2024 Tour Divide Debrief: Days 1-2

Photos by Eddie Clark, except where noted; lead photo shows LT (Laurens Ten Dam) who was in 4th place and surprisingly in good spirits as he rode by on lower Red Meadow Rd.

If there was any doubt that Tour Divide was becoming more of an international race, the pointy end of the start of this year’s event has squashed any questions. Of the top 11 men, only one is from the United States, proving that this field is a far cry from the event just a few years ago, when it was largely American-dominated. With the addition of riders coming from all around the world, there’s no question that the pace of the race will potentially lead to new records.

Contenders

With last year’s top two, Ulrich Bartholmoes and Justinas Leveika, returning and no doubt gunning for the late Mike Hall’s record, it’s no surprise that the race went out fast from the onset. Both riders were involved in the infamous port-a-potty in the Great Basin incident of 2023, where mud stopped them, and Jens Van Roost of Belgium, in their tracks, forcing them to take shelter in a port-a-potty for the night, potentially costing one of them the course record.

Joining the pair is Dutch rider Laurens Ten Dam, a former World Tour Pro who raced for European road teams including Rabobank GS3, BankGiroLoterij, Unibet.com, LottoNL–Jumbo, Team Sunweb, and CCC Team before switching to gravel racing after 2019. Former Arizona Trail 800 record-holder Alex Shultz also has the potential to ride at the front.

Interestingly, several riders expected to feature near the front are also aiming for the Triple Crown of bikepacking, completing the Tour Divide, Colorado Trail Race, and Arizona Trail Race 800 in a single calendar year. Bartholomoes and Shultz have both set this intention for the summer, so one has to ask if this will influence how they approach Tour Divide, the first and longest of the three events.

On the women’s side, after 36 hours of racing, it looks like it will be a showdown between Meaghan Hackinen and 2022 Triple Crown finisher Ana Jager. Both have extensive bikepacking resumes and experience.

Jager is just off of a solo 19-day ride on the 1,000-mile Iditarod trail and was the second woman to ever complete the bikepacking Triple Crown in 2022. That year, she won the Tour Divide in 19 days and 54 minutes. She went on to place second in the Colorado Trail, and then, somewhat on a whim, showed up for the Arizona Trail and won both the 300-mile and 800-mile race in fine fashion. Hackinen, meanwhile, has won the 24-hour Time Trial World Championships twice, as well as a heap of bikepacking races, including the 2023 Dark Divide 300, Ozark Gravel Doom (406 miles), and the Log Driver’s Waltz. She also finished the 2022 Transcontinental Race.

The Uncontrollables

The two big uncontrollable factors that can make the biggest differences in this race are weather and fire, and even just 36 hours in, it seems like both will be in play this edition. While the race started under partly cloudy skies in Banff, a cold front is forecasted to move through northern Montana on Saturday night and last until about Tuesday. Strong winds will precede the front, and once again, this could be a case where the front of the field may stay just ahead of the weather while the middle and back of the pack may be hit hard in the high elevations and latitudes of northern Montana. Tour Divide Fans won’t forget 2022, when several racers had to be rescued out of the Flathead of Canada after getting caught in a severe snowstorm.

Meanwhile, down south, a lightning-caused fire broke out earlier this week on Mangas Mountain, just off the route on the Colorado and New Mexico border. As of Saturday, the 12,397-acre fire is 50% contained. Colorado and the Southwest have seen a drastic heat-up in the past week, so only time will tell if fire detours will affect the face.

The Race

It’s curious to consider whether the wave start format that Tour Divide has seen in the past couple of years has influenced how fast people take out the initial 24 hours. Now, instead of all speeds being mixed together, racers with similar goal times start in smaller waves in intervals. There may be less of a frantic pace for the front of the field to get clear of the peloton, and those further back in the field may be able to avoid getting caught up in the get-up-and-go speed that is generally best avoided at the start of a 2,700-mile race.

The highlight, or perhaps lowlight of day one, depending on who you ask, is the relatively recent addition of the Koko Claims hike-a-bike about 100 miles into the race. Initially added to the race in 2017, it served as a detour around a bridge that was washed out due to flooding. Now, it’s a unique addition to the Tour Divide route. Posting on his Instagram, Bartholmoes described the section, “The tourist guide might describe it as a challenging and rewarding climb for avid hikers and mountain enthusiasts. The ascent is steep and demanding, offering rugged terrain and dramatic elevation gain. In reality, you’d probably call it a scree slope with boulders the size of a child’s head that only crazy people would climb with a bike on their back. But so be it. It’s part of the journey. And they said it’s fun…”

Bartholomoes spent the early hours of the race riding with Leveika and Ten Dam, the trio pulling away from the rest of the field before reaching Koko Claims. After the hoof over the hill, the three took a quick nap in Fernie before continuing on. It’s worth noting that the bear factor is real, and many people, especially those who don’t regularly recreate in bear country, often opt to stay in towns at night to avoid sleeping out with grizzlies wandering in the woods, even if it means stopping early or riding late. It seems that the leading three went for this strategy, stopping in town around 7:30 p.m. Ten Dam stayed the longest, not departing until after 1 a.m., while Leveika and Bartholmoes rolled out just after 11 p.m.

Reports from Bartholmoes’ Instagram indicate a cold night, with temperatures dropping below freezing, which is not an unusual situation for higher elevations in Canada during this time of year.

Behind them, several riders opted out of a significant stop, including Tomas Fabian from Czech Republic and Dirty Dan from California. Fabian, in fact, was the first to leave Fernie while the other three napped. Fabian would stay at the front of the race before getting caught by Leveika along the Wigwam River on morning of day two. The two would ride together approaching the border.

Leaving Eureka and climbing over the Whitefish Divide, Leveika pulled away from the rest of the field, leaving Fabian to ride with Bartholmoes. Both were trailed by Ten Dam heading up toward Red Meadow Pass. Based on the speeds of riders coming over Red Mountain Pass, one of the historically snowy areas of the route, snow is not creating much of an issue, as Leveika was able to roll into Whitefish by mid-afternoon.

Further back in the field, racers were hit by snow in the Flathead, with Jackson Long posting a video to his Instagram stories showing him hiking through the snow. Meanwhile, the Mike Hall record dot stays well ahead of the field.

On the women’s side, Meaghan Hackinen and Ana Jager seem to be making their intentions known from the start. Jager led for the early hours of the race, and the duo seemingly spent a significant time either riding together or very near each other. Jager has a goal time of 17 days, and Hackinen is aiming for 18. It seems like there’s the potential for the two women to push each other until the very end.

It was in the Koko Claims section that Hackinen pulled away from Jager. Hackinen stopped around 10 p.m. for a rest in Fernie and left around 3:45 a.m. This nearly six-hour stop could be a smart move given the distance of the race—banking sleep early often pays off in the long run. Meanwhile, Jager, who is clearly comfortable in bear country, rode until 1 a.m., camped on the side of the road, and resumed her movement around 5 a.m., seemingly when Hackinen passed her. This resulted in a significantly shorter stop.

Behind them, eighth-place 2023 Tour Divide finisher Marie-Soleil Blais took a different sleep approach, opting to ride until 2:30 a.m. to make it to Fernie and not move again till nearly 10 a.m. The Lael Wilcox record dot remains well clear the women’s field.

In the single-speed category, Zachary Del Greco has pulled away from Jake Colantonio and Johnny Price, but the Chris Plesko record dot stays ahead.

As of this writing on Saturday late afternoon, weather is starting to move in south of Whitefish and may end up affecting the leaders far more than the rest of the pack as day turns to night.

Check out the 2024 Tour Divide Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map, find our Rigs of the Tour Divide roundups, and stay tuned in for more event coverage. Find it here.

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