Leadville Trail 100 MTB: Melisa Rollins crushes second half of Colorado course for women's victory

Melisa Rollins (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24) won the elite women’s Leadville Trail 100 MTB on Saturday in Colorado, crossing the line solo in 7:15:12. 2023 champion Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized) charged back from a deficit of almost 11 minutes with 20 miles to go and finished second, 3:53 back. 

Michaela Thompson (Orange Seal/Specialized/Shimano) was overtaken late in the race by Villafañe and finished third, just 24 seconds behind the defending champion.

One week ago Rollins won the three-day Leadville Stage Race, which uses the same course as the one-day mountain bike endurance race. She came in with top form at elevation, holding the lead in the race across the second half of the 104.3-mile race. It was in just the opening 18 miles, the climb on the St Kevin's singletrack, that Rollins said the incredibly fast pace blew the race apart.

"The race first lit up on St Kevin's and I don’t know if I have ever made a lead group before. I said to Sophia [Gomez Villafane], ‘dude I’m here’," Rollins recounted after the race to Life Time organisers. 

"The next decisive part of the race came on the descent of Powerline. I ended up taking the lead there but didn't want that to be where the gap was made, so I sat up and waited for Sophia and Michaela."

Back together with 65 miles to race, the trio stayed together until the Columbine ascent.

“I was feeling really good on Columbine so I decided to attack there instead. Once I'd done so, I was afraid of blowing up, or cramping," Rollins said. "I was alone the rest of the day. I had no idea I'd won until I could see the red carpet, and then I just lost it.”

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. 

Rollins moved from her 20th position in the standings to eighth overall, a move into the top 10 which qualifies athletes for a share of the $300,000 season-ending prize purse shared equally between women and men. 

Villafañe leaped to the top of the overall standings for women with her second place,  overtaking Haley Smith, who finished 10th on Saturday. Thompson jumped from 23rd position to 11th in the standings. All the women in the top 10 of the Leadville race are among the Grand Prix competitors this year.

How it unfolded

The start in Leadville, sitting at 10,152 feet above sea level, began at 6:20 a.m. for the elite women, this year getting a dedicated start five minutes after the elite men, and another 10 minutes ahead of other divisions. This year’s course was 104.3 miles in length with 12,480 feet of elevation gain, a new singletrack section added near the start and a long segment of pavement eliminated.

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. 

Thompson, from nearby Durango, set the pace at the front in a group of nine women who had a 50-second gap over nine others. The lead group contained Thompson, Rollins, defending champion Villafañe, Erin Huck, Ellen Campbell, Sarah Lange, Deanna Mayles and Alexis Skarda.

Across the next 10 miles onto the Powerline climb, Rollins moved into the lead, with Villafaňe falling off the pace by 25 seconds and Thompson struggling another 10 seconds back. What was once a compact front group was now a shattered line of riders spread on the climb, but Rollins then waited for the trio to reform with 65 miles still to race.

Rollins, Thompson and Villafaňe formed a solid trio over singletrack and on the first pass of Twin Lakes they extended their lead to two chasers by 3:30, Campbell and Mayles.

It was on the climb of Columbine that Rollins put in three minutes to Thompson, and Villafaňe dropped back another 1:15.

On the return trip of the out-and-back course, Rollins held her lead to Thompson. Moving to within three minutes of Villafañe was Campbell, now joined by Lange, as Mayles was now in sixth place. 

Rollins only got faster. By the time she pushed on the return climb of Powerline, the 28-year-old, who splits her time with road and gravel, increased her advantage over Thompson to nearly 7 minutes, and 11 minutes to Villafañe. 

The chasers cut into her lead on the final two hills across Carter Summit, with Villafañe overtaking Thompson. However, Rollins had enough time banked to solo across the line for the victory. 

Results - women top 10