CASCADE— The willingness of Romain Dumas to do without sleep helped the Frenchman take Pikes Peak and complete an unprecedented week of racing.
Dumas captured The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb as it celebrated its 100th anniversary Sunday by speeding up the 12.42-mile mountain course in 8 minutes, 51.445 seconds, beating Rhys Millen’s electric car by nearly six seconds.
The celebration of the Hill Climb’s anniversary wasn’t without incident; Scottish motor-
cyclist Connor Toner was taken to a hospital in serious condition.
Seven days before Sunday’s run to the clouds, Dumas won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an endurance race in France and the longest-running race of its kind in the world.
“A lot of people were thinking about winning both,” said Dumas, who also won Pikes Peak in 2014. “I didn’t want to think of that. But when I finished Le Mans I said, ‘OK, I won Le Mans, now hopefully I can get Pikes Peak.’ ”
Getting there required plenty of stamina. After enduring the 24-hour, 3,000-mile race in France, Dumas spent another sleepless night celebrating with his Porsche team. He then flew to the United States but remained too excited to sleep.
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