After finishing second in last year’s Iron Horse Bicycle Classic men’s pro road race, Durango’s Kai Lokey looked like he had the playbook to success as he secured a dominant victory in Silverton on Saturday.
Lokey’s experience riding the Iron Horse, combined with a more road-heavy schedule in 2026, helped him overcome a broken collarbone in March. He looked like a seasoned veteran in the beginning, not worried about breakaway riders in the valley as he held his position at the front of the peloton.
Once the peloton started to break up on the climbs, Lokey looked like he had jet fuel on his bike the way he separated from the pack, gapping the field by over a minute as he descended down Coal Bank Pass.
Lokey got a warm reception as he came into Silverton solo, looking like another future star announcing their pro potential with his maiden Iron Horse win.
“It’s surreal,” Lokey said. “This is my fifth year doing it. I’ve tried to do my best I could every time. Last year, I got second to Cobe (Freeburn), so I really wanted to come back swinging. The legs were there today, so I felt good. Coming from Durango, growing up and seeing all the pro riders do this race, it was really cool … so it’s really awesome.”
The 19-year-old Durangoan won the iconic 47-mile race in two hours, 14 minutes and 44 seconds. He finished 1:35 ahead of Caleb Classen in second. Seth Hirsch finished in third in 2:17:12. Durango’s Ivan Sippy finished fourth in 2:18:20.
“That was about as good as I could have hoped for,” Classen said. “Kai’s just on another level. He deserved to win. Going into this, I was not super confident, I was just hoping for a podium.
Classen has been managing a knee injury, so he hasn’t trained as much as he’s wanted to heading into the IHBC.
Sippy hasn’t raced the Iron Horse since he was in Europe racing at this time over the last few years.
“It was good, and I'm happy with it,” Sippy said. “The Iron Horse never gets easier. It was really hard. We went pretty hard off Shalona, and then it was never super steady after that. We'd go hard for a few minutes, easy all the way to Purgatory, and once we had Coal Bank, it kind of just slowly whittled down to a small group, and then I knew I couldn't surge super hard. So I just stayed steady.”
A two-man breakaway of David Preston and Brad Neagos from Durango started the race as the men glided through the valley. Preston and Neagos had a two-minute gap on the peloton as they approached Hermosa. The peloton was in good spirits, talking and laughing with each other as the riders completed the first few miles in the sunshine.
Preston and Neagos had a 2:20 gap to Samuel Morrison in third, who was about a minute up on the peloton as the riders passed James Ranch Market and Grill.
Neagos broke away from Preston in the middle of Shalona Hill, and Preston exploded on the climb. A group of six riders, including Lokey and Austin Beard, broke away from the peloton to chase down Neagos, about 55 seconds back of the leader, as the riders got to the top of Shalona.
“There were a lot of strong riders, so I just wanted to stay toward the front in case there was a move that went,” Lokey said. “I kind of wanted to make the group as small as possible, just by upping the pace on all the climbs because that’s kind of where my strong suit is.”
About 12 miles into the race, just past Glacier Club, Neagos was passed by a growing group of about a dozen leaders. That group grew to over 20 as they approached Purgatory Resort, with Vaughn Veenendaal slightly breaking away from the pack.
Beard was the next one to take a stab at breaking away from the pack, putting about 30 seconds on Owen Deale and Logan Broedner as they started climbing Coal Bank Pass. Deale and Broedner were gobbled up by a thinning peloton as the riders gained elevation and changed gears.
About a mile from the top of Coal Bank, Beard was caught by Lokey and John Keller, with Lokey making the break for the solo lead.
Lokey had about a 50-second lead going down Coal Bank Pass as he sped down 550 on a beautiful day. He continued to break away from the field over 90 seconds ahead of Classen halfway up Molas Pass.
“I kind of knew he was gone,” Classen said about Lokey. “So I wanted to keep everyone else inside, and then the plan was to just bring them back on the descents.”
Classen executed his plan well. He was sixth going up Coal Bank and second going up Molas, before Hirsch passed him and had 10-15 seconds on Classen on the top of Molas. Classen descended Molas strongly to take back second.
Lokey never looked like he was pushing too hard or too concerned with what was happening behind him. He wanted to get to the descent with as much of a buffer as possible so he could enjoy the finish.
Next up for Lokey is road nationals on June 16-21 in Charleston, West Virginia.
“Shoutout to my parents, Todd and Jen, for being my No. 1 sponsors,” Lokey said. “Thank you for helping me get to all these races and get all the equipment I need. I love you, mom, I love you, dad.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
