2025 Tour Divide Day 11: Elephant in the Room

Barring disaster, sometime in the next day or so, Robin Gemperle will reach the U.S./Mexican border at Antelope Wells, absolutely crushing the previous time set by Justinas Leveika in 2024. The only problem, which has been the elephant in the middle of New Mexico since the early days of the race, is the Trout Fire. Now nearly 50,000 acres, the wildfire has burned through a significant part of the Tour Divide route, and riders have to take a detour to the west, missing about 140 miles of the route, including the CDT singletrack.

This isn’t the first time this detour, which goes through the towns of Mogollon and Glenwood, has been used. A fire in the same region, which is a giant, wooded wilderness area with few roads, detoured the 2022 race, which was won by Sofiane Sehili. That year, the Frenchman rode an amazing time of 14 days and 16 hours under what can only be described as dire weather conditions up north after tying for third place during his rookie run in 2016 and then being turned around just past Brush Mountain Lodge while leading the race during the infamous snowstorm of 2019. 

Of course, the big question on some people’s minds is, “Will Gemperle’s impressive time be considered a Tour Divide record?” If you ask me, trying to compare times year-to-year on a route like Tour Divide that changes nearly annually is a futile and somewhat pointless game that isn’t worth the effort and hand-wringing. What I hope Gemperle’s ride will be remembered for it being wicked fast and winning the race. And if we choose to focus on celebrating that, instead of if it’s a “record” or not, then we don’t have to fret. 

Here’s hoping I’m not jinxing him by talking about him finishing, as the race and route have seen people DNF closer to the border than he is now. With 90-degree Fahrenheit temperatures forecasted for Tuesday, it’s going to be a hot final day for Gemperle. Meanwhile, it looks like the weather may be turning on Wednesday with rain and thunderstorms, along with significantly cooler temperatures, for northern and central New Mexico.

Interestingly, the Tour Divide route deviates significantly from Adventure Cycling Association’s GDMBR through the region south of Cuba, New Mexico, taking the pavement alternate for over 100 miles between Cuba and Grants instead of the dirt road because the off-road route becomes impassable when wet. It’s always been a bit of a head-scratcher of a decision to take riders off the dirt for this bit, especially since many parts of the TD route are impassable when wet, but I suspect there will be some people very happy with the deviation over the course of the next few days. 

Behind Gemperle, a handful of men have also reached New Mexico and will be contending with the Hopewell Lake singletrack, added just last year. Jens van Roost continues to lead the charge, but Jochen Böhringer of Germany and Max Riese of Austria, who have both been incredibly consistent, aren’t far behind. Still, in the past few days, all the men except for Gemperle have fallen behind the JL record dot. 

In sad news, pre-race favorite Svein Tuft finally pulled the plug on the race in Salida after battling a respiratory illness the whole way. He said he was pedaling at 25 percent and that, in the end, “Health trumps everything in my book. But it’s a bummer.” In his Instagram update, he looks decidedly rough. We hope he goes home, recovers, and gives the route another crack next year. 

In the women’s field, Nathalie Baillon continues to lead, though her gap on the Meaghan Hackinen record dot is starting to shrink as she makes her way through southern Colorado. Ana Jager continues in second, about 110 miles back, and Karin Pocock has made a bid for third in her first race of the 2025 Triple Crown. 

Andrew Onermaa stays ahead of Chris Plesko singlespeed record dot and is maintaining a strong gap on Zack Friendly as the pair make their way through the rolling hills of Cochetopa region in southern Colorado. They have one more big climb to the top of Indiana Pass, the Tour Divide high point, before dropping into New Mexico, which is punctuated by steep, loose, if shorter climbs after much of Colorado being more gently graded. I suspect—having never singlespeeded the route—that northern New Mexico is probably significantly harder on a one-geared bike than any other bit of the course. 

It’s wild to think that 11 days into the event, we’re watching the leader make the final push to the border. I think it’s safe to say, once Gemperle is safely at Antelope Wells, that he has truly redefined just how fast one can pedal a bike down the spine of the United States.

Check out the 2025 Tour Divide Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map, see our Rigs of the Tour Divide roundups, and stay tuned in for more event coverage. Find it here.

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