Alban Lakata must have not liked seeing Durango’s Todd Wells cross the line before him in last season’s Leadville Trail 100 MTB.
The 2013 champion from Austria crushed his own course record Saturday in Leadville, as Lakata won the 2015 edition of the mountain bike race in 5 hours, 58 minutes, 35 seconds.
His previous record, set in 2013, was 6:04:01, and this year’s time was the first under 6 hours in the race’s history.
Lakata has now won the Leadville 100 three times.
“Alban is a perfect example of bouncing back,” Wells said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “Two years ago, he pulled a tendon in his Achilles or something while skiing. He had a rough year last year after being a world champion in the past. But now, again, he’s won the marathon world championships and went under 6 hours here. He’s just a beast.”
Wells, the three-time Olympian and former Fort Lewis College rider, won in Leadville last year but finished sixth this year in 6:26:40.
His winning time in 2014 was 6:16:27, at the time the second fastest ever.
Wells had a flat tire eight miles into Saturday’s race and had to make up for it for the rest of the race.
“It definitely puts you on the defensive the rest of the day,” Wells said of his flat. “I was chasing the rest of the day. I tried to fix it, but it didn’t work, so I rode the flat tire to a tech zone and changed it. I was 5 minutes down and chased pretty hard to try to close the gap on the flats.”
But as the lead group began to climb 12,424-foot Columbine Mine, the biggest climb on the course about halfway into the 100-mile race, the top-five riders all used each other to build a much larger gap on the solo-riding Wells.
“I was down 3 or 4 minutes before that, but the five guys up front were very strong,” Wells said. “Five guys can ride so much faster than you can on your own. I had motivation going into Columbine, but, when I saw that gap balloon, I knew I had no chance. It made it mentally tough riding those 50 miles back home myself, but I toughed it out.”
Annika Langvad won the women’s race in a record 6:59:24. She was the first woman to every break 7 hours.
Other Durango-based finishers included 19-year-old Kaden Murdock in 136th overall on the men’s side, though he was third in his age division.
Liz Carrington was sixth in the female 30-39 division, 203rd overall.
Wells, 39, spends several weeks a year training in Leadville for the race, and it was his first competition since the national championships in July. He also suffered a mechanical during the national championship short-track cross country race with two laps to go while leading the event.
“This year has probably been my worst year in six or seven years,” he said. “When I’ve had decent fitness, I’ve run into a mechanical. I’ve been a little off all year.
“I’ve been able to get a good result here or there, but in general its been a tough year.”
Wells said good seasons come in waves, and he keeps hoping one event will turn it all around.
He will race another 100-mile course next weekend at the Rincón de la Vieja in Costa Rica before returning home to Durango for the inaugural Todd & Ned’s Durango Dirt Fondo event Sept. 12.
“The Rincón de la Vieja sounded like a good idea when I signed up, but after (Saturday) I’m kind of wishing I hadn’t,” Wells said. “Hopefully in a few days I have a fresh perspective and can make this fuel for the fire.”
Sports reporter Kyle Grabowski contributed to this report.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
