Todd Wells beats Dombrowski to win Leadville 100
Sally Bigham wins women's race
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
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Todd Wells (USA) | 6:19:43 |
2 | Joe Dombrowski (USA) | 0:02:57 |
3 | Jeremiah Bishop (USA) | 0:09:03 |
4 | Ben Sonntag (USA) | 0:23:43 |
5 | Chris Jones (USA) | 0:26:38 |
6 | Alex Howes (USA) | 0:28:15 |
7 | Cristhian Ravelo (USA) | 0:35:36 |
8 | Nate Whitman (USA) | 0:37:13 |
9 | Troy Wells (USA) | 0:38:04 |
10 | Timothy Beardall (Aus) | 0:38:31 |
11 | Ted King (USA) | 0:44:46 |
12 | Scott Tietzel (USA) | 0:48:24 |
13 | Roman Kilun (USA) | 0:55:56 |
14 | Laurens ten Dam (Ned) | 0:58:10 |
15 | Jonathan Honrbeck (USA) | 1:05:47 |
16 | Cameron Piper (USA) | 1:07:22 |
17 | Tim Duggan (USA) | 1:07:32 |
18 | Ryan Steers (USA) | 1:10:39 |
19 | Ricky Willis (USA) | 1:14:36 |
20 | Craig Lewis (USA) | 1:16:06 |
21 | Chris Doyle (USA) | 1:18:47 |
22 | Thomas Konecny (Cze) | 1:25:56 |
23 | Alfredo Peralta (Cos) | 1:28:51 |
24 | Geoffrey Montague (USA) | 1:34:41 |
25 | Yves Ketterer (Ger) | 1:39:34 |
26 | Gareth Feldstein (USA) | 1:39:44 |
27 | Kent McNeill (USA) | 1:41:03 |
28 | Matt Freeman (USA) | 1:42:34 |
29 | Stephen Roche (USA) | 1:45:14 |
30 | Jason Reynolds (USA) | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Clark Butcher (USA) | 1:46:49 |
32 | Andres Gamboa (Cos) | 1:50:25 |
33 | Fred Smith (USA) | 2:12:36 |
34 | Hans-Petter Mellerud (Nor) | 2:22:24 |
35 | Edward Cleary (USA) | 3:00:12 |
36 | Andrew Jordan (USA) | 3:08:08 |
37 | Mason Quintana (USA) | 3:19:13 |
38 | Michael Edens (USA) | 3:30:42 |
39 | Marco Gonzalez (Cos) | 3:36:27 |
40 | Brian Davis (USA) | 4:34:42 |
41 | Steve Jones (USA) | 4:35:08 |
42 | Richard La China (USA) | 4:37:21 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Sally Bigham (GBr) | 7:05:47 |
2 | Lorenza Morfin (Mex) | 0:55:15 |
3 | Jennifer Smith (USA) | 0:58:32 |
4 | Tara Kelly (USA) | 2:00:41 |
5 | Rhae Shaw (USA) | 2:20:25 |
6 | Tina Kempin (USA) | 3:00:41 |
7 | Violeta Fernandez (Mex) | 3:11:56 |
8 | Jenna App (USA) | 3:44:10 |
9 | Jacqueline 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
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to The Pick. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
David Brower, Tiffany Cromwell win Unbound Gravel 100
19-year-old Brower wins men's sprint while Canyon-SRAM rider solos to the line for women -
Payson McElveen ends chase for Unbound Gravel glory with physical issues
US rider pulled off the course after Texaco Hill -
Tech gallery: Aero tricks and puncture-repair hacks aplenty at Unbound Gravel 2023
Handlebar hacks, puncture-repair prep, a paint stirrer, an unreleased groupset and even a Beagle called Sherman -
Olav Kooij wins Heistse Pijl as sprinters dominate in Flanders
21-year-old Dutch sprinters gives Jumbo-Visma 30th victory of 2023