Updated June 28, 2026 10:50PM

Keegan Swenson and Sofia Gomez Villafañe took wins at SBT GRVL as the Specialized power couple keeps their rich run of form going as the first half of the gravel calendar comes to a close in Steamboat Springs.

For Swenson, it was business as usual for high altitude racing as he wrapped up his fourth SBT GRVL title with a 20-mile solo victory. That being said, the cast of characters around him was an exciting mix of veterans and younger riders who have been making huge inroads towards the top of the sport this year.

Swenson kicked away from a group of four, including Cobe Freeburn, Henry Nelson, and Adam Roberge, who was in the early move. Ultimately, Alexey Vermeulen was able to come from behind and nab second on the line, while it was a close-fought sprint for third between Freeburn and Nelson. Freeburn did just enough to grab the last step on the podium, although fourth was a massive consolation prize for Nelson, who took a huge step up with the result.

“I wasn’t quite sure how to play it,” Keegan Swenson said of his tactics on a day where an early move built a solid gap, and he was followed by a few strong young riders. “I had hoped for a smaller group after that climb, but the way the race unfolded, it didn’t work out that way.”

“On that pavement section, everyone started working relatively well together. Finally, on that old paved climb where I ended up getting away, I was about to attack, and then Cobe went. That actually set me up really well because I was able to use him and then launch off of him and actually get a little bit more of a gap.”

Then, for the last hour of racing, it was time for Swenson to return to his usual place: solo off the front, riding like he stole something.

“I just kind of had to put my head down and push. I knew if I just got to the dirt [with 15 miles to go ] with a small gap, I’d be able to do it. I just had to try and snap the elastic on those guys.”

Villafañe had a different task on her hands as she was chasing over the final paved kilometers to the line. Sarah Lange made a bold solo move late in the race, detonating the top eight riders who made the key selection over the “Wahooligan Pass” and its 14% walls 40 miles into the race. Out of the final technical section of Cow Creek, Lange had a gap that could be enough to make it the line, but over the final rolling paved section to the line, Villafañe used her solo riding ability to wind back the solo Lange.

Still, it was all to play for heading into town, and it seemed a sprint was imminent. Villafane, however, had other plans, striking out in the last kilometer and making it a second straight win on the new Specialized Crux 5, closing out a very successful opening half to the gravel season.

“Today was a lot of trying to have fun, Villafañe said of the race. “It was a really hard course for me to have fun on with the altitude and lack of technical aspects, but down Cow Creek, that’s when my race really started. I felt like the freaking bike racer that I am.”

“I had to try on Cow Creek, and there were a lot of shorter course riders there, so it was a little scary. But I ran big Pathfinder tires that just ripped, and the Crux 5 is just so aerodynamic, and I can get into an aero position and hold it, especially if the win is dangling in front of me.

“In the last two and a half miles, I made contact with Sarah Lange, who had an amazing ride today. I’m super stoked for her. I was heartbroken for her when I caught her because I knew I was probably going to win. But yeah, I kicked near the end, and I was able to cross the finish line with a small margin.”

Nevertheless, even though the win escaped her, a solo second for Lange was a big result for the experienced gravel pro who has consistently been around the podium over the last five years, yet has not quite made the jump to the top flight. This ride, where she was consistently driving the action, was a new step for the rider from New Hampshire. Rounding out the podium, also finishing solo, was gravel national champion Lauren Stephens.

SBT GRVL is the last race of a long stretch for Villafañe, but it’s more than that. This is another year of consistency in gravel racing that is only really matched by her husband, Keegan Swenson.

“It’s my cycling coach, the team’s performance manager, and my strength and conditioning coach,” Villafañe said of her ability to be consistent, as many of her female competitors have fluctuated in form. “I’m a really good athlete in the sense that I really trust the people that I have around me, and I trust that they have a great plan.”

How it happened

After a few years of changes and tension with the local Routt County, SBT returned to a similar format in 2026 with one big lap of the Champagne gravel around Steamboat Springs in northern Colorado. There was a slight scare on the eve of the race as smoke from spot fires in Western Colorado blew into town at around 6 p.m., causing a huge drop in air quality. It got to the point where ash was falling from the sky as riders got ready for bed for the 6:00 a.m. roll-out the next day.

Fortunately calm overnight conditions dispersed the smoke and in the morning the air was clean and safe to race, with little wind to speak of throughout the morning of racing.

From the jump, three riders forged clear in the men’s race as John Borstelmann, Nathan Spratt, and Roberge pushed ahead, getting up to four minutes over the rolling terrain of the first 30 miles.

Once the road began to tilt upwards, however, the gap dropped as a full slate of around ten men were chopping off up a gradual uphill drag to the hard point of the day, Wahooligan Pass. Ultimately, most of those riders were leading themselves to the slaughter as the road tilted up to it maximum gradient. Swenson dropped a massive attack, initially bringing just Vermeulen and Freeburn with him, and catching Roberge, the remaining breakaway rider, by the top.

On the technical descent that followed, Vermeulen dropped off the lead group on the technical terrain—he went with an aggressive 45mm slick tire on the new Enve GES 6.7 Pro wheels, a bold choice—and was replaced by a flying Henry Nelson who made the unexpected bridge on the downhill.

Behind, the women started 5 minutes after, and their race followed a similar path, except without the breakaway. It was a slow burn for them before the pace picked up on the hill, leaving just a few riders at the front.

They cleared the top with a lead group of six—Villafane, Lange, Stephens, Paige Onweller, Cecliy Decker, and Kylee Hanel—forming on the downhill. Danni Shrosbree and Lauren De Crescenzo bridged up shortly after, and those eight would work together to put the race out of reach from the rest of the field.

Flat terrain in the middle third of the race was followed by a long uphill drag before the final push towards the finish. The women’s race broke apart again, this time under the impetus of a very strong Lange as the group of eight splintered as the road went up again. Up ahead, the leading quartet stayed together over the main gravel hill with 74 miles to go before the race kicked off again after the long downhill that brought the race back towards Steamboat.

Ultimately, it was Freeburn who made the first move on a paved climb that set up a long 10-mile stretch of flat to downhill roads. Unfortunately for Freeburn, Swenson was able to counterattack, making a small gap in the process. Despite rallying and keeping the gap at around 5 seconds for a few miles, Swenson eventually won the grunt match, and when he made it back to dirt, seconds turned to minutes. It was all over with 40 minutes to go.

In the women’s race, Lange kept playing the aggressive hand before she, too, was solo heading into the pivot final stretch of gravel on the rugged Cow Creek Rd. She looked like the strongest climber all day and made the most of that strength, cresting the final climb with a gap that could have been the difference on the day.

Yet, Villafañe had the skill advantage and made a massive effort on the technical downhill of Cow Creek and time trialed her way back to the rear wheel of Lange. As so often is the case with the chasing rider, she was then able to parlay that momentum into a late-stage attack to grab her second SBT GRVL win.

Men’s results:
PositionRiderTime Behind Winner1Keegan Swenson—2Alexey Vermeulen+5:063Cobe Freeburn+5:064Henry Nelson+5:065Adam Roberge+5:076John Keller+5:547Peter Stetina+5:558Daxton Mock+8:519Griffin Easter+8:5110Lance Haidet+8:54
Women’s results:
PositionRiderTime Behind Winner1Sofia Gomez Villafañe—2Sarah Lange+0:063Lauren Stephens+0:484Paige Onweller+1:315Cecily Decker+2:436Danni Shrosbree+2:447Lauren De Crescenzo+2:448Kylee Hanel+2:479Tiffany Cromwell+10:5210Laurel Quinones+14:20