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Congratulations to Alex McCormack of Devon, England, the overall winner of the 2026 Colorado Trail Race! Alex endured intense heat and thick wildfire smoke to complete the rugged route through the Rocky Mountains in just 4 days, 2 hours, and 49 minutes. Find details on his extraordinary ride here…
Words by Alan Jacoby, photos by Eddie Clark
At 6:49 a.m. today, Alex McCormack rolled into Durango, cementing himself as the overall winner of the 2026 Colorado Trail Race with a winning time of 4 days, 2 hours, and 49 minutes. His final day on the route consisted of a huge push through Cataract/Coney before dropping into Silverton for a final resupply. Then, it was up, up, and away into the San Juan Mountains to navigate a few more steep passes and the infamous Indian Trail Ridge, all while inhaling truckloads of wildfire smoke. Finally, he endured one last gut punch climbing up from the Junction Creek bridge before savoring the final reward of a ripping descent to the finish line.
At one point, Xavier Chiriboga cut Alex’s lead down to just a couple of hours while McCormack stopped for a short snooze. Eventually, Xavier needed to catch some shuteye himself, just before Blackhawk Pass. By that time, McCormack had stretched his lead out again, and the chase was over. In the final hours, it was a race against the clock, with Alex trying to achieve a sub-four-day finish time. He didn’t quite achieve that milestone, but it was an inspired ride nonetheless.
He led the race from the first moments, and even though Xavier was always lurking, Alex’s lead was never in any real jeopardy. The relentless pace and consistent riding style he implemented made sure of that. And he executed his plan perfectly. No stranger to winning, the 28 years-old from Devon, England, has a bikepacking palmarès that is already approaching legendary status, even though he’s only been ultra-endurance racing for around four years. Alex can now check the CTR off his bucket list of high-profile wins, which also includes the Highland Trail 550, Bright Midnight, Atlas Mountain Race, Hellenic Mountain Race, and many others. It has to feel good!
A couple of months ago, he shot out like a rocket on the Tour Divide, only to realize that he wasn’t riding with passion, and he wound up scratching about 900 miles in. The mental and physical fatigue from setting the world record for the greatest distance cycled in seven days in April, coupled with Unbound XL in May, took its toll on him. Still, he found retribution this week on the slithering singletrack of the Colorado Trail. Despite a crash on day one and heavy doses of unhealthy air in his lungs, McCormack persevered. He maintained an average moving speed of 6.7 miles per hour throughout the race and covered around 130 miles per day, while putting on a clinic in efficient rest and resupply.
Huge congratulations to Mr. McCormack on his hard-earned win in one of the toughest bikepacking races in the world. Chapeau!
Check out the 2026 Colorado Trail Race Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map, and stay tuned in for more event coverage. Find it here.
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