Leadville Trail 100 MTB: Keegan Swenson recovers from puncture and dominates men's race for fourth consecutive win

Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz Bicycles) used a powerful attack on the Columbine climb and recorded his fourth consecutive victory at the Leadville Trail 100 MTB race in Colorado on Saturday. The victory also padded his lead in the Life Time Grand Prix men's standings.

A puncture in the early miles of the high-elevation endurance test, this year 104.3 miles, forced Swenson to go into chase mode. He used the ascent of the race’s major climb to jettison from all contenders for another solo victory, in a time of 5:49:10. It was the second time Swenson finished under the six-hour mark, last year avoiding mechanicals and setting the course record in 5:43:29.

"I'm stoked with that ride, and to win the race for the fourth time in a row. It was an awesome day out and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series," Swenson told race organisers at the finish.

John Gaston (STRAFE-Specialized) broke away from Cole Paton (Giant Bicycles) after a head-to-head battle in the final 20 miles and earned second place and his third podium at Leadville. Gaston finished 15:41 behind Swenson, while Paton crossed the line another 1:51 back.

In the opening miles Swenson rode with three others at the front - Torbjørn Røed (Trek), Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost) and Gaston - as they put in chunks of time on the north side of Turquoise Lake and the first two climbs.

"I set the pace on the first climb up St Kevin's to create a select group but then I flatted near the top of Powerline and had to ride like that until the feed zone [mile 25]. I got a quick wheel change there and then got my head down and rode, eventually making contact with John [Gaston] at the foot of Columbine," Swenson explained afterwards.

"From there, I rode at my own pace, and once I'd gone clear just tried to extend the gap. I wasn't sure if I was able to go faster than last year or not, I think I was close to the pace at one point but then the wind picked up and that slowed me down."

The Leadville Trail 100 MTB presented by Kenetik is part of the six-race Life Time Grand Prix and became the third event in the off-road series when Crusher in the Tushar was cancelled in July. Swenson leads the men’s overall, padding his margin by seven points over second-placed Payson McElveen (Allied Cycle Works-Red Bull), who finished fifth in Leadville.

Among the Grand Prix competitors, Morton was the third-best Grand Prix rider in fourth and moved into third overall in the series. Paton picked up second-place points in Leadville to move into eighth overall. Other Grand Prix riders now in the top 10 are Røed, Russell Finsterwald, Matthew Beers, Alex Wild and Zach Calton. Gaston is not part of the Life Time Grand Prix.

How it unfolded

The start in Leadville began at the massive height of 10,152 feet in the Rocky Mountains for a 30th year. The elite men took off at 6:15 a.m., a five-minute gap in front of the elite women for the first time, and went straight to work on piling up a total of 12,480 feet of elevation gain over the 100-plus miles. This year the course was slightly longer, coming in at 104.3 miles, as the early segment of the route has been redirected with some added singletrack and eliminated a chunk of pavement.

The majority of the out-and-back course remained the same, with the signature climb to the summit of Columbine Mine, the peak topping out at an elevation of 12,499 feet above sea level, marking the halfway point and turnaround. Thus, the race has been dubbed “the race across the sky”.

The opening dozen miles to Carter Summit and St Kevin's, on the north side of Turquoise Lake, saw Røed set the pace of the elite men, riding in front of Swenson, Morton and Gaston. A minute back was Howard Grotts. The next bunch, 35 seconds back, included eight riders of Beers, Peter Stetina, Sean Fincham, Kyle Trudeau, McElveen, Paton, Bradyn Lange and Petr Vakoc.

Gaps were forming at the base of the Powerline climb 10 miles later, with Gaston out front by 10 seconds over Røed and 37 seconds over Swenson, who then had to stop to repair a puncture. By the time he was back on course, he was riding in 14th position headed to the single track section with 73 miles to go.

Once the sunshine poked over the Rocky Mountains temperatures began to heat up, as did Swenson’s pace. On the Twin Lakes section headed to the Columbine climb approach, Swenson rode in fourth position. He tagged on with Røed and Russell Finsterwald with a full minute to make up to Gaston at the front of the race.

Over the next four miles, Swenson had passed the last man in his way, Gaston. By the time he began the climb of Columbine, Swenson had hit the afterburners in his big engine and blasted away for a six-minute gap ahead of the chasers.

Off the descent of Columbine and returning past Twin Lakes, Swenson built a 6:14 margin to Gaston. Cole Paton used the descent to catch and pass Røed and was just 22 seconds behind Patton, with Røed another two minutes back. A trio of riders - Morton, Grotts and McElveen - were in the hunt another 1:30 back, with Morton having recovered from a flat tyre.

By the time Swenson hit the washed out, dirt road up Powerline on the return trip to Leadville, he built his margin to the Paton-Gaston duo to 10 minutes.

From the final dirt section with two miles to go and onto the pavement of Harrison Road straightaway to the finish, it was a familiar sight of Swenson riding solo for the victory.

The climb up Powerline proved decisive in the battle for second place, as Gaston pulled away from Paton to take second place.

Results - men's top 10