2022 was a year of novel career achievements for Keegan Swenson. The mountain bike pro has won US national titles in cross-country and short track XC disciplines, including all three levels of cross-country as a junior, U23 and elite rider.
He has won Leadville Trail 100 MTB twice, Telluride 100, Breckenridge Epic, and Pikes Peak Apex. And he has the fastest time in the 100-mile White Rim Trail in Moab, Utah, completing the ride in under five and a half hours. What else did he need to prove this year? Apparently, a lot.
“This year was a lot of firsts. You know, I did a 24-hour solo, I did Road Worlds, Unbound,” Swenson told Cyclingnews as the newly-crowned men’s pro champion of the Life Time Grand Prix off-road series. “Honestly, I don’t I know yet what next year brings, maybe some new stuff.“
His big firsts of the year included a last-minute invitation to join Team USA at the UCI Road World Championships in Australia, where he was the second-best US finisher, trailing the race winner Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) by 6:20, in 73rd position. The top US rider was Neilson Powless, 18th overall.
“Road Worlds was a great experience. I think I learned a fair bit there. And man, it was just crazy,” he recalled about the 266.9km men’s road race.
“It was such a different style of racing than I’ve ever done. I’ve only ever done small kinds of domestic road races. So to race on a stage that big was pretty cool. It was a great time and I would do it again if I had the opportunity.”
The feat in the Old Pueblo Race set the tone for his fitness for the rest of the year. In his inaugural appearance there, he netted 336 miles (540 km) with 15,855 feet (4,832 m) of climbing for the current 24-hour record.
His ride at Unbound Gravel 200 landed on his calendar as the second stop on the Life Time Grand Prix series. He took second at Unbound, but grabbed top points as the best Grand Prix rider in the event.
He mathematically secured his victory at Chequamegon, using Big Sugar as a victory lap. In all, Swenson was the top male finisher at four of the events in the Life Time Grand Prix and never had a race finish out of the top four. The $25,000 cash prize was the biggest overall check he has received for an overall win.
There’s not a lot of ‘new stuff’ that Swenson can do on two wheels.
“Yeah, I had it locked up going in today. So there was no pressure. The last few weeks I have been relatively chill, we just have to finish, or just roll across the start…
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