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Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz) and Sofía Gómez Villafañe (Specialized) continued on with a powerful run of results at SBT GRVL, continuing to deliver dominant form on the champagne gravel of Steamboat Springs just a week after they both took victory at the Leadville Trail 100 MTB.
It was also another record time for Swenson, who finished with a time of five hours, 57 minutes on the 142 mile (229 km) course with approximately 9,200 feet (2,800m) of climbing on a day that unfolded with gusty winds and a temperature of 32°C.
Petr Vakoč (Canyon) came over the line next, just over two minutes later, while it was then a tight battle for third, with Alexey Vermeulen (Jukebox-Shimano-Q+M) edging out Peter Stetina and Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost) in the sprint to the line.
The race broke up early, with Swenson forcing a selection just miles in with an early attack that split the field.
”I figured if I went early we could get a few guys together … and we could roll and maybe that would be the move, or at the very least there would be another group chasing and then even if it came back together at least it would be a more select group rather than 60 or 70,” said Swenson in a post race interview on SBT GRVL instagram. “Because that is just kind of stressful racing when the pack is that big.”
Ultimately it came down to a small group out the front, including Swenson, Stetina, Vermeulen, Morton, Rob Britton (Factor Bikes), Payson McElveen, Adam Roberge and Howard Grotts (Specialized). The attacks, however, continued and that was pared down even further to the duo of Swenson and Vakoč.
The pair had gone one, two at Unbound in June where the Czech rider surprised with…
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