Keegan Swenson wins men's Sea Otter Classic Fuego MTB 80K
By Jackie Tyson published
Russell Finsterwald and Alex Wild round out podium for first race of Life Time Grand Prix series
Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles) won the open men's division of the Sea Otter Classic's Fuego 80K XC race in Monterey, California. The champion of the men's 2021 USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Cross-Country Tour, Swenson completed the 80-kilometre mountain bike course in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds.
Following 18 seconds back, Russell Finsterwald (Specialized Off-Road) secured second place, while Alex Wild placed third, another minute back. The trio of mountain bike specialists scooped up the top points to set the stage for the men's standings in the Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda series. The next round is scheduled for June 4 at Unbound Gravel 200 in Emporia, Kansas.
“This race has always been big, but there’s more to it now. There’s more at stake to win. I want to try and get those points before going into the longer gravel races, but I think consistency is what wins this series,” said Keegan, who is taking time away from World Cup XCO competitions to focus on the new off-road US series. He finished seventh at the 2021 Marathon Mountain Bike World Championships.
“I think they’re [Life Time] bringing more eyes to the domestic scene and that raises us all up. I think together, we will do a good job lifting up the American cycling scene.”
Seven riders had gone clear of the field on the first of two laps that wound over rolling hills and smooth singletrack at Fort Ord National Monument in northern California. Swenson attacked on the first big climb on the second lap to distance Finsterwald, and strung out the other chasers behind with large time gaps.
The six-race, invitation-only series opened Saturday with a total of 60 riders vying for a season-ending $250,000 prize purse, shared equally among the top 10 in each category for men and women. The competition requires riders to compete in five of the six events to be eligible for the final payouts.
Saturday's series opener featured 22 of the 30 men in the field. Among riders not competing was two-time US cross-country mountain bike champion Payson McElveen, who broke his collarbone at The Mid South. He switched gears to provide guest commentary for the FloBikes broadcast of the race on race day.
Former Rally Cycling pro Rob Britton returned to action with a 10th-place finish. A number of other current and former road pros completed the race among the top 25: current riders for EF Education-EasyPost teammmates Lachlan Morton in 11th and Alex Howes in 15th, Adam Roberge (formerly with Elevate-Webiplex Pro Cycling) in 16th, Peter Stetina (formerly with Trek-Segafredo) in 21st and Ted King (formerly with Cannondale-Garmin) in 24th.
Fuego 80K XC was the first of three mountain bike races included in the series, the other two coming in late summer, Leadville Trail 100 MTB in Leadville, Colorado on August 13 and Chequamegon MTB (40 miles) in Cable, Wisconsin on September 17.
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Keegan Swenson | 2:55:23 |
2 | Russell Finsterwald | 0:00:18 |
3 | Alex Wild | 0:01:07 |
4 | Tobin Ortenblad | 0:04:27 |
5 | Andrew L’Esperance | 0:04:28 |
6 | Cole Paton | |
7 | Lance Haidet | |
8 | Kyle Trudeau | |
9 | Alexey Vermeulen | 0:04:46 |
10 | Robert Britton | 0:06:15 |
11 | Lachlan Morton | 0:06:17 |
12 | Ryan Standish | 0:08:02 |
13 | Stefano Barberi | 0:08:32 |
14 | Taylor Lideen | 0:08:33 |
15 | Alex Howes | 0:08:34 |
16 | Adam Roberge | 0:08:58 |
17 | Dylan Johnson | 0:09:00 |
18 | Bradyn Lange | 0:09:07 |
19 | Geoff Kabush | 0:09:10 |
20 | Blake Wray | 0:09:27 |
21 | Peter Stetina | 0:09:34 |
22 | Ian Lopez De San Roman | 0:11:30 |
23 | Canyon Emmott | 0:13:40 |
24 | Ted King | 0:13:45 |
25 | Tanner Visnick | 0:13:53 |
26 | John Borstelmann | 0:14:00 |
27 | Michael van Den Ham | 0:14:48 |
28 | Colin Strickland | 0:14:55 |
29 | Justin Martin | 0:17:32 |
30 | Jose Marin | 0:18:04 |
31 | Cory Wallace | 0:18:14 |
32 | Brian McCulloch | 0:18:16 |
33 | Henry Nadell | 0:18:20 |
34 | Cassius Anderson | 0:18:40 |
35 | Zach Peddie | 0:18:46 |
36 | Logan Kasper | 0:18:58 |
37 | Cody Cupp | 0:19:13 |
38 | Kiel Reijnen | 0:19:50 |
39 | Ian Schwing | 0:19:51 |
40 | Caleb Reese | 0:20:00 |
41 | Brandon Baker | 0:21:40 |
42 | Laurens Ten Dam | 0:22:13 |
43 | Justin Desilets | 0:27:04 |
44 | Sam Owens | 0:29:11 |
45 | Nicolas Jimenez | 0:29:46 |
46 | Alec Franco | 0:31:47 |
47 | Truman Glasgow | 0:31:56 |
48 | John Keller | 0:34:30 |
49 | Mike Nowak | 0:35:52 |
50 | Dillon Hollinger | 0:36:07 |
51 | Kevin Smallman | 0:37:55 |
52 | Bjorn Selander | 0:38:22 |
53 | Steven Bobrofsky | 0:39:03 |
54 | Ashton Lambie | 0:40:06 |
55 | Marc Potts | 0:40:31 |
56 | Thor Audiss | 0:40:40 |
57 | Christopher Baird | 0:42:55 |
58 | David Sweet | 0:44:46 |
59 | Joseph Kochlacs | 0:45:30 |
60 | Jacob Peterson | 0:46:08 |
61 | Emmett Gross | 0:46:31 |
62 | Seamus Woods | 0:50:37 |
63 | Justin Abbott | 0:52:25 |
64 | Sean Estes | |
65 | Kyle Kirby | 0:59:30 |
66 | Tyler Pearce | 1:01:35 |
67 | Miles Lamon | 1:03:08 |
68 | Mark Marquez | 1:24:13 |
69 | Justin Dillon | 1:25:18 |

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month*
Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
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
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to Cyclingnews. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Hindley tightens grip on Giro d’Italia runner-up spot as 'every second counts'
Australian outsprinted by race leader Richard Carapaz in mountain stage finale -
Landa fights on at Giro d’Italia despite losing six seconds to Carapaz and Hindley
‘I’ve got a chance of finishing on the podium but that’s not enough for us’ says Bahrain Victorious leader -
Van der Poel misses out in second Giro d'Italia mountain breakaway
Dutchman's latest breakaway attempt falls short on last ascent of stage 17 -
Tour of Norway: Ethan Hayter delivers sprint win on stage 2
Tobias Johannessen takes slim GC lead over Hayter and Evenepoel