The Leadville Trail 100 MTB race on Saturday was one of the most emotional races of Payson McElveen’s distinguished off-road cycling career. It might be surprising for some because it was only a fifth-place finish.
But, McElveen has been through a lot this year coming back from his cracked hip he suffered from a crash at the Sea Otter Classic in April in California. He was becoming tired of rehabbing after having multiple injuries over the last four years.
Once he crossed the finish line after over 100 miles and six hours of hard racing, McElveen cried for the first time he could remember in his racing career. Then he was at peace with what he’d just accomplished as he was on the podium of one of the most iconic off-road races in the country for the second consecutive year.
“It ended up meaning a lot more to have a solid ride there than I was expecting after the injury and such,” McElveen said. “The race was even harder than I remembered, even though it's my eighth time. So, the perceived pressure of being out most of the year, the first big race back, it’s a race I have a lot of history with just made for a huge release and weight lifted at the finish that felt awesome. It was definitely the most significant feeling, fifth place, maybe I've ever had.”
McElveen crossed the finish line in fifth of the elite men’s race in six hours, 15 minutes and three seconds. He barely lost out to his friend Torbjørn Andre Røed in a sprint for fourth, who he battled earlier in August on the same trails in the Leadville Stage Race.
Keegan Swenson took the elite men’s win in 5:45:35, followed by John Gaston in second in 6:00:51 and Simon Pellaud in third in 6:08:21.
McElveen said the competition level in the elite men’s field was similar to last year, with a mix of returners and new competitors.
The race started faster than in previous years, according to McElveen. He completed the iconic Columbine climb faster than he’d ever done it, despite not having the best legs on the day.
It was a slower year with a headwind on the second half of the race and dry and loose course conditions, according to McElveen. He had a higher average power output for the whole race than he’d ever had but he finished about five minutes slower than last year.
The conditions were so tough that, for the first time, McElveen saw some of the front-runners have to walk the top of the Columbine climb.
McElveen never made contact with the top three as they gapped the rest of the field early on. He started riding with the second group which turned into a pretty large chase group. McElveen was down to 13th at the 52-mile split but he wasn’t concerned as he could see everyone in front of him.
With about 20 miles to go, the race exploded on the Powerline climb which is how it usually happens, according to McElveen. He made his move and started picking up positions before his sprint finish with Røed.
It was quite the Durango affair in Leadville, with over a dozen riders with Durango connections competing in the elite men and women’s races. McElveen enjoyed seeing mountain bike stars Christopher Blevins and Riley Amos in Leadville along with Todd Wells, his wife, Meg, and their son Cooper.
“It's such a iconic event and it is relatively close to Durango,” McElveen said. “But I think if you're a cyclist, there's just a certain level of attraction there, whether you're participating or not. You want to be at the show. Having lots of friendly faces around is really nice when you are in the race and get a few extra cheers out there from local Durango folks.”
There were plenty of strong Durango women inside of the elite women’s top 20. Sarah Sturm led the way for Durango competitors with a ninth-place finish. Behind her was fellow Durango resident Michaela Thompson in 10th.
“It's the race I've done the most in my career,” Sturm said. “In the past, I've always had my sights set on a podium finish and this year was no different. However, I was fairly realistic about the potential of that. It's probably the most competitive year yet with the women's and men's field, which is awesome. In some ways, it allowed me to race the race for what it was, instead of a finishing place.”
Sturm finished ninth in 7:32:34. Former cross-country mountain bike world champion Kate Courtney took the win and broke the course record in 6:48:55. Behind her was Melisa Rollins in second in 6:59:16 and Cecily Decker in third in 7:09:48.
Leadville Trail 100 MTB is a part of the Life Time Grand Prix series. Sturm, however, is not a part of the Life Time Grand Prix standings this year as she wanted to not have her season be only focused on Life Time events.
Therefore, Sturm put less pressure on herself to perform at Leadville. She also didn’t train as much leading up to Leadville, which was a conscious decision made by her and her coach.
Sturm was with the leaders at the beginning of the race before dropping back and riding most of the first half of the race alone. She was caught by a group and Sturm started to feel better in the second half of the race
She brought back a good amount of time and caught a bunch of riders, including Thompson, who Sturm encouraged to ride with her but Thompson didn’t have much left in the tank.
By the time Sturm got to the finish, she was nearly four minutes away from eighth and 10th place.
“I was really stoked with how I raced this year, which is weird, because normally, ninth place I would have been really disappointed with,” Sturm said. “I know what the competition is like now; I was racing against world champions and Olympians. It's pretty sweet to get to race next to those women and play your own game out there.”
Thompson finished 10th in 7:36:26. Behind her was Durango resident Maude Farrell in 11th in 7:37:11.
It was a strong start for Thompson, as she was in the top seven in the first 72 miles of race splits. However, she dropped back to 10th with about 10 miles to go and stayed there.
Farrell was inside the top 20 the entire race and, like Sturm, finished strong by taking back some positions near the end of the race to finish 11th.
Ellen Campbell was another Durango-based rider to finish inside the top 15 of the elite women’s race. She finished 14th in 7:43:05.
“I'm at peace with the weekend,” Campbell said. “I'm not happy with it, but I'm not totally bummed out. I had a clean run; I didn't really have any major mechanicals or a crash or any major setbacks. I just kind of plugged along. I knew going into this race that it was a priority for me; an A Race is what they call it. I really wanted to do well here; it's my goal to win this race one day. Every year is an opportunity to do that.”
Campbell said she didn’t have the extra mental drive she needed to fight higher in the field. Campbell was happy to race in a group for the entire day after racing alone in past years.
The course was dry and blown out, according to Campbell. She said a lot of people come up to practice on the course before which helped lead to those conditions. At points, there was so much loose rock that Campbell began questioning if she had the right tire pressure.
A big positive for the Durango native was outsprinting the women she was with at the finish line. The two other women, Samara Sheppard and Hayley Preen, are a part of the Life Time Grand Prix series as is Campbell. Therefore, that little sprint win could help Campbell at the end of the season with the Life Time Grand Prix standings.
Kaylee Blevins also finished inside the top 20 in 18th in 7:49:49. Blevins impressed by steadily climbing through the elite women’s field. She finished inside the top 20 while in medical school as an aspiring sports medicine physician.
A casual fan might be surprised to find out that Ruby Ryan, Ruth Holcomb and Cobe Freeburn were competing in their first Leadville Trail 100 MTB races with how well they did.
Ruby Ryan, riding for Durango’s Team Segment 28, was the top first-time rider out of Durango in 12th place in 7:39:06.
“The day went well,” Ryan said. “It was my first Leadville, so I didn't really know too much on what to expect. I didn't actually do any course preview; I didn't really watch any videos or anything. I was just going to take it how I saw it in front of me, which I loved.”
Ryan and her coach, Rotem Ishay, decided she was going to do Leadville about three weeks before the race. She’d never rode 100 miles on a mountain bike and was a little scared to do Leadville. But, Ryan knew she was tough and wanted to give it a good shot with the other girls she knew.
The beginning of the race was the worst part for Ryan as she was cold and didn’t warm up before. However, she caught on with the second group of women and stayed with them until the Columbine climb. Ryan was so new to the course that she had to ask one of the women she was riding with if it was the Columbine climb
“It was pretty reserved and then Rotem (Ishay) told me when Columbine gets steep, he wanted me to go,” Ryan said. “That's when my race started because the longest races I've ever done were four hours long. He said, ‘Your race starts from three to four hours and then the way home.’ So halfway up Columbine, I dropped the girls I was with. I passed them all, made sure I descended fast and then I got away.”
Ryan passed a few more women on the way back toward the finish, despite the last 20 miles hurting a lot for her.
In addition to it being Ryan’s first time, her 12th place was impressive because she did the race on her normal mountain bike, not a gravel bike. She loved her setup and switched between a pack and a bottle for fueling.
Ryan is targeting the remaining Life Time Grand Prix races and hopes to get a full-time spot in the series next year.
Durango native Ruth Holcomb had a strong ride on Saturday and finished 17th in her first Leadville Trail 100 MTB race. She finished in 7:43:57 and was the top Life Time Grand Prix U-23 women’s finisher.
“I was pretty nervous going into it,” Holcomb said. “I had never done Leadville before and I knew it was going to be a big day. I had a good ride, maybe not a great ride, but I'm pretty pleased with it. I was riding really well, ended up cramping up pretty bad and falling apart a little bit in the last hour or two.”
Holcomb goes to college in Santa Barbara, California, but came home to prepare for Leadville by doing long rides at elevation.
She started the race at the back and slowly built her race up before showing some impressive power at the Powerline climb. She then cramped up on the way back toward the finish on Powerline and tried to hold on to the group she was with before finishing behind them.
It was a full-circle moment for Holcomb at Leadville, as she rode and competed with Sturm, Blevins and Campbell; all three coached Holcomb with Durango Devo.
Fellow Durango native Cobe Freeburn continued his impressive summer with a 15th-place finish in the elite men’s race. Freeburn finished in 6:26:59 in his first Leadville Trail 100 MTB start. He was consistently around and inside the top 20 throughout the 100+ miles.
Durango resident Cole Paton finished just outside the top 10 of the elite men’s race in 11th in 6:22:12.
“It was kind of everything I had on the day,” Paton said. “It was actually my worst Leadville result-wise and time-wise. I rolled the dice on a few things during the race and also with my preparation I didn't quite have as much time at altitude as in the past. I suffered when it came down to race day.”
Paton tried to stay with the top three early on and pushed hard but couldn’t bridge the gap. He said he burned a lot of matches in process and it affected him in the second half of the race.
Durango’s Ryan Standish finished in 41st in 7:07:44, followed by Samuel Hart in 46th in 7:21:54. Howard Grotts finished 56th in 8:32:52. Henry Nelson did not finish.
The next Life Time Grand Prix is the 40-mile Chequamegon MTB Festival in Cable, Wisconsin, on Sept. 13.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
