From the Tour de France to 12,000 feet: Quinn Simmons to race 100-mile Leadville MTB epic
Just weeks after the Tour de France, the three-time US road champion returns to his home-state race, where he finished second as an 18-year-old debutant
It appears Quinn Simmons is hoping to put his Tour de France fitness to good use this August.
Less than three weeks after wrapping up his fourth Tour de France appearance, the reigning U.S. national road champion will swap his road bike for a mountain bike as he lines up at the Leadville Trail 100 in his home state of Colorado on Saturday, 15 August.
Known as the "Race Across the Sky", the Leadville Trail 100 is an iconic 100-mile mountain bike race and is one of the toughest endurance events in the United States. Its punishing course starts at more than 10,000 feet (3048 metres) above sea level and traditionally climbs well beyond 12,000 feet (3658 metres).
It is also the third round of the Life Time Grand Prix series, meaning Simmons will join a stacked field featuring some of the best gravel and mountain bike racers in the world. Chief among them is Keegan Swenson, the reigning UCI Marathon MTB world champion, three-time Life Time Grand Prix overall champion and five-time defending Leadville winner. Swenson also holds the Leadville course record of 5:43:31.
Simmons, though, is no stranger to off-road racing, nor to the altitude.
The Colorado native took on this very race in 2019, when he was just 18 years old, and produced a breakout ride that saw him finish in second place despite suffering several tyre punctures. In the finale, he outsprinted Lachlan Morton and Peter Stetina to take the runner-up spot behind Howard Grotts. Simmons turned professional with Trek-Segafredo, now Lidl-Trek, the following season.
Seven years later, Simmons returns to Leadville in formidable form, having just finished 18th overall at this year’s Tour de France and claimed his third U.S. national road race title in June.
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This year’s Leadville course has been modified because of the Willow Fire, but will still cover 102.1 miles with 9,916 feet of climbing. The bikes will look a little more traditional, too, after Life Time banned drop handlebars on mountain bikes for the 2026 race. Drop-bar set-ups had become increasingly prominent at Leadville in recent years, with Swenson using one to win both the 2024 and 2025 editions.
Swenson is far from Simmons’ only competitor, however. The Life Time Grand Prix field also includes the likes of Alexey Vermeulen, Brendan Johnston, Simon Pellaud, US. .marathon national champion Cole Paton and multi-time Leadville podium finisher John Gaston.
For Simmons, Saturday will mark his first return to Leadville since that runner-up finish in 2019. The 2026 Life Time Leadville Trail 100 MTB race will stream live for free on YouTube through the Life Time Grand Prix YouTube Channel, with coverage starting at 5:15 a.m. MT on August 15.
Cycling Weekly's North American Editor, Anne-Marije Rook is old school. She holds a degree in journalism and started out as a newspaper reporter — in print! She can even be seen bringing a pen and notepad to the press conference.
Originally from the Netherlands, she grew up a bike commuter and didn't find bike racing until her early twenties when living in Seattle, Washington. Strengthened by the many miles spent darting around Seattle's hilly streets on a steel single speed, Rook's progression in the sport was a quick one. As she competed at the elite level, her journalism career followed, and soon, she became a full-time cycling journalist. She's now been a journalist for two decades, including 14 years in cycling.
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