#crusherinthetushar

Nearly 850 riders, and their friends and families, traveled to this small mountain town to endure the elements of the event’s grueling route across the Tushar Mountains. Long, steep gravel road climbs and intense exposure makes the ride especially challenging. Weather reports for the weekend were as good as they could be for Utah in July with ninety-degree days and full sun were made bearable by the lack of humidity. 

The weekend festivities kicked off with a shakeout ride from the event’s title sponsor’s location, The Creamery. Over 100 riders showed and were treated to some fine Beaver gravel backroads. 

Following the shakeout ride was the expo and packet pickup. Many of the event’s top sponsors were set up to show off their latest product, discuss nutrition, or in Michael’s case, share how someone could ship their bike with Bikeflights Bike Boxes and service. 

The race course is not for the faint of heart. Starting in downtown Beaver riders make their way up a nearly 5,000 foot climb that starts within the first 10 miles of riding. Up and over the mountains riders descend into Junction and then circle back up the mountain for the finish at Utah’s newest ski resort Eagle Point. 

The men’s and women’s races played out in a similar fashion and were won by the current Grand Prix series leaders, Keegan Swenson and Sofia Gomez Villafane respectively. Both riders broke away from their competitors early and rode to the finish line solo, each setting course record times in the process. Pete Stetina and Matthew Beers would go on to round out the podium in the men’s race. In the women’s race Lauren De Crescenzo would finish second and Falvia Oliveira Parks placed third. 

With many racers opting to skip this event, the Grand Prix Series shakes up in the deeper placings but the top three remain steady. The women’s category is led by Sofia Gomez Villafane, Sarah Sturm and Haley Smith. The men’s category is led by Keegan Swenson, Russell Finsterwald and Lachlan Morton.