Todd Wells and Rebecca Rusch (both on the Specialized team) won Saturday's Leadville Trail 100-mile mountain bike race on a sparkling clear warm day in the Colorado Rockies.
Called "Race Across the Sky," and known as the most prestigious ultra-distance race in the U.S., the 18th annual Leadville Trail 100 officially became a Rusch showcase Saturday on a day when more than 2,000 cyclists took part.
Ketchum firefighter Rusch, 43, shattered the course record she set last year, by nearly 16 minutes. With her third consecutive Leadville victory, she became the only three-time women's winner since the high-altitude event began in 1994.
Rusch placed 41st overall of 1,276 finishers on the 103-mile course with a time of 7.31:46. It was nearly four minutes ahead of second-place woman Gretchen Reeves of Avon, Colo. (7.35:38) in what was called the most competitive women's Leadville 100 MTB race ever.
In fact, the top four women across the line finished ahead of Rusch's old record. 2007 Leadville winner Reeves was second, followed by endurance specialist Pua Mata and Jenny Smith of Gunnison, Colo. Mata won July's Galena Grinder.
Rusch won the Leadville 100 race in 2010 with a 7.47:35 time and in 2009 at 8.14:53. Her finishing time was only 4:40 behind former Boulder Mountain Ski Tour winner, four-time Olympian and 2010 Olympic Nordic combined gold medalist Billy DeMong, 31, of New York.
Two-time Olympian Wells, 35, third last year at Leadville, rode most of the second half of the 100-miler alone in his second attempt at the race. A resident of Durango, Colo., Wells is originally from Kingston, N.Y.
He briefly appeared on track to match the 6.16:37 course record set by Levi Leipheimer last year, but Wells faded a bit in the last 15 miles and ended up with a 6.23:38 time—second best in Leadville 100 MTB annals.
Both Wells and Rusch won national championships during July's Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival/USA Cycling National Championships on Baldy.
In Saturday's women's race, Galena Grinder queen Mata went on a solo attack early in the race and Rusch at one point was almost three minutes behind. But Mata suffered some mechanical problems and Rusch poured on the speed up the Columbine climb and held off the chase in the final miles.
One of the world's most punishing races with steep climbs and descents, the Leadville 100 begins at 10,152-foot elevation and reaches 12,550 feet at Columbine Mountain.
It has been a busy summer of non-stop traveling and racing for Rusch, including seven days of riding through sand and changing flat tires at the Titan Desert Stage Race in Morocco.
She won the Cascade Cream Puff 100-miler in Oregon and finished seventh overall. Rusch shared the podium again with Lance Armstrong when she won the Alpine Odyssey Leadville Qualifier Race at Crested Butte, Colo.—"an awesome place to ride," she said.
Rusch earned a USA Cycling National Championship singlespeed title in front of her home crowd in Ketchum.
About that event, Rusch said, "The week of nationals was absolutely my favorite week in the nine years I've lived in the Wood River Valley. There was so much energy and more cyclists enjoying our home trails and our town than I've ever seen. The event was stellar and everyone's hard work paid off."
Other locals at Leadville
Ketchum's Roger Mankus, 54, finished the Leadville 100 for a third consecutive year with a final time of 10.50:08, good for 83rd in the Men's 50-59 age class and 739th overall.
His Leadville times have been remarkably consistent, 10.44:56 in 2010 and 10.43:22 two years ago in Colorado.
Will Raff, 58, of Hailey finished Saturday's Leadville 100 bike race in 11.15:01, good for 110th in the Men's 50-59 class and 883rd overall.
Rebecca Rusch racing in Saturday’s Leadville 100 in the high elevations of Colorado. Courtesy photo
