Tour Divide Debrief (Day 12): Among the Legends

Photos by Eddie Clark

Considering the conditions in this year’s 2023 Tour Divide—everything from wet gravel roads to endless peanut butter mud and flat-out heat—it’s amazing to see a multitude of riders pedaling among the record dots. It certainly shows how strong the field of contenders is in this year’s race. For example, there are now six riders ahead of Lael Wilcox’s 2015 women’s record (15:10:59), which is an incredible time in its own right. Several of them could potentially see a sub-15-day finish if all goes perfectly until they reach Antelope Wells.

Similarly, there are five women who are currently ahead of Alexandera Houchin’s 2018 women’s singlespeed record, which was also the first place women’s finish that year. Over the last two days, the women’s race has been exciting to watch. Lael Wilcox still has a comfortable 100+ mile lead over Katya Rakhmatulina, who’s been in second place for the duration. However, Lael reported having some lung issues and stopped for a rest early to recover yesterday. Additionally, there are many strong riders vying for the third-place spot. Those include Sacha Dowell, Hannah Simon, and Alexandera Houchin, who at the moment are each about 15 miles apart in that order. Alexandera is coming on strong as she passed her record pace for the first time yesterday. With the tall gear she’s running, it could mean a fast finish once she hits the flatter paved roads in New Mexico.

In the men’s race, the dynamic has quickly changed over the last couple of days. Jens Van Roost, who was a strong contender, is out of the race at the moment. He posted an Instagram story letting followers know that his hands were toast. Unfortunately, Jens couldn’t spend as much time resting his hands in the aero bar position as he needed due to a bruised forearm from a crash early on in the race. Rumor has it Jens might be buying a recumbent off of Craigslist to finish the Tour Divide at a more relaxed pace.

Up front, Ulrich Bartholmoes and Justinas Leveika continue to compete for first place. Early this morning, as Justinas stopped for a rest, Ulrich decided to push on and now sitting in first place with a 45-mile lead. I have a feeling it’s going to get even more interesting over the next day and a half with each of them flirting with mechanicals and unfolding last-minute strategies. Apparently, Ulrich is having a few issues, and based on the screenshot below, is riding with a nearly bald rear tire. New Zealander Joe Nation looks to have made some moves as well and has a nice spot in third place about 40 miles behind Justinas and 85 miles ahead of Chris Burkard. I stumbled on Joe’s bike check video yesterday, as a matter of fact. Check that out here:

For more details on the state of the race, check out Josh Ibbett’s Day 12 coverage here:

Check out the 2023 Tour Divide Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map, find our Rigs of the Tour Divide roundups, and see more event coverage. Find it here.

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