On Saturday, Kate Courtney set a new women’s record for the Leadville Trail 100 MTB race by more than 10 minutes, besting the time set by Annika Langvad way back in 2015. Though many of the top riders choose to run drop bars on their mountain bikes for Leadville, Courtney won on an Allied BC40 cross-country bike with flat bars.
The Leadville Trail 100 MTB race was “some of the best racing I’ve ever done in the US,” Courtney told a reporter following her record-breaking finish. She later posted on Instagram, “For me, this race was about more than a record or a win. I had one of the most meaningful days of my cycling career in a place and at a race that I never expected to be.” The win follows an injury earlier this year that has kept her off the World Cup race circuit since May.
This was Courtney’s first time racing the Leadville Trail 100 MTB race, and she led the field beginning around the halfway mark to deliver the definitive win. When asked if she would be signing up for the Lifetime Grand Prix series, Courtney replied, “Not quite yet.”
Are drop bars faster for Leadville?
With an official finish time of 6:48:54, Courtney became just the second woman to finish under seven hours, and the first since Langvad’s 6:59:24 finish 10 years ago. This year’s second-place finisher, Melisa Rollins, became the third woman under the seven-hour mark. Though Courtney chose to go with a flat-bar setup, Rollins was running drop bars on her mountain bike.
Ceclie Decker officially took third place on her drop-bar mountain bike despite finishing behind Lauren Stephens. Stephens was disqualified after the race for taking aid outside of an official zone.
On the men’s side, Keegan Swenson notched yet another Leadville win on his drop-bar setup. Second-place finisher John Gaston rode flat bars, while third-place men’s finisher Simon Pellaud rode with drop bars.
Given the mixed results from the men’s and women’s races, it’s unclear if drop bars give riders an advantage for the 100-mile race. On the one hand, two out of the three top finishers on both the men’s and women’s sides chose drop bars. Still, Courtney won the women’s race on flat bars, and Gaston gave the dominant Swenson his closest competition despite going flat-bar.
It’s clear that aerodynamics play a big role in the Leadville Trail 100 MTB race at the highest level of competition. With the top men and women averaging 14-16mph over 100 miles, a low-drag position is important on the big descents and long, flat pedal sections. Courtney, for her part, was seen in an aggressive tuck on the final approach to the finish line, at one point placing her hands on her fork stanchions to get as low as possible.
The UCI does not allow drop bars in mountain bike races, which makes their use controversial in races such as the Leadville Trail 100 MTB.
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