At Big Sugar Gravel, Colby Simmons showed he can not only compete for wins on paved roads but he can compete for them on technical gravel roads.
Simmons traded in his road bike for a gravel one on Saturday in Bentonville, Arkansas, to compete in the final race of the Life Time Grand Prix with the 105-mile Big Sugar Gravel race. He finished second.
“Going into it, I didn’t have any expectations,” Simmons said. “Obviously, would’ve been better to win but second, I can be happy with that.”
Simmons finished in 4 hours, 50 minutes and 31 seconds. Alexy Vermeulen finished first in 4:50:22.
It was the first Life Time Grand Prix event of the season for Simmons and his first time doing Big Sugar. He got a gravel bike which was a key for his decision to participate. He competed in gravel nationals before and had a lot of fun doing it. Simmons liked the challenge of competing against the top gravel racers on this side of the world.
He described the Big Sugar course as technical, especially with some of the descents. Simmons liked the short punchy climbs.
Simmons went with some gravel tires while most of the field went with mountain bike tires. His tires had more tread with inserts and lots of sealant in them.
There was a big front group to start the elite men’s race. After about 30 miles, Simmons broke away from the big group and was in the top group of three going forward.
“It was definitely harder than I thought it would be,” Simmons said. “I didn’t want to go there to just race in the bunch. I wanted to go and race hard. Tactically, maybe I didn’t race the best, saving energy-wise, since I was off the front the whole time. Based off power, it’s the most power I’ve ever done for five hours.”
Toward the end of the race, Simmons and Vermeulen broke away from Simen Nordahl Svendsen, who finished third. Simmons and Vermeulen were riding together for about 35 miles until Vermeulen broke away on a climb with less than a mile left in the race.
Simmons knew Vermeulen didn’t want to sprint him but didn’t quite have it to keep up with Vermuelen in the end.
Now that his cycling season is done, Simmons is looking forward to some skiing in the winter. Next year, he wants to do some more gravel racing and hopes to do Unbound Gravel at the end of May.
Payson McElveen finished off a great Life Time Grand Prix season with a seventh-place finish at Big Sugar. McElveen finished in 4:54:34 and just missed out on sixth in a sprint against Matt Beers.
“I didn’t have my best day, but definitely gave my best on the day, and have zero regrets,” McElveen wrote on Instagram. “It was a bit poetic that 2nd overall in the series came down to a sprint with Matt and me. He got me by about a bike length, so we tied on points for the year, but this race was the tiebreaker and I ended up third in the series. I did all I could, but the man was not to be denied today. What a machine. Honestly, this season was a dream come true, and just an honor to do battle at the pointy end with all these amazing riders.”
McElveen worked his way from 28th early in the race up to seventh by mile 85.
Fort Lewis College senior Michaela Thompson had a good finish to her Life Time Grand Prix season, finishing eighth at Big Sugar. Thompson crossed the line in 5:38:37. Sofia Gomez Villafane won the elite women’s race in 5:32:20.
“I went into the season with hopes of learning as much as I could about high competition endurance racing and see where I stand,” Thompson wrote on Instagram. “Turns out I really do love it, even through the lows. I then had a goal later into the season to try and place top 15 in the Life Time Grand Prix. Then a third place at Leadville 100 brought a new perspective for me that I haven’t quite grasped yet. I struggle often to feel like I belong, like I’m capable of achievements like that, and I think many people can relate. I’m slowly learning to have that confidence.”
Thompson was near the front all day and was as high as fifth after mile 74 but slipped back to eighth by the finish line.
She also wrote on Instagram that she was very surprised to find out she finished 10th in the women’s standings.
Durango’s Cobe Freeburn finished 11th in the elite men’s race in 4:57:42. He was inside the top 15 for most of the day.
“I've been really sick for the last two months,” Freeburn said. “I’m still on antibiotics and had a sinus infection during the race. I’m super happy with it. I don't think I would have done a ton better if I was healthy. I raced to the front and tried to do everything I could. I had a lot of fun and it was a cool course.”
It was Freeburn’s first time doing Big Sugar. He knew there’d be a lot of industry people and sponsors there to impress. He liked the exciting and dynamic racing with a lot of attacks.
Freeburn used the widest tires he could find and put inserts in to try and mitigate the risk of flatting.
A Fort Lewis College senior, Freeburn is graduating in December and wants to race in the Life Time Grand Prix next year. He’s hoping for good news in a few weeks that he’s one of the 25 elite men a part of the series full-time.
Sarah Sturm was not too far behind Thompson, finishing in 13th on Saturday at Big Sugar in 5:41:25. It was a frustrating day for Sturm since she had to deal with two flat tires which cost her a lot of time.
“I'm still really disappointed,” Sturm said. “I've only ever had three flats in my entire career as a pro, and they have all come in the last two races that were really important. But I've learned from my coworkers, if you will, my competitors, that you never have a catastrophic flat when you're having a bad leg day, it's only when you have good legs. So that's a bummer.”
Sturm said she had her sights set on a podium and was feeling really good despite recently competing in Spain at Gravel Earth.
At the beginning of the race, Sturm was riding in the top five but had her first flat around mile 60. She said it was a slow leak after slashing her sidewall at some point. Sturm battled back and got back on the lead group.
Sturm then changed her wheel at an aid station then got her second flat of the day. She then finished the race alone in 13th.
Even with one flat, Sturm thought she could’ve finished around fifth.
A wider tire was the way to go for this race, according to Sturm. She said there’s a lot of sharp shale for the majority of the race. Combine that with poor visibility from all the dust and dust and flat tires are very likely.
Sturm’s 13th-place finish was enough to bump her out of the top 10 of the elite women’s overall standings. She ended up 11th behind Thompson.
After multiple years as a staple on the Life Time Grand Prix circuit, Sturm is unsure if she’ll race in Life Time next year. She’d like to do the Gravel World Championships in France next year. Unfortunately, it’ll be at the same time as Big Sugar which will be a mandatory race next year on the Life Time Grand Prix.
Regardless of whether she’s an official member of the Life Time Grand Prix next year, expect to see Sturm at the top of the leaderboards of many of the series’ iconic races.
Durango’s Cody Cupp finished 25th in the elite men’s race in 5:03:05. He was consistently battling in the 20s throughout the race. Keiran Eagen finished the men’s race in 53rd.
Ellen Campbell did not finish the women’s elite race. She wrote on Instagram that she felt sluggish to start the race and then retired after multiple flat tires.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
