Leadville Trail 100 MTB: Keegan Swenson dominates with fifth consecutive elite men's victory

Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles) stamped his authority across the Columbine climb again and won a fifth consecutive title at Life Time Leadville Trail 100 MTB presented by Kenetik. He completed the 100-mile mountain bike endurance race in 5:45:35, his third-best effort at the high elevation "race across the sky".

John Gaston (Specialized) repeated as runner-up, crossing the line 15:16 behind Swenson. It was the fourth podium for Gaston in Leadville, having three runner-ups and a third place, each time the Aspen, Colorado resident spending the second half of the race chasing the Utah-based winner.

Simon Pellaud (Tudor Pro), a Swiss rider who trains in Colombia, completed his ride in solo third, another 7:30 back from the scorching time posted by Swenson.

"Today was a bit sketchy. The dirt was a bit loose, I was obviously cautious down Columbine, trying to keep it upright, not crash. It was windy on the way home, but still gave it everything I had," Swenson told organisers at the finish on the new Leadville live stream presented by Orange Seal.

"So I was trying to go a bit faster than I had before, but unfortunately, I came up a little bit short. But it wasn't for lack of trying."

Swenson set the course record two years ago at 5:43:29. Last year he was sub-six hours again, but close to six minutes slower. This year was his third time posting a sub-six hour ride, and he was 2:06 short of the record.

In the three times that Gaston has finished second to Swenson, he has been consistently 15 minutes back. This year, Gaston targeted being the second rider to go under the 6-hour mark, and narrowly missed by 51 seconds.

"Keegan did his Keegan thing, and I'm the fool that follows. I love it and I hate it," Gaston said at the finish. "Last year we were down to four at the top of the first climb, and this year it was three. Simon and I worked really well out to Twin Lakes. Honestly, after that incident with the TV crew, and if I hadn't linked up with him [Pellaud], I would have been pretty close to pulling the plug. I was in the world of pain. He gave me some encouraging words.

"I got a little gap [after Powerline return] and was able to hold it to the line. That sub-six mark was very much my goal for 10 years, and to be that close."

With the victory, Swenson padded his overall lead in the elite men's division of the Life Time Grand Prix, Leadville 100 serving as the third of six stops in the US off-road series. Pellaud, who was second at Unbound Gravel, moved to sole second place in the Grand Prix standings, 7 points behind Swenson's 82-point total. Torbjørn Røed, who posted fourth place at Leadville, was 5 points behind Pellaud for third in the standings.

How it unfolded

The day was set calm winds, moderate temperatures and very dry conditions as the sun peaked over the Rocky Mountains for the men's elite start at 6:00 a.m. MDT, who charged onto early pavement from downtown Leadville 10 minutes prior to the elite women.

The 100-mile route ahead brought a total of 12,480 feet of elevation gain, starting from the highest incorporated city in North America at 10,152 feet above sea level. Four-time defending champion Swenson wasted no time to set the pace at the front once on the dirt, driving a fast pace 20 minutes into the contest that only two others matched, Simon Pellaud and John Gaston.

The trio carved out an advantage of nearly 45 seconds on a chase group of five riders as they moved to Turquoise Lake toward Hagerman Pass Road with 15 miles covered. In the chase behind were Cole Patton, Payson Mcelveen, Bradyn Lange, Taylor Lideen and Hugo Drechou.

Once through the outbound section of Powerline, the leaders had 1:34 over the main chasers. In a second group another 55 seconds back were Cameron Jones, Andrew L'esperance, Finn Gullickson and Sean Fincham, and then Alexey Vermeulen rode solo another 20 seconds back.

An hour and a half into the race, headed to the feed zone on the flat trail at Twin Lakes, Johnston disappeared from his chase companions, seen on the Life Time broadcast riding with no tyre on his rear rim, having hit a large rock and broken his back wheel. He limped into aid station and lost hope of reconnecting at the front.

Swenson, Pellaud and Gaston charged on, not seeming to notice the massive peaks of Mount Elbert and Mount Massive watching them, the highest mountains in Colorado. Instead, the climb to Columbine Mine was at the fore, the seven-and-a-half mile ascent taking in 3,600 feet of elevation gain from the base at Twin Lake.

As in past years, Swenson kicked it up a notch on Columbine, putting in a 10-second gap to Pellaud on the lower slopes, while Gaston lost touch with both riders. Gaston, a three-time podium finisher at Leadville 100 who focuses mainly on US ski mountaineering (skimo), had crashed in the Twin Lakes aid station, going down when he came into contact with a camera operator, but reconnected on the ascent with Pellaud.

Meanwhile, Swenson crested the top solo and charged on the descent, working on his mission to race the clock and set a new record, which came up a few minutes short.

Results