Leadville Trail 100 MTB

The Leadville Trail 100 MTB is one of the oldest of a growing number of 100-mile (160 km) marathon mountain bike races. It was first run in 1994 and has become one of the best known marathon events in mountain bike racing. Entry is by lottery, with entries due by the end of January each year for the race that is run the second Saturday in August.

History

The Leadville Trail 100 MTB race is an outgrowth of the Leadville Trail 100 footrace. Both races were begun by Ken Chlouber as part of an effort to spur the economy of the town of Leadville after a local mine that employed many residents closed. The mountain bike race began after a sponsor of the footrace offered to sponsor it and to arrange for television coverage. The first running of the race drew just 150 entrants, while the 2009 edition allowed 1400 entrants.[1]

Course

The race is run on a 50-mile (80 km) out and back course, starting and finishing in downtown Leadville, Colorado, United States, at 10,200 ft (3,100 m) elevation. Major climbs include an over 3,000 feet (910 m) ascent from miles 40-50 to the Columbine mine, Powerline at mile 80, and St Kevins at mile 86. Total elevation gain is somewhere around 11,000 feet (3,400 m) when verified by GPS tracks of past competitors.

Winners

Between 2003 and 2008, David Wiens, a 2000 inductee to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, won the race each year. In 2007, Wiens broke the 7 hour mark for the first time at 6:58:46. while holding off Floyd Landis by just under 2 minutes. In 2008, Wiens won again beating 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong by just under 2 minutes and setting a new course record of 6:45:45 . In 2009, Armstrong returned to win Leadville and establish the new course record of 6:28:50.9; David Wiens captured second place. Armstrong's involvement with the race has brought increased attention to the Leadville Trail 100 MTB, evidenced by the fact that race organizers offered a live webcast for purchase beginning in 2009. In 2010, Armstrong was unable to return due to injury, but his Team RadioShack teammate Levi Leipheimer, riding in his first mountain bike race, won and set a new course record of 6:16:37. In the concurrent women's race, two-time winner Rebecca Rusch also broke the course record, which had stood since 1997. In 2011, a conflict with the Tour of Utah kept Leipheimer away, but U.S. national cross-country bike champion Todd Wells turned in the second-fastest time ever to win, 6:23:38, while Rusch won the women's race again and shaved over 15 minutes off her previous record, with 7:31:46.

Men's winner

Year Name, State or Country Time
1994 John Stamstad, , Ohio 7:52:53
1995 Russell Worley, , California 7:27:55
1996 Mike Volk, , Colorado 7:22:02
1997 Mike Volk (2), , Colorado 7:05:45
1998 Richard Feldman, , Idaho 7:40:02
1999 Richard Feldman (2), , Idaho 7:10:33
2000 Kevin Willson, , Colorado 7:31:09
2001 Bryson Perry, , Utah 7:30:01
2002 Bryson Perry (2), , Utah 7:32:27
2003 David Wiens, , Colorado 7:07:44
2004 David Wiens (2), , Colorado 7:05:51
2005 David Wiens (3), , Colorado 7:17:47
2006 David Wiens (4), , Colorado 7:13:14
2007 David Wiens (5), , Colorado 6:58:46
2008 David Wiens (6), , Colorado 6:45:45
2009 Lance Armstrong, , Texas 6:28:51
2010 Levi Leipheimer, , California 6:16:37
2011 Todd Wells, , Colorado 6:23:38
2012 Alban Lakata, , Austria 6:32:23
2013 Alban Lakata (2), , Austria 6:04:01*
2014 Todd Wells (2), , Colorado 6:16:27
2015 Alban Lakata (3), , Austria 5:58:35

Women's winner

Year Name, State Time
1994 Laurie Brandt, , Colorado 9:03:50
1995 Laurie Brandt (2), , Colorado 8:52:58
1996 Tonia Ralston, , Wyoming 9:56:15
1997 Laurie Brandt (3), , Colorado 7:58:52
1998 Laurie Brandt (4), , Colorado 8:31:24
1999 Cristina Begy, , Colorado 8:55:12
2000 Cristina Begy (2), , Colorado 9:13:51
2001 Joan Miller, , Colorado 9:11:30
2002 Jay Swenson, , Minnesota 1:00:57
2003 Carol Quinn, , Colorado 9:19:49
2004 Jilene Mecham, , Utah 9:37:18
2005 Joan Miller (2), , Colorado 8:51:26
2006 Lisel Robert, , Utah 8:47:39
2007 Gretchen Reeves, , Colorado 8:05:29
2008 Susan Williams, , Colorado 8:40:55
2009 Rebecca Rusch, , Idaho 8:14:53
2010 Rebecca Rusch (2), , Idaho 7:47:35
2011 Rebecca Rusch (3), , Idaho 7:31:46
2012 Rebecca Rusch (4), , Idaho 7:28:06
2013 Sally Bigham, , Great Britain 7:17:01*
2014 Sally Bigham (2), , Great Britain 7:23:58
2015 Annika Langvad, , California 6:59:24

References

  1. ↑ Scully, Lizzy (July 2009). "Ken Chlouber's Leadville". Mountain Flyer Magazine (13): 22.

See also

External links

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