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Keegan Swenson defended the men’s title and Sofia Gomez Villafane captured her first at the Whiskey Off-Road on Sunday. Both competed in the 50 Proof Course, a total of 47.2 miles with 6,500 feet of elevation gain.
After 50 miles of dirt singletrack sprinkled with rock outcroppings and little to no shade across the high desert terrain, Villafane left enough in the tank to outsprint Alexis Skarda on the pavement in downtown Prescott, Arizona.
“This one is special. I have experienced a lot of heartbreak in previous years at Whiskey Off-Road. This year my main objective was to give the climbing goat (@alexisskarda) the best battle I was capable of that day,” Villafane said on Instagram.
Skarda won the 2022 women’s division with more than one minute over Rose Grant, and Villafane posting a sixth-place time close to 15 minutes back. Villafane, who won the Fuego XL MTB event to take the early lead for women in the Life Time Grand Prix, had two other top 10s at Whiskey Off-Road in 2018 and 2019.
For Swenson, it was his third consecutive victory in the men’s pro division of the backcountry race, and the second time he held off Russell Finsterwald for the victory. This time out, the 2022 Life Time Grand Prix series winner was four minutes, 50 seconds ahead of his rival.
“The Whiskey Off-Road has become one of my favorite events of the season, and this edition was no different. Tons of rad trails, and nowhere to hide…. Flat-out racing start to finish,” Swenson noted on his social feed.
Like Villafane, Swenson holds the early lead in his division of the Life Time Grand Prix by winning Fuego XL’s men’s race. Both Swenson and Villafane also won the Friday night showdown in Prescott at El Yucateco Hot Sauce Pro Fat Tire Crit.
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