The Leadville Trail 100 MTB is still the Leadville Trail 100 MTB, but this year it is arriving with a very different edge. The race returns this weekend for its 32nd edition on a revised route after the Willow Fire swept through a key corner of Lake County in June and forced course changes. That alone is enough to make this one feel different. Add the fact that the new layout is a 101-mile test with 9,897 feet of climbing, and you have a race that remains savage without quite being the same old monster.
That matters because Leadville has always been about more than distance. It is a high-altitude endurance exam, with riders spending long stretches between 9,000 and 12,500 feet. Traditionally, the course’s nastiest climbing sections have helped decide who suffers, who survives, and who finishes with something left in the legs. Take away some of those defining features and the whole race shifts. The revised route removes several traditionally punishing sections, including Powerline, which has shaped race outcomes in the past. That is not a minor adjustment. That is a rewrite of the race’s personality.
A course that changes the script
The old Leadville route was built to break people. This one still demands enormous effort, but the numbers tell the story: 101 miles, 9,897 feet of climbing, and the sort of altitude that punishes even the strongest riders. Compared with previous editions that climbed over 12,500 feet, this is a meaningful reduction. Less climbing does not mean easy. It means different. It means fewer places for the pure grinders to launch a decisive blow and a greater chance that more riders reach the final miles together.
That could make for a very different finish, especially in a race that has often rewarded patience as much as power. Without the old climbing landmines, the margins may tighten. More riders may still be in the conversation late on, and that puts a premium on tactics, timing and nerve rather than simply surviving the toughest ramps. Leadville is still Leadville, but the route now asks a slightly different question.
Swenson still carries the biggest weight
Even with the course change, the biggest men’s storyline remains Keegan Swenson. He has won five times in a row and is now chasing the six-win record held by David Wiens. That is the kind of target that gives the race real historical weight. Swenson does not just want another win. He wants to move level with one of the defining marks in the event’s history, and this weekend gives him that chance on a course that may be less punishing but no less demanding.
In the women’s race, the recent history is rich enough to make any prediction feel dangerous, but the names are clear enough. Hannah Otto won in 2022, Sofia Gomez-Villafañe won in 2023, and Melisa Rollins won in 2024. Kate Courtney also enters the picture after setting the women’s course record last year, which tells you that the front of this race has been operating at a very high level. Add in Hannah Otto, Sofia Gomez-Villafañe, Melisa Rollins and Kate Courtney, and the women’s contest looks every bit as combustible as the men’s.
The bigger point is this: the Willow Fire did not cancel Leadville’s identity, but it has unquestionably altered it. The race still climbs high, still goes long, and still demands an exceptional rider. Yet by trimming away some of the classic pain points, it opens the door to a less predictable, more compressed contest. That may frustrate purists. It may also produce a far better race to watch. Either way, the 2026 Leadville Trail 100 MTB is not just another edition. It is a new version of one of MTB’s most punishing classics.
