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For eight years, 5:58:35 was the time to beat at the Leadville Trail 100 MTB .
Now, it’s 5:43:31.
On Saturday, Keegan Swenson won the 105-mile race, smashing the longstanding course record set by Alban Lakata in 2015. The Santa Cruz HTSQD rider was a lone figure at the finish line for nearly 25 minutes before Alexey Vermeulen crossed the line in second, outsprinting last year’s second-place finisher, John Gaston.
Cole Paton and Howard Grotts were fourth and fifth; the quartet of second-fifth places formed on the Columbine descent around mile 60 when Swenson already had an eight minute gap.
From the gun, the racing was fast. Swenson’s teammate Tobin Ortenblad set a punishing pace in order to create early separation, and it worked.
A group of about 13 arrived at Twin Lakes (mile 40)some four minutes ahead of the 2022 pace, at around 8:30 a.m. The lead group included Zach Calton, Bradyn Lange, Petr Vakoč, Payson McElveen, Alex Howes, Lachlan Morton, Ryan Standish, and Logan Owen, as well as the top five. Two small chase groups came through quickly after.However, Swenson made his move shortly after passing through Twin Lakes en route to the Columbine climb. Although Vermeulen was able to go with him for about three miles, Swenson rode two-thirds of the punishing 10-mile climb to 12,600 feet ahead of everyone else.“I knew the pace I had to ride, and […]
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