Nearly a week into the 2025 Tour Divide, the remaining riders are finding their rhythm and taking advantage of ideal conditions to traverse the route at record paces. Catch up on the developments at the front of the pack in our latest update here…

Photos by Eddie Clark

After six full days of pedaling, riders who are still going are well and truly into their Tour Divide journey, and most will have found what are commonly referred to as their “Tour Divide legs.” It seems most racers, regardless of their experience level or speed, will go through a similar trajectory of starting with fresh legs, getting good and properly tired and sore for days three through five, and then, almost as if by magic, most of the small aches and pains and niggles go away sometime after five or six days. The body either adapts to the load or shuts down. 

Of the 237 riders listed on the tracker, both northbound and southbound, 24 have scratched so far for various reasons—several of them NOBO riders who got fried by the intense heat of New Mexico. This is a reasonably low scratch rate for this far into the race, possibly a testament to the good weather gracing the region. The blue skies and only occasional storms are a far cry from the year when a snowstorm hammered Canada and northern Montana in the early days of the race, and a reasonably large number of people had to be removed from the route by search and rescue teams after getting stuck in the snow and cold. 

That said, a storm is forecasted to move into southern Montana Saturday night and into Sunday. Riders between Helena and the Montana border could be in for a wild ride and a lot of mud. 

The front of the race, leader Robin Gemperle is at mile 1,488, a mile marker otherwise known as the world-famous Brush Mountain Lodge, run by Kirsten Henricksen. He rode late into the night, arriving at the Colorado oasis around 3 a.m. 

Brush Mountain has become a must-stop location on the TD route for all riders. It all started when Henricksen gave Matthew Lee, current race “organizer,” some water on one of his early rides down the route in the mid-2000s and told him she’d be happy to supply the same services to the riders behind him. At the time, Henricksen knew nothing about the GDMBR route or the race, just that she was caretaking her family’s property, and now there were an increasing number of cyclists going past her front door. 

Henrickson is the single most generous and loving human you will ever meet, and now she stocks the lodge with food, drinks, and various snacks, cooks everyone a giant breakfast in the mornings, and provides beds and laundry to those who need them. Some years, she has a small army of volunteers to help her with caring for the racers. I’ve seen her love bring riders back from the brink of despair. Even the fastest and most motivated stop for a quick break at the lodge. It’s no surprise that Gemperle pushed late last night to reach it. I’m sure Henricksen left the light on for him.

Behind him, Jens van Roost has passed Svein Tuft and now rides in second place. The pair, only separated by a handful of miles, is set to take on the Great Basin today. The large expanse of desert has minimal water and is often swept by winds inevitably going in the wrong direction. You’ll see more wild horses out there than people. Yesterday, Gemperle had a tailwind pushing him through, so if the weather pattern holds, van Roost and Tuft should also have a speedy crossing. They are now 200 miles behind Gemperle, which is astounding, especially since they’re both still ahead of the JL record dot. 

Lael Wilcox continues to build on the advantage she got over Nathalie Baillon while she was dealing with her bike mechanical. Wilcox leads at mile 1,100, climbing up to Togwotee Pass. She holds nearly a 25-mile lead on Baillon, who is on the paved miles along Jackson Lake. Luckily, she’s riding these miles early in the morning, as daytime traffic along the Yellowstone and Teton National Park roads can be horrendous and terrifying as people drive rented RVs along narrow roads while gawking at the Tetons and wildlife. Both women took a nearly seven-hour stop last night, Baillon staying at Flagg Ranch and Wilcox bedding down a few miles down the road. 

Looking at the race flow, Wilcox’s moving speed yesterday was noticeably faster than Baillon. She’s been getting more sleep than her competitor, and this is about the time when a lack of sleep starts to show. Baillon’s longer stop last night might be an attempt to ward off the sleep monster. 

Andrew Onermaa is putting ground between himself and Chris Plesko’s singlespeed dot. The CP dot was set in 2009, a whopping 16 years ago, and there have been many fast singlespeeders who’ve taken a crack at it since. Plesko was incredibly meticulous in his approach when he set that time, and if I recall correctly, he pushed a huge gear, and it was a record that seemed unbreakable for a long time. Zack Friendly, less than 40 miles behind Onermaa, is just lagging behind the record dot and has a chance of catching it as well. 

It is, very simply, a very fast year on the Divide. And it seems like the only thing that could spoil this party is the fire currently burning in the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico.

Check out the 2025 Tour Divide Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map, see our Rigs of the Tour Divide roundups, and stay tuned in for more event coverage. Find it here.

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