Leadville Trail 100 MTB: Kate Courtney sets new women's record in debut at high-elevation endurance race

Kate Courtney (She Sends Racing) did not simply win on her debut at Life Time Leadville Path 100 MTB offered by Kenetik, she put her identify within the report books with a brand new course report of 6:48:55.

The previous cross-country mountain bike World Champion rode solo for greater than half of the 100 miles at excessive elevation and smashed a decade-old report by 10:23, which was set by Annika Langvad in 2015.

Final 12 months’s champion Melisa Rollins (Liv Racing Collective) secured the second spot on the rostrum, additionally going sub-seven hours and posting the second-best time on report at 6:59:16.

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Two-time US gravel champion Lauren Stephens (Aegis Biking Basis) had climbed away from Rollins on the inbound ascent of Powerline, however was handed within the ultimate 5 miles.

Stephens would cross the end third, however was later disqualified after the race for “taking help outdoors of a chosen crew location”, transferring Cecily Decker (PAS Racing) into third.

From a lead pack of seven riders which kicked up the mud via the outbound help station at Twin Lakes, the defining gaps started to kind on the base of the signature climb to Columbine Mine. Courtney used her expertise from the three-day Leadville Stage Race, the place she completed second to Rollins, to carve a solo path up the rocky 7-plus-mile climb and drop all challengers for the remainder of the day, using greater than 55 miles alone.

“I had a very long time on the market with my ideas and my aero place. Plenty of it was fairly easy – specializing in staying aero, consuming, managing my vitality, and avoiding stopping pedaling,” Courtney instructed organisers Life Time on the end.

“As an XC [cross-country] racer, truly it was an enormous psychological factor. Once we descend, after we’re on slight downhills, you are all the time coasting, and in a race like this you all the time need to be pedalling.”

She admitted she by no means thought concerning the girls’s Leadville report till she was close to the end line.

“Once I received onto the pavement in direction of the top of the race, I appeared on the moto and was like, ‘what is the hole?’ And so they stated it was seven minutes. And I assumed, OK, wait, if a prepare is travelling at 15 miles an hour, and it is solely been six and a half hours and we’re at this many miles, I would be capable to get the report. So then, after all, needed to put a bit dig in, and was actually form of shocked to go that quick with the wind as we speak. So actually proud.”

Whereas Courtney put in a time trial effort for the report, Rollins used a time trial effort to rejoin Stephens late within the race and make a go with 5 miles to go on the pavement for second place.

“Lauren received away on Powerline [return]. I may see glimpses of her, after which I caught her jut earlier than the underside of Boulevard. I knew there is a steep pitch on the backside and I simply did it as onerous as I may. I appeared again and knew I had a bit hole, keep aero as attainable and it to the end,” Rollins stated.

“I knew she was a bit bit higher on the climbs, so I simply tried to remain inside myself on Powerline, and I hoped I might come round. It was a race in opposition to myself. Kate was phenomenal as we speak.”

Second place for Rollins boosted her rating within the Life Time Grand Prix, transferring from a tie in fourth to solo third. The largest transfer among the many Grand Prix discipline at Leadville was Cecily Decker (PAS Racing), who completed third, seven minutes forward of fourth-placed and former Leadville winner Sofia Gomez Villafañe. Decker now sits on the high of the elite girls’s leaderboard with 86 factors, two factors forward of Villafañe and 14 factors forward of Rollins.

The way it unfolded

The elite girls’s discipline set off on a crisp, dry morning from Leadville at 6:10 a.m. MDT, organisers releasing the elite males 10 minutes forward of them. Ranging from an elevation of 10,152 ft above sea degree, the best altitude of any included metropolis in North America, the tempo was excessive from sixth Avenue for 12,480 ft of elevation achieve over the 100 miles of racing.

9 girls rode collectively on the entrance of the race as they headed to Hagerman Go in a significant transition space from pavement to gravel. Courtney, Rollins and Stephens had been there, together with Decker, Villafane, Ruth Winder, Alexis Skarda, Sarah Lange and Michaela Thompson. Within the chase solo was Paige Onweller, with a string of riders behind her.

With 40 miles accomplished and passing via the help station at Twin Lakes, Lange and Edwards had dropped from the entrance bunch. Quickly Haley Smith and Hannah Otto gained important time and linked with Edwards for a powerful chase.

The entrance group of seven quickly fragmented as soon as Courtney amped up her effort for the Columbine climb, Stephens and Rollins working collectively in second and third positions. Nevertheless, Stephens fell on a steep part of the singletrack and needed to stroll the bike to discover a appropriate place to remount, however dug deep to rejoin Rollins by the point they had been on the descent. Nicely forward, Courtney had crossed the summit above the tree line alone and was lengthy gone on the descent in entrance of the duo.

On the return previous Twin Lakes, Stephens was 3:32 adrift of Courtney however had a 27-second hole on Rollins. Behind them Decker rode 2 minutes forward of Skarda in fourth, whereas Villafañe gave chase to Skarda using 1:30 behind her.

For a time Stephens and Rollins labored collectively, till Stephens stole away on the Powerline climb and held a 1:37 margin crossing Carter Summit with slightly below 10 miles to go. Rollins then went deep to catch Stephens and make the ultimate go on the Boulevard to experience in second place for the ultimate 4 miles.

Villafañe used a tough effort on Powerline to maneuver forward of Skarda, however couldn’t shut down Decker.

And effectively forward, Courtney celebrated a solo victory.

Outcomes