Keegan Swenson went solo early to secure victory at the 69 mile (111km) Crusher in the Tushar, extending his lead in the Life Time Grand Prix series as he took out top points for the third race in a row.
The Utah-based rider took the win at his home round with a margin of more than 11 minutes and a time of 4:02:24, a new course record. It was however a tight battle for the remaining places on the podium in the race through the Tushar Mountains, which had a 60/40 gravel to tarmac split and featured 10,400 feet of climbing (3,169m).
The 2021 winner Peter Stetina, Griffin Easter and Cole Paton were altogether on the approach to the line. In the end Paton won the sprint to take second while Easter secured the final spot on the podium ahead of the defending champion.
Swenson, who took third when he last raced the Crusher in the Tushar in 2017, has been a regular on the top steps of the podium this year. The reigning US mountain bike national champion in both short track and cross country won the first round of the series, the Sea Otter Classic Fuego MTB 80k in April, and then came second to Ivar Slik at Unbound. However, the Dutchman isn’t part of the Life Time Grand Prix series, so Swenson took top points.
After the Crusher in the Tushar victory, Swenson is now sitting on the highest possible tally of 90 at the halfway mark of the series, 15 points ahead of Russell Finsterwald in second, with Alexey Vermeulen a further 2 points back in third.
“This one felt good, in my home state and I think the course suits me well,” said Swenson of his Crusher victory, before then looking to the next round. “As I’m getting excited for Leadville, this is definitely a good training race and pretty comparable to the climbing.”
The Leadville Trail 100 MTB in Colorado is on August 13, then the series continues with the 40-mile Chequamegon MTB in Wisconsin on September 17 and finally the 100-mile Big Sugar Gravel in Arkansas on October 22.
| Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keegan Swenson | 4:02:24 |
| 2 | Cole Paton | 4:13:53 |
| 3 | Griffin Easter | … |
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