LEADVILLE — After another year of hype, “Lance vs. Levi” never materialized at the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race Saturday. Still, the 17th annual “Race Across the Sky” managed to deliver as promised.
With defending champion Lance Armstrong sitting out because of a sore hip from a crash in the Tour de France, RadioShack teammate Levi Leipheimer took the reins and the course record from his friend. The road cyclist from Santa Rosa, Calif., bested Armstrong’s 2009 mark by more than 12 minutes in his first major mountain bike race, winning in 6 hours, 16 minutes, 37.2 seconds.
The deepest field in LT100 history saw the men’s and women’s records broken as seven racers bested the seven-hour mark previously achieved only by Armstrong and six-time champion Dave Wiens of Gunnison. Defending women’s champion Rebecca Rusch of Ketchum, Idaho, broke the women’s record, winning in 7:47:35.
Armstrong’s 2009 record (6:28:50) was bested by Leipheimer and race runner-up Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski of Boulder, who finished his first LT100 in 6:25:21. Despite the defending champion’s absence, it was his influence that brought Leipheimer and a record field of 1,320 riders to the 10,152-foot starting line.
“It was a good thing (Armstrong) wasn’t here because it would have just made it that much harder,” Leipheimer said. “It was brutal, but I’m happy I did it. And I tell you, everybody who does this race is tough. They should be proud of themselves.”
Leipheimer slugged it out for 85 miles with reigning marathon mountain bike national champion Horgan-Kobelski before creating a gap on the final technical uphill known as “Powerline” and stretching his lead to 8:44.2 by the race’s finish.
Horgan-Kobelski’s 2008 Olympic teammate and reigning cross country national champion, Todd Wells of Durango, finished third in 6:30:31, followed by Wiens with a personal best time of 6:33:54.
“It’s pretty cool seeing these kinds of riders at the LT100,” Wiens said. “That’s smoking fast.”
Leipheimer and Wells overcame a close call that nearly took both racers out of contention when they collided after Leip-heimer misread the course and slammed on his brakes. Wells hit Leipheimer from behind, bending his front wheel and sending Leipheimer over the handlebars.
“I hit the ground pretty hard,” Leip-heimer said. “I’ve never been in this race before, so I probably shouldn’t have been in the front.”
Wells traded front wheels with Durango neighbor Ned Overend, 55, who was happy to help his Specialized teammate and still finish first in his age division, 27th overall.
“I was coming out of that pack one way or another, that’s for sure,” Overend said of the gesture in his first 100-mile mountain bike race. “The pace was too fast for me.”
Leipheimer credited his blistering pace of 15.9 mph to a combination of the fitness he established during last month’s Tour de France and the pressure applied by Horgan-Kobelski throughout the race.
“I think it was partly because Jeremy was so strong and the other riders were so strong that I was able to break the record,” Leipheimer said. “I have no illusions of being one of the best mountain bikers. Those guys are super strong and they have unbelievable skills. When it was a little bit technical, Jeremy was gapping me.”
As for the race itself, Leipheimer put the single-day epic on par with the most difficult stages of the Tour de France.
Although the wide-open nature of the course favors road riders, the 14,000 feet of climbing at altitude reaching 12,500 feet combined to create a course as challenging as he had ever faced.
“I was surprised how hard it was,” Leipheimer said. “I guess I didn’t have enough respect for it.”
Scott Willoughby: 303-954-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com
