Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Jens Van Roost of Belgium is this year’s second Tour Divide rider to reach Antelope Wells, New Mexico, crushing the 2,700-mile route in just over 13 days and 8 hours. Learn more about his redemption ride after scratching in 2023 and find other updates from the ongoing race here…
Photos by Eddie Clark
With a little over 13 days and 8 hours on the clock, Jens Van Roost of Belgium finished the Tour Divide in second place on Thursday afternoon. This must feel like a redemption ride for Van Roost, who was riding in the lead trio of the race in 2023 before hand issues forced him to withdraw. Van Roost is an avid bike tourist, and apparently, you can tell when he’s ready to race when he puts on proper bike shoes instead of pedaling in sandals. Congrats, Jens!
Not far behind him are Jochen Böhringer of Germany and Max Riese of Austria, and then there’s a significant gap to the rest of the field. There’s always been a space between the pointy end of the field and the main group, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen this large of a gap devoid of racers between the leaders and everyone else.
Near the front of the chase pack rides Andrew Onermaa on his singlespeed. He’s still holding on to a gap on the Chris Plesko singlespeed record and doesn’t seem to be gaining or losing any time on it as he makes his way into central New Mexico. Onermaa is the first American in the field and currently sits in seventh overall, though he’s well within striking distance of geared riders Mike Martin of Canada and Xavier Chiriboga of Ecuador.
For the women, Nathalie Baillon continues to lead but has fallen behind the Meaghan Hackinen record dot. She holds a nearly 115-mile gap on second-place Ana Jager. While anything is possible, it seems unlikely that she’ll get caught with 600 or so miles left to race. The race for third is still wide open, with Alexandera Houchin and Karin Pocock riding within 20 miles of each other.
With chances of afternoon thunderstorms throughout New Mexico for the rest of the week and generally increasing temperatures, it could be a rough finish for the next round of racers, depending on where they are when the storms hit.
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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