Congratulations to Justinas Leveika who finished second in the 2023 Tour Divide with a time of just 14 days, 16 hours, and 57 minutes. Find photos and details about Justinas’ ride on this year’s 2,700-mile course here…
Photos by Eddie Clark
Justinas Leveika from Vilnius, Lithuania, rolled across the finish line in Antelope Wells, New Mexico late last night to become the second rider to complete the 2023 Tour Divide! The 34-year-old arrived just before midnight to galvanize a sub-15-day time of 14 days, 16 hours, and 57 minutes (14:16:57), another amazing rookie race time.
This is no surprise as Justinas has plenty of ultra-endurance bikepacking experience and quite a few recent wins, including first-place finishes at the 2023 Race Across Rwanda and the Dales Divide and second place in the Atlas Mountain Race this year. However, this was Justinas’ rookie run on the Tour Divide, and he had quite a few setbacks along the way, making his time all the more impressive. In addition to the 12-hour delay being held up in a porta potty in the Great Basin due to impassable roads, Justinas also had to backtrack and hitch a ride to replace a failed battery charger earlier on in the race. He also rode with a defunct derailleur that had to be shifted by hand for a hundreds of miles and had his driveside pedal break away from the spindle, which he also dealt with for a while before finding a replacement in Silver City. Without the latter two issues, he very well could have given winner Ulrich Bartholmoes a run for his money. The two rode within 10 miles of one another for the better part of the race.
Justinas rode a Trek Procaliber SL Carbon with a 100mm RockShox SID SL Ultimate, Bontrager Kovee Carbon wheels, Vittoria Mezcal 29×2.1” tires, and a SRAM AXS Eagle/Force mullet drivetrain. You can learn more about it in the bike check or Rigs roundup linked below.
Congrats, Justinas! We hope to see you out on the course again. Meanwhile, we expect New Zealander Joe Nation to roll into a third place finish within the next few hours, and there’s plenty more racing to watch. Follow along on the Tracker here.
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