Todd Wells beats Dombrowski to win Leadville 100

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Todd Wells (Specialized) and Sally Bigham (Topeak) became the 2016 Leadville Trail 100 MTB Champions for their respective class on Saturday, each winning the race for a third time. Saturday’s race marked the 23rd edition of the second oldest 100-mile marathon mountain bike race held in the United States.

The day began under blue bird morning skies at a crispy cool summer sunrise temperature of 33 degrees F. Approximately 2,000 racers lined up for the 100 mile trek at elevations ranging from 10,152 to 12,424 feet above sea level. Notably absent was three winner and course record holder Alban Lakata. After the start, riders were lead out of town where the pace later heated up. Jeremiah Bishop (Topeak) was the first rider to make a move off the front and soloed until Todd Wells reacted and bridged. The pair stayed away until the top of the first climb where Joe Dombrowski (Cannondale Drapac) bridged. The trio stayed away and opened up their gap on the field during their ride on Columbine.

As the breakaway group made their way past the feed zone during the return trip from Columbine to Leadville, the pace remained steady until the break hit Powerline. Once on Powerline, Bishop upped the tempo until he dropped chain, forcing Bishop to chase. Later, as Bishop, Dombrowski, and Wells made their way up the Powerline, Dombrowski forced the pace dropping Bishop and gapping Wells. At the top of the climb, Dombrowski was forced to walk after spinning out where Wells then made contact with Dombrowski and attacked. Wells then opened up a gap and maintained the race lead until the finish with a winning time of 6:19:43, followed by Joe Dombrowski at 6:22:40, and Jeremiah Bishop in 6:28:47.

Sally Bigham was clearly in a class by herself. Early the race, Bigham opened up a substantial margin to her closest competitors, Lorenza Morfin of Mexico, and Jennifer Smith of USA. By the time Bigham reached Powerline, she already had over an 8 minute margin on Morfin. Bigham would only continue to expand on this margin all the way to the finish with a winning time of 7:05:47, followed by Lorenza Morfin in second at 8:01:02, and Colorado’s Jennifer Smith at 8:04:19.

Full Results