Two of Durango’s top professional cyclists hit gravel roads in different states last weekend, and both rode to podium finishes.
Payson McElveen dug deep at the Dirty Kanza in Kansas en route to a fifth-place finish in a field loaded with top professional cyclists, including some World Tour road cyclists. Meanwhile, Sarah Sturm was in California for the Lost & Found Gravel Grinder, and she finished second after a grueling effort of her own.
Here’s a closer look at each result:
A year earlier, McElveen was chewed up and forced to drop out after 104 miles at the Dirty Kanza, a 200-mile slug-fest across sizzling hot dirt roads around Emporia, Kansas.
This year, McElveen returned and proved his toughness without optimal training before the race because of an illness. He was in the mix for the lead for nearly three quarters of the race before conditions took a toll.
McElveen, a 26-year-old Orange Seal Off-Road Team and Red Bull athlete, finished fifth in 10 hours, 35 minutes, 29 seconds. Colin Strickland, a 32-year-old from Texas, was the surprise winner with a record time of 9:58:49.
Peter Stetina, a 31-year-old World Tour rider on the Trek-Segafredo team, was second in 10:07:54. Alex Howes of Colorado, fresh off his finish at the Tour of California and an EF Education First-Drapac pro team rider, was third in 10:18:36. Lachlan Morton, another EF Drapac rider, was fourth in 10:18:36.
McElveen finished ahead of sixth-place Kiel Reijnen of the Trek-Segafredo World Tour team, who was sixth in 10:38:40. Ted King, a retired pro racer who last competed for the Cannondale-Garmin pro team, was in the mix late and finished eighth in 10:38:40.
“Tour de France racers, marathon mountain bikers, gravel ‘specialists’ ... it doesn’t matter who you are, this race will humble you unlike many can,” McElveen said in a post to Instagram. “At mile 130ish, I looked back and saw Ted King and Josh Berry (first and second from last year) starting to yo-yo, and decided to put in a surge to further reduce the group. In hindsight, maybe it was hubris or trying to show the other guys ... I ‘belonged,’ but not long later I started to overheat badly. With heart rate drifting over 180 bpm at just tempo power, I had to back it off if I wanted to finish.”
McElveen’s main goal became a finish and trying to hold onto a podium spot. He had a long stop at the final aid station 50 miles from the finish and was passed by King before he could get his body ready to continue. He passed King with 20 miles to go and was able to hold on for fifth, amazed at the strength of the human body and the willingness of the more than 2,000 riders who entered the race with no aspirations of a victory.
While thousands sought a memorable finish at the grueling Dirty Kanza, Sturm headed for the mountains of northern California.
The recently crowned Iron Horse Bicycle Classic women’s road race champion and Specialized team racer found another podium to give her three in a month’s span after she also won the Belgian Waffle Ride race, a 135-mile effort, in southern California in early May.
After 106 miles of the Lost & Found Gravel Grinder, Sturm finished in second in 6:00:53. California’s Katerina Nash placed first in 5:58:41. Oregon’s Serena Gordon placed third in 6:05:02.
“Lonely miles are gravel miles,” Sturm said in a post to Instagram. “I found myself finishing 2nd to (Nash) by a few minutes after each of us rode without seeing each other the entire day ... then a brief few miles with the super human (Gordon) before slipping back into our lonely places. That’s how the terrain is up there in the northern parts of California; you really can get lost in the Sierras and what a beautiful thing it is.
“Even though it hurt for almost exactly 6 hours, there were so many moments where I looked around and thought about how lucky we all are to get to ride around and see all of this.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
