Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
2025 Tour Divide Preview: Who to Watch, Weather, and More
The 2025 Tour Divide is right around the corner, and it’s shaping up to be one of the most exciting dot-watching editions yet! To kick things off, we compiled a comprehensive preview with everything you need to follow along. From weather outlooks to notable route changes, find the latest updates for this year’s race. Plus, we look at the top contenders to follow in both the men’s and women’s fields. Dive into all the details here…
PUBLISHED Jun 11, 2025
All images by Eddie Clark except where specified
The second Friday in June has been a special one in the bikepacking world since 2008. It’s the Grand Depart of the Tour Divide, one of the oldest and arguably the most iconic bikepacking race on the calendar. This year, riders will depart Banff, Canada, at 8 a.m. on June 13th to try to reach the U.S./Mexico border at Antelope Wells, about 2,700 miles (4,345 kilometers) away. Now in its 15th edition, the event has seen several significant changes over the years with course reroutes, the addition of singletrack segments, and rain, snow, and mud detours. It’s also seen incredible growth since the early days when it was just a border-to-border event with a handful of people showing up, all without cell phones because they weren’t allowed.
The Tour Divide has a rich history filled with the well-known characters of bikepacking. It started as a border-to-border event organized by Mike Curiak in 2004 and followed Adventure Cycling Association’s (ACA) Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR). Curiak disallowed the use of cell phones and encouraged people to call into MTBCast from payphones along the route. Pete Basinger took on the organization for a few years after that until Matthew Lee started an offshoot of the event that incorporated the newly added miles of the route from Banff, Canada, to the U.S. border. The new event quickly gained traction, and the original race fizzled out. Since Lee took over the primary organization of the event, there have been several singletrack additions to the primarily gravel and paved route, as well as several reroutes to avoid busy road sections for improved safety.
While much has changed since those early years, a lot has stayed the same. The route still follows remote backroads crisscrossing the Continental Divide countless times. Snow, mud, and rain remain issues, as do fires and other unexpected road closures. Tour Divide is still a self-supported race, and the essence of riders going out on a great journey of self-discovery remains the same.
Over the years, riders’ speed on the route has increased drastically. The men’s Grand Depart record, long-held by the late Mike Hall, was broken just last year by Justinas Leveika with a time of 13 days, 2 hours, and 16 minutes. The women’s Grand Depart record was also set in 2024 and is held by Meaghan Hackinen with a time of 15 days and 23 hours.
Taking all that into account, it’s near impossible to compare times in this event year to year, given route changes, weather changes, and detours. But, it seems that if we’re going to compare times, it’s worth trying to do it under as consistent circumstances as possible, meaning those times set by riders toeing the line at the Grand Depart. That said, Austin Killips set a blazing fast time of 14 days, 23 hours, and 12 minutes during an Individual Time Trial (ITT) in the fall of 2024, becoming the fastest woman to ever ride the route.
This year, there are just shy of 200 people signed up for the Grand Depart from Banff. There are also a handful of northbound racers and those doing individual time trials on the route.
Route
In the early years of Tour Divide, the route closely followed ACA’s GDMBR route, and riders would closely study the paper maps for information on resupplies, route descriptions, and other valuable information. Over the years, several sections of singletrack have been added, including the Gold Dust trail south of Breckenridge, Colorado, and some Continental Divide Trail north of Silver City, New Mexico. A large bit of the Canadian route has been rerouted due to a bridge being lost in flooding, and now riders talk in hushed tones about the Koko Claims hike-a-bike section.
In its essence, the route utilizes as many gravel and dirt roads as it can as it wends its way through Alberta, Montana, a bit of Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and finally, New Mexico. Historically, the Canadian section is known for its steep climbs, hike-a-bikes, snow and mud, and bears. It’s also incredibly beautiful. Montana holds more of the same, with iconic locations including the ever-welcoming Kathy Schoendoerfer, co-owner of The Blackfoot Angler in Ovando, Fleecer Ridge, and the mud of Bannock Valley if it’s wet. A brief jaunt through Idaho via the Red Rocks Lake National Wildlife Refuge brings riders into Wyoming via Yellowstone and Teton National Parks before heading back into the wilderness at Togwotee Pass and the infamously impassable-if-muddy Brooks Lake road. The remote Great Basin of Wyoming is followed by a respite at Brush Mountain Lodge in Colorado, where Kirsten Henricksen offers food, drinks, and a whole lot of encouragement before sending riders up the hill. The route then does a series of high-elevation climbs through the state, including reaching the high point at Indiana Pass at 11,910 feet (3,630 meters) in southern Colorado. New Mexico is known for its rugged roads, heat, and remoteness, including the steep and sharp climbs through the desolate Gila before a flat and fast 120-mile sprint from Silver City to the border.
This year, the only major change to the route is the removal of the descent to the Clark Store north of Steamboat. This reroute removes the section of road where rider Dave Blumenthal was struck by a vehicle and killed in 2010. The change is relatively minor and shouldn’t drastically affect overall times, but it does remove a resupply at the Clark Store, a much-loved spot with great burritos.
Snow levels have been low throughout the mountains on the route. It seems like perhaps the years of snow detours on the northern end of the route have come to an end. That said, low snow and increased heat mean a greater chance of fires and fire detours on the southern half of the route. Colorado has seen the heat turn on in the past week, and much of the high-mountain snow is quickly melting as rivers peak in their flow for the year. There are currently no major fires or detours, but all that can change in an instant (see drought monitor above).
Weather
While in the early years of Tour Divide, there was much discussion about why it started so early—oftentimes, the passes of Canada and northern Montana were covered in snow, resulting in some riders taking snowshoes along—the early June start date is starting to make more sense as winters gradually get shorter and snow levels, on average, decrease.
The idea behind the start date has always been to strike a balance between the melting snow up north and the arrival of monsoonal moisture in the south that can quickly turn a dirt road into sticky peanut butter mud, making it impassable. Avoiding the inevitable wildfires that pop up throughout the West as summer wears on has also become an increasing concern.
All that said, averages are merely averages, and anything can happen during the 13 to 30-some-odd days that racers are out on the route. While some years, mid-June snowstorms have stopped racers in their tracks in the middle of Colorado, other years, fires cause massive reroutes, and others, racers get minimal rain and mild temperatures. In 2023, rain caused the three leaders to huddle together in a porta-potty on a trailer in the middle of the Great Basin, waiting for the storm to pass. In 2019, the entire front of the field, save the three leaders, were stopped in their tracks at Brush Mountain Lodge, waiting out a snowstorm.
Weather is guaranteed on Tour Divide; it’s just a matter of when, where, and who gets hit. A road in the Bannock Valley of Montana can be smooth, fast dirt one minute, and after two minutes of heavy precipitation, turn into a quagmire of mud that halts any progress until it dries. The same goes for Brooks Lake Road in Wyoming.
In the end, it doesn’t matter how well-prepared a racer is; the weather always has the last laugh, and only time will tell what Ma Nature has in store for riders this year.
The Pointy End of the Race
With last year’s winner, Justinas Leveika, not coming back, this year’s race could go to anyone. As in past years, the race will come down to who has the right combination of attributes. It doesn’t matter if you have the biggest engine if you don’t know how to manage your pace or camp. It doesn’t matter if you have the lightest and best equipment if you can’t fix your bike in the field. It doesn’t matter if you’ve done all the physical training if your head game isn’t on point. Tour Divide rewards the well-rounded, mentally flexible, and resilient rider. It’s the race that epitomizes the Mike Tyson quote of, “Everyone has a plan until they are punched in the face.” And Tour Divide can punch hard. With a good mix of rookies and veterans this year, both the men’s and women’s fields will surely put on a show.
Men to Watch
Svein Tuft
Canadian Svein Tuft is the latest in the category of retired/former-pro-road-racer-turned-bikepacker to give the Tour Divide a nudge. He raced professionally from 2005 to 2019 and won 13 Canadian national time trial titles. The man has an engine, but only time will tell how that translates to bikepack racing. One might worry, save the fact that he’s Canadian, and Canadians tend to be tough. Since he retired from professional road racing, Tuft has focused on mountain adventures and a slower pace of life, including bikepacking and skiing. More recently, it seems he’s gotten the urge to race again. He won the BC Epic 1000 in 2024, setting a new FKT on the route in the process. Tour Divide will be, by far, his longest race, and if he can keep the engine fed and running, it’s hard to conceive exactly how fast he could go.
Joe Nation
For being a country of just over five million people, New Zealand sends an oversized contingent of racers to Tour Divide every year, and Joe Nation is the best to have come from the home of quiet and understated hardcore humans. After a somewhat middling career chasing World Cup downhill and enduro racing, Nation found success in bikepacking when he won the 2,300-kilometer Great British Divide in 2022. After doing a handful of the tough bikepacking races in New Zealand later that year, he made his Tour Divide debut in 2023, finishing third in 15 days, 2 hours, and 50 minutes. Last year, he set a new record on New Zealand’s incredibly challenging Tour Te Waipounamu and won the Silk Mountain Road Race in Kyrgyzstan. With his route knowledge and experience, Nation could be hard to beat.
Alex Schultz
Alex Schultz has a bikepacking resume dating back to 2019, which includes a course record on the Arizona Trail 800, and he’s rarely far from the front of the field. Perhaps better suited for more singletrack-based races, Schultz started Tour Divide in 2024 as part of a Triple Crown attempt but was ultimately forced to abandon. He went on to finish second at the Arizona Trail 800 that year. Thus far this year, he’s used the Stagecoach 400 as a tune-up for Tour Divide, finishing fourth, and if everything goes his way, there’s no reason why he won’t be able to put down a fast time on the TD route.
Maarten Vanhaverbeke
Maarten Vanhaverbeke of Belgium has one of the deeper bikepacking resumes of the men hoping to contend at the front of this year’s Tour Divide. He finished Tour Divide in 2023 in under 17 days and the Silk Road Mountain Race, Atlas Mountain Race, and Hellenic Mountain Race in 2024. Two years of training and racing can go a long way, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Vanhaverbeke near the front of the race with a good amount of fitness and course knowledge. Plus, he’s Belgian, and Belgians are tough as nails when it comes to riding in challenging conditions.
Xavier Chiriboga
Xavier Chiriboga, coming from Quito, Ecuador, comes to Tour Divide with a bikepacking resume that includes winning the 2024 Colorado Trail Race. He set the FKT on the 600-kilometer TransEcuador in 2021, which has 22,000 metres of climbing in the Andes Mountains, all of it at high elevations. His frame bag was made out of a shower curtain. Since then, he’s won the Stagecoach 400 in 2022 in a record time on a bike he made himself. Chiriboga is also an adventure racer, meaning he knows how to handle sleep deprivation and difficult circumstances.
Mateo Paez
Mateo Paez finished Tour Divide in 2024, completing it in just under 18 days in 16th place. He’s placed his goal time as 14 days this time, so he’s clearly looking to improve his past performance. Route knowledge can go a long way in a race like Tour Divide, as can an additional year of training and practice. Paez is part of the Old Man Mountain Racks bikepacking team and has been racing ultra distances worldwide since 2022.
Robin Gemperle
Robin Gemperle of Switzerland is probably best known for winning the Transcontinental Race in 2024 in just a hair under nine days. That year, he also won the Trans Pyrenees Race. It’s fair to say that he’s on a roll, as his 2023 season was also highly successful, winning the HOPE 100 and Atlas Mountain Race and finishing second at Transcon and Badlands. It seems like this is his first time racing in the U.S., but he has the engine and bikepacking experience to put down a fast time.
Nate Ginzton
Perhaps infamous for winning the Arizona Trail 800 on a drop-bar bike in 2021 in a time that was a course record, Nate Ginzton also has a second-place Tour Divide finish under his belt from 2019, when he finished in 15 days, 20 hours, and 49 minutes. A sparse racer, it’s hard to tell how fast he’s riding these days, but if he’s getting faster and more experienced, he’ll be up near the front.
Daniel Connell
More often known as Dirty Dan, Daniel Connell is back for a fifth ride on the Tour Divide route. In 2023, he finished in a quick 16 days and 16 hours with a giant smile on his face, which was his fourth consecutive completion of the route and his fastest time yet.
Women to Watch
Lael Wilcox
An Alaskan who’s relocated to Tucson, Arizona, a former Tour Divide FKT holder, and surely the most decorated woman ever to race the event, Lael Wilcox is back for another crack at the route to get the Grand Depart record. Wilcox has a long history with Tour Divide. On her first try, she unfortunately missed a new section of the route in Wyoming, which was added in the weeks leading up to the race. Since she’d ridden to the start from her home in Anchorage, she didn’t learn about the new reroute until it was far too late. She went back later that year for an individual time trial and set the then-FKT of just 15 days, 10 hours and 59 minutes. In 2019, she found herself in the middle of the debate of whether personal media crews were considered against the spirit of a self-supported race. Wilcox has a huge cycling resume, with her most recent exploit being a new world record for riding around the world, an impressive feat she accomplished in 108 days, 12 hours, and 12 minutes. So far this year, she’s won the Iditarod Trail Invitational and finished fourth at Unbound Gravel XL, writing on her Instagram account, “Mental toughness is generally the foundation of my success. I didn’t have it this time. I was sleepy in the night, lacked urgency while resupplying and wasted time.” She goes on to say that she’s been worn out from a lot of travel and plans to lay low until Tour Divide time to sharpen up.
Alexandera Houchin
When it comes to singlespeeding, few women can get anywhere near Alexandera Houchin of Minnesota, who holds the women’s singlespeed Tour Divide record. Houchin has made a few major changes this year, including riding a bike with gears. And aerobars. Houchin, who is known for her gritty and tough racing style, has put her full commitment into completing Tour Divide as fast as possible this year, including working closely with coach Lynda Wallenfels, who also coached me, Eszter, to a then-women’s-FKT on Tour Divide in 2019. Houchin has been putting in big miles on the bike in addition to strength and mobility training, a journey she’s documented and shared on her Instagram account. If she was able to pedal her singlespeed along the route in 18 days, 18 hours, and 26 minutes during her 2023 record-setting ride, I can’t wait to see what she can do with gears and a fully committed lead-up to the race. Houchin currently holds the women’s singlespeed record for the Triple Crown of Bikepacking, as well as the Arizona Trail 800 and Colorado Trail Race.
Ana Jager
Ana Jager of Anchorage, Alaska, burst onto the bikepacking scene when she rode the Triple Crown in 2022, winning the Tour Divide in 19 days and 54 minutes along the way. She also won the Arizona Trail 800 the same year. In 2023, she finished third at the Colorado Trail Race, and in 2024, she returned to the Tour Divide and finished in 16 days and 13 hours. She’s also ridden the 1,000-mile Iditarod solo. Jager flies under the radar when it comes to social media and a more public presence, but when she races, her presence is impossible to miss.
Karin Pocock
Ski guide, rock climber, and all-around badass woman Karin Pocock is one of several people with hopes of completing the Triple Crown this year. Already in 2025, she’s won Pinyons and Pines and made the good call to bail off of Grand Loop in May to focus on being as prepared as possible for Tour Divide. The Moab, Utah, resident, formerly of Colorado, and before that, Canada, won the Oregon Timber Trail 300 last year. Also in 2024, she finished second in the 500-mile Colorado Trail Race, an event where she finished third in 2021. While the tactics of racing Tour Divide are different when it’s the first race of three of the summer, it’s hard to imagine Pocock won’t put it all on the line and do her best to be at the front of the race.
Maggie Livelsberger
Maggie Livelebrger of Pennsylvania will be carrying the women’s singlespeed banner this year and has high hopes of finishing at the front of the field. She’s no stranger to being at the front of women’s fields, setting the women’s FKT at the Arkansas High Country Race in 7 days, 5 hours, and 50 minutes in 2023. She also won the Doom in 2023, a 390-mile route in Arkansas. Earlier this year, she finished second at the Rockstar VA 270 gravel race, finishing on her singlespeed just 10 minutes behind the geared leader. Livelsberger arguably has the least experience of the top women in the field, but sometimes, with a race like Tour Divide, ignorance can be bliss, and it’ll be interesting to see what she can do with her single cog.
Stay tuned! There’s a lot more coverage and some excellent dot-watching to come. Many thanks to Otso Cycles for helping support this year’s coverage and the excellent journalists and photographers involved.
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.
Please keep the conversation civil, constructive, and inclusive, or your comment will be removed.
