Lance Armstrong got his revenge at the Leadville Trail 100 today and set a new course record for the mountain bike race, finishing in a time of 6:28:50 (almost 20 minutes faster than last year). He rolled into the finish line with a flat tire and went right to his trailer without stopping to talk to the press so it’s hard to know how he felt at the end. Word is that he rode on that flat tire for the last 15 miles of the race! Whatsamatter Lance, you don’t know how to fix a flat mountain bike tire yourself? 🙂
Six-time winner and local favorite Dave Weins took second and finished the race about 20-30 minutes behind Lance. As he crossed the finish line the woman on the live webcast asked him “What slowed you down this year?” right off the bat and Weins looked a little insulted at the question (can you blame him?). He basically said he thought he did a pretty good job and that he gave it his all against the 7-time Tour de France champion.
Tinker Juarez had a mechanical issue early in the race (a broken seatpost clamp?) that forced him to exit the course.
Judging by the crowds in the webcast it looks like this was the largest turnout for the Leadville Trail 100 to date. According to race organizers more than 1,000 riders representing 47 states and 8 countries toed the start line this morning. After watching the webcast I think I need to start training for next year’s race right now 🙂
