Leadville Trail 100 MTB presented by Kenetik returns for a 32nd edition and, for the first time, has a modified route. Organisers Life Time were able to continue with planning for this year's mountain bike endurance race after Colorado wildfires caused a large swath of the area in Lake County to be evacuated and then closed through the end of September. By early August, just two weeks before the race, Life Time was able to confirm a 102-mile route, or 101.3 miles on the Strava map, reduced by less than three miles from previous years.
The climb to Columbine Mine, elevation 12,424 feet above sea level, remains the main pinnacle on the out-and-back course, as it has since the first race in 1994. This year, this climb, and the tricky descent with rough double-track dirt and two-way traffic, will be even more pivotal as the finishing climbs were removed. With no Powerline climb with 20 miles to go, and its menacing sections above 20% gradient, the new return to Leadville will be about positioning and proper hydration once at the bottom of Columbine with 43 miles to go.
