Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz htSQD) used extra effort in the final miles to defend his men's title at The Growler at Levi's Gran Fondo, while last year's women's runner-up Lauren Stephens (Ventum) moved to the top step with a solo ride on Saturday.
It was just the second year that The Growler offered a cash purse for the elite riders, with $156,000 on the line to be split evenly among the top 10 men and women on the rugged course, featuring 13,000 feet of vertical gain. A live broadcast was also provided for the final three hours of the two divisions.
Swenson worked with Matt Beers (Specialized Off-road) once the three big climbs and most of the 106 other starters had been discharged, leaving two young breakaway riders to catch with 19 miles to go in the 137.5-mile race. Marcis Shelton (Team California p/b Verge) had struck out solo across the top of Geyser Summit but was joined on the flat run-in to Windsor by Conn McDunphy (Team Skyline).
With a monster effort to close 1:40 across a dozen or so miles, Beers and Swenson caught Shelton, then McDunphy and the four stormed toward the final mile together. Swenson launched his attack from the far right side of the pavement, accelerated around the final right-hand bend and made the hard-earned win look effortless, his time 5 hours, 55 minutes, 38 seconds.
Irishman McDunphy took second, 2 seconds back, while Shelton went third and Beers fourth. It was more than 2 minutes later that Bradyn Lange outsprinted Alexey Vermeulen for fifth.
"It was a really hard one today. A lot of tactics out there. The break had a pretty big gap at the end. So it was pretty all in. Matt and I were able to get away over that last little bump [12 miles to go] and just went all in to catch that last guy [McDunphy]," Swenson said on the event's live broadcast at the end of the race.
"You know, it's probably the biggest road race we have in the US, and it's a great event that Levi puts on here. It feels good to go back-to-back [with wins].
If there were a most aggressive prize, McDunphy and Shelton may have shared that honour. Both were active early, McDunphy on a move with Cole Davis, and then Shelton would make separation completely from McDunphy on the slopes of the Geyser Summit climb an, built a lead of several minutes over a main chase group of about eight riders, which included Alexy Vermeulen, Swenson, Beers, Peter Stetina, Griffin Easter, Matt Wilson, Bradyn Lange and Hugo Drechou.
Easter would suffer a mechanical with a locked chain that took him out of contention, and it looked like Shelton, who was seventh at Redlands Bicycle Classic days ago, was on his way to a time-trial victory as he hit the final flat 19 miles and passed Skipstone Winery. On the little kicker a few miles later, McDunphy caught and passed the 20-year-old. But the surge from behind with Beers and Swenson, who made up a two-minute deficit in just 10 miles, was just a locomotive neither could stop.
"I didn't really know what to expect from the route, to be honest. Coming into the final, I caught him [Shelton], went over the top of him, but then it was a block headwind with five miles to go. I asked the moto comm how far to go, he said five miles, and my heart sank because I was going so hard and my cadence just kept getting lower and lower. I was cramping on my inner thighs," McDunphy said at the end.
"Keegan went before the roundabout with 250 to go, and I actually nearly got back in the wheel. He finished a few bike lengths ahead of me. It's no shame to lose to one of the best riders in the world."
Elite women
The elite women's field of 77 starters took the course in a new separate start, five minutes behind the elite men and 25 minutes ahead of the thousands of non-racers riding in seven different Gran Fondo distances.
A 10-rider group eventually went clear on the Skaggs Summit climb at the mid-point of the race. Then at the bottom of the third and longest climb, Geysers, Stephens, and Paige Onweller (Trek Driftless) forged ahead, with Stephens striking out solo on the steepest part of the climb.
Once Stephens hit the Alexander Valley for flatter roads to the finish, she held a 1:05 margin to US mountain bike pro Gwendalyn Gibson (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) and French former road pro Axelle Dubau-Prévôt (Numéro 31 par Café du Cycliste). Defending champion Lauren De Crescenzo (Factor-The Feed-Castelli) made up almost a minute to catch the two chasers, then Villafañe and Shafi made it a quintet with under six miles to race.
Stephens pushed hard in a time-trial effort into a headwind and gained more time as the five behind took too long to organise. The reigning US gravel national champion and former US Pro road race champion finished in 7:12:36, with Shafi the best in the chase sprint for second, 19 seconds back. Villafañe took third.
"I feel amazing. Just to start this race with so many women was amazing. We had a strong field, and I didn't expect to be able to do what I did today. I know that my strength is climbing, and I was hoping to get a gap on that final climb. I didn't know if I'd be able to hold off the [chasers] like I did. I was able to start that final steep climb with a gap which sealed the deal."
It was Onweller's steady pacemaking on the climb that also helped a few others from the surviving Geysers.
"Paige really set the tempo up the climbs, and it was pretty impressive. I was like, 'wow, she might be the one to beat', but on the kicker on Geyser, I think that's when she popped. I was hurting like hell on Geysers," Villafañe, in her inaugural appearance at The Growler, said about her effort to get into the main chase group late in the race.
"I knew I was probably descending the best. I'm just coming out of sickness, but I felt like on the flats was where I could roll. She [Shafi] just had a better kick than I did. But I'm super proud of that ride, just to be seventh or eighth at Geysers and then ride my way [back]. "It's a savage day. The climbs were relentless. "
