World Championships, added a start-to-finish live report to its already extensive coverage of Unbound Gravel this year as well. The comprehensive play-by-play reporting, with images and background information, received more than 164,000 views across the weekend.
Last year Life Time had two cameras on jeeps to capture footage and post live reports to Instagram feeds, each camera following the action from the front of the men’s and women’s elite front groups. This year Life Time used a total of eight cameras along the course to catch the action, including footage from a helicopter and a drone. A fixed camera position at the finish provided shots of not just the elite racers crossing the line, but also hundreds of amateurs as they completed various distances.
Once the Facebook Live broadcast kicked in at 10:00 a.m. local time, a summary of what had transpired was followed by the live action from the multiple cameras on course and commentary from three announcers – Payson McElveen, who was eighth in 2024 but is out of the race due to injury this year, Meredith Miller and Bill Elliston – and field reports from Nat Ross and Lauren Hall.
Archives for both Life Time’s broadcast and Cyclingnews’ live reports are available on both web sites.
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Sean Christian wins stage 1 Tour de Beauce
Sean Christian (Team Skyline) won the opening stage of the UCI Tour de Beauce on Wednesday, and with the victory took the first leader’s jersey. Now in its 37th edition, the Tour de Beauce, June 11-15, will cover 723 kilometres of racing, including a return of the queen stage that finishes atop Mont Mégantic on stage 3.
It was an all-North American podium to set the tone of the five-day race. Nine riders stayed away from the breakaway of 14 into Saint-Gédéon-de-Beauce. Christian moved clear of Hugo Scala Jr (Project Echelon Racing) and Jérôme Gauthier (Team Marni-N’side), second and third, respectively, by several bike lengths in the sprint finish.
With bonus seconds from intermediate sprints on the 198.3km course, Gauthier was tied with Christian on time, and sits second on GC behind the US rider.
It was Christian’s second victory of the season, adding to his sprint win at Gran Premio New York City in May. Last year he had two runner-up placings on stages at the Canadian stage race.
Grand Tour veteran Óscar Sevilla, now 48 years old, finished fifth on the stage, one spot behind his Team Medellín-EPM teammate Diego Andrés Camargo. Sevilla, who was second overall at the 2001 Vuelta a España now 48 years old, was placed fifth on GC after stage 1, eight seconds behind Christian.
Two national titles for Cuba’s Marlies Mejías
Marlies Mejías (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28) put on a clinic in Havana at the Cuban National Championships, winning both the time trial and road race titles for elite women.
After winning both days of racing at the Amazon Armed Forces Cycling Classic in Washington, D.C. and northern Virginia, the 32-year old set a new national ITT record, according to her team, winning with an average speed of 46.095 mph to cover the 20km course in 26 minutes, 2 seconds.
In the road race, she and Evelyn Diaz, who was second in the time trial two days before, distanced the peloton to contest the sprint after 102 kilometres, with Mejías surging ahead for the victory.
Mejías last competed in her home nationals in 2018, when she won the time trial and was fifth in the road race.
“Winning the time trial and setting a new national record was a proud moment for me,” Mejías said in a team statement.
“It’s always a special time to return to Cuba, visit my family, and reconnect with my old coaches. Being able to perform at a high level in front of the next generation of Cuban cyclists means so much. I hope I can continue to inspire them to chase their dreams.”
