Todd Wells beats Dombrowski to win Leadville 100

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

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Todd Wells (USA)6:19:43
2Joe Dombrowski (USA)0:02:57
3Jeremiah Bishop (USA)0:09:03
4Ben Sonntag (USA)0:23:43
5Chris Jones (USA)0:26:38
6Alex Howes (USA)0:28:15
7Cristhian Ravelo (USA)0:35:36
8Nate Whitman (USA)0:37:13
9Troy Wells (USA)0:38:04
10Timothy Beardall (Aus)0:38:31
11Ted King (USA)0:44:46
12Scott Tietzel (USA)0:48:24
13Roman Kilun (USA)0:55:56
14Laurens ten Dam (Ned)0:58:10
15Jonathan Honrbeck (USA)1:05:47
16Cameron Piper (USA)1:07:22
17Tim Duggan (USA)1:07:32
18Ryan Steers (USA)1:10:39
19Ricky Willis (USA)1:14:36
20Craig Lewis (USA)1:16:06
21Chris Doyle (USA)1:18:47
22Thomas Konecny (Cze)1:25:56
23Alfredo Peralta (Cos)1:28:51
24Geoffrey Montague (USA)1:34:41
25Yves Ketterer (Ger)1:39:34
26Gareth Feldstein (USA)1:39:44
27Kent McNeill (USA)1:41:03
28Matt Freeman (USA)1:42:34
29Stephen Roche (USA)1:45:14
30Jason Reynolds (USA)Row 29 - Cell 2
31Clark Butcher (USA)1:46:49
32Andres Gamboa (Cos)1:50:25
33Fred Smith (USA)2:12:36
34Hans-Petter Mellerud (Nor)2:22:24
35Edward Cleary (USA)3:00:12
36Andrew Jordan (USA)3:08:08
37Mason Quintana (USA)3:19:13
38Michael Edens (USA)3:30:42
39Marco Gonzalez (Cos)3:36:27
40Brian Davis (USA)4:34:42
41Steve Jones (USA)4:35:08
42Richard La China (USA)4:37:21
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Sally Bigham (GBr)7:05:47
2Lorenza Morfin (Mex)0:55:15
3Jennifer Smith (USA)0:58:32
4Tara Kelly (USA)2:00:41
5Rhae Shaw (USA)2:20:25
6Tina Kempin (USA)3:00:41
7Violeta Fernandez (Mex)3:11:56
8Jenna App (USA)3:44:10
9Jacqueline McClure (USA)4:17:15

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Join now for unlimited access

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Latest on Cyclingnews