Sofia Gomez Villafañe (Specialized) and Keegan Swenson (Santa Cruz) won the Chequamegon MTB Festival presented by Trek on Saturday. The event marked the fourth race of the Life Time Grand Prix presented by Mazda.
In the women's category, Villafane finished the race in 2:16:22 and beat Alexis Skarda and Savilia Blunk in a sprint to the line.
“I’m stoked to finally pull this one off," said Villafañe in a Life Time Grand Prix media release. "On paper, I’ve always thought this is one of the races that suits me the most, but up until today I’ve never been able to get things together here."
The rider is now leading the overall Life Time series standings by four points ahead of Paige Onweller after the fourth race of what will this year be a six race series. Villafañe is hoping to keep the momentum going after changing her approach to the latter part of the season.
“This summer I’ve kept things a little more chilled in order to have more freshness coming into the last third of 2024, and today was a really good sign that I’m fit and motivated," said Villafañe. "I’m really excited for the rest of the season.”
In the men's category Swenson crossed the finish line after 2:00:01, beating runner-up Alex Wild and third-place Sean Fincham, both finishing just one second back. Swenson took the sprint victory from a group of six a after a lead out from teammate Tobin Ortenblad, who had been reeled back in after an earlier solo attack.
"It was one of our plans for him to slip away and the other guys hesitated a bit, allowing him to build up a lead of around two minutes at one point," said Swenson in a race media release. "That was a good place for me to be in as it meant I could sit in, and if the other guys wanted to chase, I’d let them chase, or if not, he’d win."
The pay-off of the chase group making the catch and it being Swenson that took victory for the team is that he now also holds a four point lead in the overall Life Time Grand Prix series over Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost), who missed the event as he is currently attempting to break the around Australia record.
"I didn’t know I was going to win until I came off Tobin’s wheel," said Swenson. "I knew, with the 38-10 gearing I had, it was going to be hard for anyone to come around me, but you never know, and I had to keep my foot on the gas. It’s a fast and tricky finish here with a downhill false flat on grass. The line comes up quick and it was great to get this result."
The race celebrated its 41st anniversary, offering the field a 40-mile route through the Northwoods of Wisconsin. It started from Hayward and was routed across the American Birkebeiner Ski Trail, with back-to-back climbs and a multitude of terrain serving up a race of attrition before the winners were crowned at the Great Hall in Cable.
The final two events in the Life Time Grand Prix series are The Rad Dirt Fest in Colorado on September 28 and Big Sugar Gravel in Aransas on October 19.
