Swenson and Villafañe win Crusher within the Tushar with file occasions

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Keegan Swenson and Sofía Gómez Villafañe took out the lads’s and girls’s classes of Crusher within the Tushar, each ending in file occasions and stretching out their already sturdy main positions within the Life Time Grand Prix sequence.

They each shed their rivals early within the Utah race with a excessive altitude end at Eagle Level, over 10,000 toes (3,000m). Swenson initially took off with Peter Stetina however when Stetina dropped a series the 2023 Unbound winner rapidly settled in for an extended solo effort for the most important a part of the climb heavy 69 mile race (111km).

“At all times enjoyable throwing down within the Tushars!,” stated Swenson in an Instagram publish. “Pleased to defend the title in the present day however much more stoked to go sub 4 hours on this beast of a course.”

Swenson completed in 3:56:42, greater than five-and-a-half minutes quicker than his successful time of final yr whereas the subsequent rider throughout the road in was the chasing Stetina, practically 4 minutes again. Matthew Beers took third a bit of over two minutes later.

Villafañe additionally delivered a file – knocking greater than six minutes off the 2022 successful time of Haley Smith – when she crossed the road in 4:49:43 with a bonus of greater than two minutes to Lauren De Crescenzo in second whereas Flavia Oliveira Parks got here third lower than a minute again. The 2022 winner, Smith, came visiting the road in fourth.

Crusher within the Tushar was the third spherical of the Life Time Grand Prix, the place 70 prime cyclists compete for a $250,000 prize purse. The primary spherical of the seven-race sequence was the Fuego XL 100K cross-country MTB race and the second the 200 mile Unbound. Sofia Gomez Villafañe was already on the prime of the chief board earlier than Crusher within the Tushar, having come first at Fuego and second in Unbound behind Carolin Schiff, who shouldn’t be a part of the sequence.

After the wins in Utah, on the course which took on the identical brutal climb from two instructions, Villafañe now has 105 factors within the sequence, along with her closest rivals being Sarah Sturm – who completed sixth at Crusher within the Tushar – and Smith who’re each on 96 factors.

Within the males’s class Swenson additionally has taken the highest factors out there after successful all three of the races within the sequence to this point. He sits on 105 factors with Russell Finsterwald in second on 92 after he completed eleventh at Eagle Level. Lachlan Morton is third within the sequence on 88 factors after coming fourth at Crusher within the Tushar.

The fourth race is the Leadville Path 100 MTB on August 12, then it’s the Chequamegon MTB Competition on September 16, The Rad Filth Fest on September 30 main right into a Massive Sugar Gravel finale on October 21.