Leadville 100, really a mountain bike race?

Don't know that much about it but it always seems to be won by essentialy roadies, is it really a proper mountain bike race or 100 miles of fire road?

Have to agree with you. An average of 17mph for a 100mile mtb race is just silly. From the photos and the documentary, it looks like it is almost all fire road.

MTB is definitely the most suitable bike for it, but I'd really love to see Levi clock up a similar time by doing something like the Selkirk Marathon, twice, to get 100miles.

He'd probably surprise us by doubling his dose and making it look easy.

Don't know that much about it but it always seems to be won by essentialy roadies

Or in other words fit people 🙂

is it really a proper mountain bike race or 100 miles of fire road?

It goes up real proper mountains.
Having said that I think the runners version has a lot more singletrack than the mtb equivelent.

Think the average was 15.2 or 15.3 when Lance won it last year. Admittedly fast for a mtb event especially if you think the winner of this years Kielder will be around 8.5hr mark.

You'll probably find that 'roadies' win most mtb events. In that i mean will do most of there training on the road

If race=fit, rather than skilful, I agree. That's why Trans Provence is set up like it is to nullify just fit bods and reward skill.

Cos them roadie blokes (and girlies) can hardly ride bikes as they are only doing a few 10's of thousands of kms a year.

Leadville may not be hard technically as in lots of singletrack. But then it's at altitude so just breathing could be considered as a technical difficulty IMHO.

I would think that Levi or Lance etc could probably rock up to any xc mtb race and win it regardless of the course.

Iain

I think there is a question of fitness. Whenever there is a roadie (Hector Guerra ex-Liberty Seguros, Paco Mancebo Heraklion Kastro-Murcia) to name two, have competed in the XC races here, they have generally won by significant margins. It is quite spectacular to see someone take a minute per lap over a 7km (proper) MTB course. Mancebo is also Spanish Maraton Champion. Last year he was in the wilderness regarding teams and was being encouraged to sign a pro MTB contract, but he said that he didn't have the technical level to compete professionally, could've fooled me!

Have you seen Levi ride a MTB, you might want to YouTube that before you state he can't ride a bike. He's not too bad really. And yeah what he said ^ these guys are machines, juiced or not.

Looks alright.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32spI_I2SC8

Are you for real? Have you seen the whole doc, or just the trailer? It's racing on big mountains, starting at 10000 feet, with the biggest climb being nearly 3000 feet. The world of mountainbiking is a lot wider than just a strip of singletrack.

Wiens has been racing mtb's as a pro since the 80's. 2nd through 5th all went to mountainbikers.

Comparing it with the Trans Provence isn't really like for like either is it- T-P is a stage race of largely timed descents, linked by untimed climbs. It's more a rally than a race.

I would think that Levi or Lance etc could probably rock up to any xc mtb race and win it regardless of the course.

Lance did a NORBA XC race a number of years ago, he didn't win and said it was the hardest thing he'd ever done on a bike. Road racing is a very different fitness to XC racing, as Levi said.

Lance also won Colorado state XC champs last year – that was a proper technical mountain bikers course and he killed it. He said afterwards that he warmed up for 3 hours 'cause the race was only 2 hours long!

Anyone who rides a bike as much as they do will have a pretty good understanding of how to handle a bike.

You've only got to watch some of them descending on the road to know they can tell what they're doing! Cancellara notably.

Wasn't Leipheimer a moutnain biker originally, there was some sort of development progmra that got the US ski team into Mountain biking from off season training and then a few road teams picked them up from there

Plenty of roadies are mtbers too – particularly in the off season – so they're at least as much 'proper' mtbers as the majority of people on here.

Some are natural bike handlers and they're equally good off road, some are rubbish and ditto 🙂

That fire road on the Levi YouTube looks pretty narrow to me. As expected he can ride technically as well a physically a whole lot better than I can. But then I don't think of myself as an MTBer or a Roadie to be fair.Just a Bikie.

Remember too that people like LA, LL etc get paid big bucks to ride road bikes. Even if they wanted to try some more "extreme" moves on their rides I'm sure they are mature enough to know where to set the limits.

why not enter the race and then you can tell us first hand !

Mine wasn't a criticism, just a comment, I ride more Road than mtb, love the whole road race thin, followed the tour this year etc. I was just pointing out that fitness can overcome most things technical particularly if climbing is involved, thats why the mountains decide the tour so often.

The current world champion, Cadel, was a top class mtb racer and ex mtb racers are renowned for their bike handling on the protour.

Only really on the stages when things get a bit silly – eg the cobbled stage in the TdF this year or the Strade Bianche in the Giro. On fast road descents, I don't reckon mtb experience counts for much.

ex mtb racers are renowned for their bike handling on the protour.

Not really. There are some MTBers that are a bit gash, and some non-MTBers who are very skilled indeed. I'm with clubber.

Mind you that doesn't stop Liggit and Sherwin going on about it all the time which is probably where the misconception originates – lazy commentary IMO which is odd as most of the rest of it is pretty good.

the cobbled stage in the TdF this year

I disagee there, 35mph over cobbles on a road bike bears no relation to an XC race. I remember going to belgium and racing over the cobbles for the first time as a junior, I was all cocky cos I still raced XC the year before and rode cross all winter. People told me it would count for naught but I didn't really believe them. They were right, I got spat out as soon as we hit the first section 😳

There are some MTBers that are a bit gash, and some non-MTBers who are very skilled indeed.

so true!

Interesting to hear but I've found the opposite or maybe all the roadies I ride with are really crap on cobbles 🙂

Or better still, I'm awesome 😉

I think it looks an awsome event. 100 miles on a mtb and what 12,000ft of climbing right? With a start at 10,000ft? Thats almost as high as the Eiger and that's where you start!!!!!! Marmotte is 15,000ft and 110 miles but you get to do that on a road bike on tarmac.

Hats off to anyone who gets round that, let alone wins it.

This weekend, anybody riding it?

a minute per lap over a 7km (proper) MTB course.

240mph? Impressive indeed!

You think that’s tough (and it is), they also do a Leadville 100 Trail Run on foot!! 😯

Blimey if you doubt the Leadvilles claim to being an MTB ‘race’ then heavens knows what you think of some of the bigger events closer to home.

Duc – you thinking of Landis? not sure Leipheimer was a mountainbiker…dunno though.

Chainline, I love that understatemebt about Evans “was a top class MTBer” as in double world champion top class.

Anyway shall we discuss the difference between a race and an event. In my book a race means competing against others for placings regardless of speed time and distance as in an XC race.

clubber – Member
Mind you that doesn’t stop Liggit and Sherwin going on about it all the time which is probably where the misconception originates – lazy commentary IMO which is odd as most of the rest of it is pretty good

Hmm, not sure i’ve ever thought ligget and sherwin’s commentary is that good 😉 you can tell they’re paid by the americans.

not that eurosport is any better.

I do remember seeing Robbie McEwen wheelie across the line winning crit in central london in about 1998 though. Those BMX skills were finally coming good.

240mph? Impressive indeed!

I think that is when suspicions were first raised and Hector is now serving a two year ban for doping.

I do remember seeing Robbie McEwen wheelie across the line winning crit in central london in about 1998 though. Those BMX skills were finally coming good.

wasn’t that the Alp d’uez time trial?

😆

In the truest sense of the word it’s a mountain bike race, it’s a race, which goes up mountains, big ones. It’s certainly not vastly technical, but it’s tough!

There’s an article in an early singletrack magazine by Keith Whitwell on racing the Leadville 100. He found it quite hard – and Keith’s not too shabby.

is it really a proper mountain bike race or 100 miles of fire road?

I’m sure the participants would wonder whether a few laps of a tiny course with height climbed measured in tens of feet should be allowed to call itself a proper mountain bike race.

Very good point, well made TooTall 🙂

FWIW in the qualifier event this year, Lance won the race on the descent – or at least that was where he closed the gap on the rider leading at that point so there’s evidently some technical skill required.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/leadville-100-qualifier-crested-butte-alpine-odyssey-2011/results

The seven-time Tour de France champ shut down a one-minute gap to eventual second-place finisher Greg Krause all during the final six-mile singletrack section that wound around the shoulder of Crested Butte Mountain Resort.

“That’s usually not my specialty,” said Armstrong, who was riding a 29er hardtail. “But for some reason today I sort of felt in the groove and was able to come around the guy on the last downhill. That definitely surprised me.”

You’ve only got to watch some of them descending on the road to know they can tell what they’re doing! Cancellara notably.

And they don’t wear any protection, unlike the girly mtb’ers … 😈

IMO the Kielder 100 is a poor relation to MTB races.. due to a poor course selection – still its a tough race
but the much shorter Tour de Ben Nevis (a mere 42 miles) is definitely a proper MTB race

The Leadville.. who knows but 100miles sat on an MTB its going to be tough.

If you have been and ridden on the course you will know it’s and MTB race. I have and it’s hard. Powerline down is great, back up it is a killer.