On a wildfire-changed course that produced tactical racing, past champions adapted to come up big again.
Josh Weinberg, Jack Duncan
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Keegan Swenson (Specialized) mastered a new course and tense, tactical racing that came down to a two-rider sprint to extend his streak of Leadville Trail 100 wins to a record-tying sixth victory, while in the women’s race Melisa Rollins broke clear of Cecily Decker on the final climb of St. Kevin’s with a little more than 10 miles to go to notch her second win in the event.
After spending much of the first half of the race in a pack of nearly 20, Swenson went clear early on the Columbine Mine climb (the summit of which is the race’s halfway point) to capture early leader Drew Dillman. He was chased close behind by Matt Wilson (Scott); eventually five more riders joined to form an elite lead group of seven after the descent: Swenson, Wilson, Bradyn Lange, Cole Paton, Simon Pellaud, Andreas Seewald and John Gaston. “I had a small gap, but it wasn’t enough to stay away,” Swenson said at the finish of his early lead. “So I figured it was best to wait for those guys and then just roll with them and try and figure it out at the finish.”
In a gradually shifting quartet that emerged from that group, Swenson first covered an attack by perennial Leadville podium threat John Gaston and, after the four came back together, got away again in the late going with Wilson. With Wilson doing most of the work in the final 5 km, Swenson opened his kick less than 200 meters from the line and outsprinted the New Zealander – who was racing his first Leadville – in a tight sprint to the finish.
At the finish, Swenson commented on how the course changes had affected the racing. “It was just such a different race, very tactical, you know,” he said in the livestream interview. “Like with really only having St. Kevin’s and Columbine as the two main climbs of the day, it really changed how the race played out.”
Melisa Rollins fought back after an early crash to take her second Leadville win. She was also second here last year to Kate Courtney.
In the women’s race, by contrast, Decker forged an early lead with Sarah Lange after the St. Kevin’s climb as Rollins was behind, fighting back after an early crash. Decker then went solo with more than 65 miles to race as Rollins worked her way up to join a four-rider chase close behind along with Lange, Lauren Stephens, Alexis Skarda and Hayley Preen. At the summit of Columbine, Decker held a minute lead to Rollins, who had gone clear of her chase companions.
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