Mt. Washington Hillclimb record obliterated as Peter Stetina sets PB but has to settle for second in 'farewell tour'

Though Pete Stetina bested his own time by 48 seconds set last year on the Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb, he had to settle for second place again, with a time of 50:48. The pro road and gravel cycling rider had previously announced that he would retire after the 2026 season, calling his participation in a select few events a "farewell tour".

In 2025, Stetina went all in to try and set a new record on the climb, which his father, Dale Stetina, held for 17 years, but he was denied by his friend Ian Boswell, who took the win and the record.

But a new record was set on Saturday on the 53rd edition of the New Hampshire hillclimb. Gravel racer John Keller shattered the previous times, setting the all-time historical record with a time of 47:21, beating the fastest time by almost three minutes. On a beautiful sunny day, Keller tackled the climb on a 10.8-lbs bike on his maiden attempt of the iconic ascent.

Not only did Keller better the previous record of 50:15 set last year by Boswell but he also beat the 2020 time of 49:24 set by Tom Danielson. After the road was fully paved in 2022, records were reset, with Phil Gaimon briefly establishing the new benchmark at 50:38.

Known as “the toughest hillclimb in the US, if not the world,” the 7.6-mile (12.2km) ascent of Mount Washington in New Hampshire averages a brutal 12% gradient, with sections reaching 22%. The climb finishes at 6,288 feet (1,916 metres), the highest peak in the northeastern United States. The race is hosted by and benefits the Tin Mountain Conservation Center.

The evening before the climb, Stetina showed a screening of his 'Feeding the Rat' project, which follows his summer journey, made twice, to set a new record to conquer Mount Washington.

“I was saying it the night before during the film screening, but it was just a matter of time with the way cycling's progressing, and you know, I wanted to do it last year, but now the official all-time record. There's no old historical record, modern record. John Keller just broke the all-time record,” Stetina said on Instagram.

Keller has been on a roll, as he became a three-time record holder of the Broadmoor Cycle to the Summit hill climb up the 14,115-feet summit Pikes Peak in Colorado, a week earlier. Keller then clocked a time of 1:06:41, beating his 2023 course record by over one minute on the 12.42-mile climb, with its 156 turns.

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