“I can tell you what to do… I fire that shotgun to start the race and you put your nose on the handlebars and you start pedalling, and you keep pedalling until Merilee tells you to quit. That’ll be the finish line.”
After Dirty Kanza and GBDuro, Rapha and EF Education First Pro Cycling’s alternative racing calendar set its sights on the Leadville Trail 100, one of the world’s toughest one-day mountain bike races. An out and back 100-mile course that never drops below 10,000 feet above sea level, Leadville is a lung-busting, heart-breaking hit-out for its 2,000 participants.
Newly minted USA road race champion Alex Howes and GBDuro conqueror Lachlan Morton were the two EF riders to take to the startline. What follows is the story of their race, and of an old mining town saved by a race and its riders.
#GoneRacing
Music by Builder’s Tea - builders-tea.com/
Drone footage by Mat Barlow
Cover photo by Gruber Images
USA nationals photography by Wil Matthews (@photowil)
Special thanks to Tom Hopper, Ken Chlouber, Merilee Maupin and Michelle Duffy.
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About EF Gone Racing:
In the bus. At home. In the team cars and on top of mountains. EF Gone Racing is a new series from Rapha taking you on the road with EF Education First Pro Cycling. Exclusive access, larger than life characters, and a film crew to capture it all.
Watch the story behind Alberto Bettiol’s Monumental win at Flanders here: bit.ly/2UEQJT7
Catch up on the full series of EF Gone Racing so far here: bit.ly/2D5VgmS
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About the alternative calendar:
As part of the EF team’s partnership with Rapha, riders will race a calendar of alternative, mixed-terrain, multidisciplinary events throughout the 2019 season. From mountain bike epics to week-long ultras, they’ll all captured in special episodes of EF Gone Racing. First Dirty Kanza and GBDuro, now Leadville. There’s much more to come this season, including: Three Peaks Cyclocross, Taiwan KOM and more.
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Twitter: / rapha