Melisa Rollins and Alexey Vermeulen win elite titles at Chequamegon MTB Festival in fourth round of Life Time Grand Prix

Melisa Rollins (Liv Racing Collective) and Alexey Vermeulen (ENVE) won elite titles at the Life Time Chequamegon MTB Festival on Saturday in Wisconsin, both adding a valuable haul of points to their scores in the Life Time Grand Prix.

Rollins crossed the line with a solo effort in 2:14:05 in the 38.3-mile mountain bike race. From a trio of chasers 4:34 back, Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized), last year's winner, charged ahead of Alexis Skarda (Santa Cruz) to take second, while Skarda had to settle for the final podium spot ahead of Cecily Decker (PAS Racing).

“We were a pretty big group coming through the first feed zone and I tried to stay patient," said Rollins. "The race blew up at mile 25 on the Firetower climb and I was feeling really good.

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"I got a little gap over the top of it but wasn’t able to hold it. I got caught by three riders and then went again shortly after and knew that I was holding my momentum really well, and managed to hold them off until the finish."

Vermeulen, who finished a disappointing 14th last year after winning in 2023, completed his ride in 1:56:44. He had to accelerate to the front of a 15-rider group to earn the win this time with Kyan Olshave (Glori) second and Brendan Johnston (Giant) third, both 8 seconds back.

"I started trying to make my moves with around seven miles to go," said Vermeulen. "I could see the group was splintering, and guys were chasing to regain contact, and I knew the rubber band would eventually snap and gaps would start to open up so I just bided my time.

"I could tell that anybody who got on my wheel wasn’t willing to work and it was still quite a long way to the finish. I didn’t think anybody could go solo initially, but in the end I just trusted myself, saw the gap happen, and just committed."

Defending champion Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz), wearing his new rainbow stripes as UCI marathon mountain bike world champion, finished in the bunch in 12th position.

Chequamegon served as the fourth of six rounds in the Grand Prix, with Rollins just 14 points off the top spot held by Decker, and 12 points behind second-placed Villafañe. Skarda was eighth in the overall.

Vermeulen is seventh overall in the men's Grand Prix standings, 25 points behind leader and three-time Grand Prix winner Swenson. Johnston was ninth overall, while Olshave is not part of the 2025 series.

Now in a 42nd edition, Chequamegon is one of the oldest and longest-running mountain bike races in the US, taking place on a rolling, technical route from Hayward to Cable in north-west Wisconsin. The final two miles were changed this year for the pro field, following the American Birkebeiner Ski Trail instead of the Sleigh Trail section used by mass start participants, which allowed for additional space with passing on the ramp to the finish.

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