A month after the last Life Time Grand Prix event, the Leadville Trail 100, Durango off-road racers traveled up to the small town of Cable, Wisconsin, for the fourth round of the Life Time Grand Prix series. Savilia Blunk, Payson McElveen, Cole Paton and Michaela Thompson competed in the 40-mile Chequamegon MTB Festival race
Blunk and McElveen had a chance at victory but lost out in a fantastic sprint to the finish in both races.
McElveen finished fourth in the pro men’s race, in 2 hours and 2 seconds. Keegan Swenson took the victory in 2:00:01.
“I have mixed feelings,” McElveen said. “Overall, it was great race. The podium is never something to be bummed out about. But I went into it mostly wanting to win, knowing I could win … I felt pretty good for the race. Felt very prepared, but it's a delicate one. It was more selective this year. The pace was higher than last year, and our final group was smaller than last year, which made the sprint a little bit more controllable. But, it’s still a six-person sprint. Those are tricky to get right.”
To prepare for Chequamegon, McElveen went out to Malibu, California, to do some training at sea level with Red Bull, which is one of his sponsors.
Self-described as a jack of all trades and a master of none, McElveen has been ultra-consistent in the Life Time Grand Prix. He hasn’t won one of the races yet but he’s been a regular figure on the podiums spraying Champagne.
He’s figured out how to prepare for each one and said he had a lot of fun going full-out for two hours at Chequamegon which he said was like a drag race.
The end of the race was especially tricky because the finish had two rollers with about 300 or 400 meters to go, according to McElveen. Going up the second roller, riders couldn’t see the finish line with about 200 meters to go and that’s when the sprint usually starts. This made it tricky for McElveen and the other riders.
Teammates can make sprints tricky. A teammate can sprint early and this can help the other teammate. McElveen said this happened with Swenson and Toben Ortenblad when Ortenblad went early, everyone had to respond and Swenson was best suited to pick up the win.
“There's some positioning considerations,” McElveen said about the sprint. “You have to think about who a good wheel would be. You want to be on someone who you think might have top sprinting legs but isn't going to be the fastest, because you don't necessarily want to try to be coming off the wheel of the absolute fastest person. You kind of want their help too, because you can sneak around them in the last 100 meters. It's actually probably the most surefire way to come out ahead, rather than being the person that kicks from 200 meters out.”
The 31-year-old said it takes a lot of experience to sprint well. McElveen said unfortunately he picked the wrong wheel and got a little gapped off.
McElveen said he’s happy to be in position to clinch second place in the Life Time Grand Prix. Although his fourth place stings because if he could’ve won Chequamegon, he could still challenge Swenson for the Life Time Grand Prix title.
Blunk, who isn’t a part of the Life Time Grand Prix, entered the race because she had a break in her schedule and also to support her fiancé Cole Paton who’s a part of the Life Time Grand Prix.
The 2024 Olympian finished in third in the women’s pro race in 2:16:22. Sofia Gomez Villafane won the race just ahead of Blunk in 2:16:22.
Blunk was in the top group the entire race and even led at the 17.3-mile split and the 36.7-mile split before the split.
Cole Paton finished in 11th in the pro men’s race in 2:01:54. Paton and Bradyn Lange started super quick and broke away from the chasing pack to start. Then they ran out of gas and were caught easily.
“Went for it big at the start and attacked off the front, lost it big by the end,” Paton wrote on Instagram. “That’s what I get for rolling the dice. Result aside, I love this race and getting to hang out in the Northwoods for a week.”
Fort Lewis’ Michaela Thompson finished 15th in the pro women’s field in her first Chequamegon 40. She finished in 2:25:40. Thompson got as high as fifth at the 17.3-mile split before falling back a bit.
“It was such an interesting weekend,” Thompson said. “I keep talking to people about it and I haven't totally figured out how I feel completely. But for my own personal ride, I am proud of it. I rode my best and I was in it mentally the entire time.”
Thompson said it was the hardest race she’s ever done. She said the assertiveness of the field the entire time was very intense and high-paced. Thompson said this made it exhausting.
The group stayed together for a lot of the race because of the fast, rolling hills. Everyone was fighting to stay at the front and to get into the right position going into corners.
Thompson was dropped from the main group on the Fire Tower Climb where she said she physically couldn’t hang anymore.
With two longer races to go in Life Time, Thompson said the longer, grinding power races suit her better. She hopes to finish in the top-10 of Life Time.
The next Life Time Grand Prix event is the 110-mile Rad Dirt Fest in Trinidad on Sept. 28.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
