Lakata and Rusch win Leadville 100

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Alban Lakata (Topeak Ergon) raced to a convincing victory at the Leadville 100 ahead of marathon world hampion Christoph Sauser (Specialized) and Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale). Rebecca Rusch (Specialized) made it four wins in a row by finishing ahead of Sally Bigham (Topeak Ergon) and Pua Mata (ShoAir Specialized).

The Leadville 100 Trail race is conducted on an out-and-back course totaling 104 miles. It starts in the town of Leadville at 10,200 ft, and travels to the top of Columbine Mountain at 12,640 ft. Total climbing for the day is 12,612 ft. Racers have a 12hr cut-off. Those that complete the race receive a silver western belt buckle. Those that finish in less than nine hours receive a silver and gold belt buckle.

This year's race came close to disaster when the lead group of riders went off course somewhere after the Powerline descent. Apparently the course markings at that point were either wrong or someone had sabotaged the race. Course marshalls also did not direct the leaders onto the proper track and the lack of a lead motorcycle was cited by many of the riders after as contributing to the confusion.

Once the riders realized that they were not on course, they stopped. Bishop said, "We stopped and we stood there for a solid minute while we tried to decide what to do. I said, let's stick together because no matter what, the leaders would be the leaders when we got back on course."

Lakata's bike computer showed that they had ridden an extra ten kilomenters (6.2 miles). Any chance at breaking Levi Leipheimer's course record was lost. A new lead group containing the dangerous Jay Henry (Tokyo Joe's) and Tinker Jaurez (Cannondale) were now off the front by a large margin.

Unfortunately, as the sidetracked riders made their way back to the offical course, the Powerline aid station could be seen across a ranch field. Up to 10 riders reportedly ignored orange tape markings and cut across the private property to get back on course. The final podium finishers were among those that chose to take the long way back.

As often happens in these situations, a non-verbal pact was made between the eight chasers that remained. Sauser said, "We were a really nice group of about eight riders doing turns. It was frustrating though because we also wanted to go for the time record but that was over."

With team time trial precision, the chasers whittled down the lead to 5.5 minutes at the base of the Columbine climb. The Jay Henry group began to come apart, as did the chase group, due to the altitude and difficulty in climbing the 12,640 ft mountain.

When the racers re-emerged at the end of the descent off the mountain, Lakata was seen driving the pace with Bishop and Sauser in tow. Federico Ramirez, who also had gone off course, was a short distance behind them and chasing hard.

Henry somehow lost 22 minutes on the mountain and was no longer a factor when the return trip to Leadville began. Tinker Jaurez, however, seemed well positioned for a good result on the day.

Lakata was the first man up the final Powerline climb, with Sauser only 100 feet behind. Bishop was perhaps only another 100 feet behind Sauser, but at that point he knew his chances for victory were slim.

"I had been fighting some mechanicals (chain suck) and I was yoyo-ing on that group to begin with," said Bishop. "They were flying down dirt roads at 25 miles per hour while I was standing there trying to fix my chain. Those guys are super strong. They're two world champions."

He was, however, pleased with his final result. "Finally a good day here. The competition is higher than ever. Yeah, I am stoked about my ride. It was good," said Bishop at the finishing line.

The final battle between Lakata and Sauser played out on both the Powerline and Sugarloaf climbs. Lakata said after the race, "It was really hard. I had a little gap and I tried to keep it until the end but Christoph came back. I really had to put the hammer down to get to the finish line in front of him. I'm really happy about this victory, especially finishing in front of the world champion."

On the return trip around Turquoise Lake, Lakata opened a 2:45 advantage over Sauser and finished in 6:32:24, averaging 15.1 miles per hour over the 104-mile course. Bishop, knowing that the fight was over, rode in at a more comfortable pace, finishing seven minutes behind Sauser.

While it appears that the first four finishers came from the group that went off course, behind them it was not so clear. It appears that some, including Alex Grant (Cannondale) did not finish as highly as they would have if they had stayed on course. There were discussions with race officials taking place at the finish about the off-course problem, as well as about the fate of riders who crossed the fenced-off ranch on foot to reach the feed zone.

Women

Sally Bigham (Topeak Ergon) took the early lead in the women's race but then found herself off-course with some of the men.

She lamented after the race, "I had a really good start and I took the lead straight away. Then we went the wrong way. I went from first place to fourth, and then I lost my motivation for a while." She added that she thought this cost her five minutes.

At the start of the Columbine climb, Pua Mata (Sho-Air) was in first place followed by Gretchen Reeves (Tokyo Joe's), Rebecca Rusch, and Bigham. But as we have seen in the past, Columbine is where Rusch shines brightest.

"Columbine for four years in a row is where I have made my move. I seem to settle in there and get in my groove. The rest of the way home I'm running scared," said Rusch. "I'm in shock. What a great day."

Rusch also broke her own course record by two minutes. This is remarkable since many of the racers including Lakata and Bishop felt that the course was slower this year due to overnight rain.

Mata had been expected to give Rusch a run for her money, but Rusch proved too strong. Mata said, "The bike was perfect but my legs wee a little off today. Those girls were riding strongly. I was hurting out there - you just want to stop but I didn't. I'm happy with this."

Bigham regained her lost motivation and finished in second place, 6:29 behind Rusch. Gretchen Reeves, a former Leadville winner, held on for fourth place, and Jenny Smith (NoTubes) finished fifth.

In one of the most remarkable rides of the day, Sonya Looney (Topeak Ergon) finished in sixth place despite riding with a cast on her arm due to a broken wrist.

At the finish line, Rusch was overjoyed and in tears. When asked how all this felt, she replied, "I Think I might fall down when I get off my bike. With the level of this field I'm blown away. This is a special day. I respect all of my competitors that were out there."