Robin Gemperle has officially etched his name in Tour Divide history, arriving in Antelope Wells in under 12 days, the fastest time ever recorded on the roughly 2,700-mile route. Despite wildfire smoke, the Swiss rider stayed cool, consistent, and brutally efficient—riding fast, sleeping just enough, and setting a new benchmark for what’s possible on this legendary course. Find details and photos from the finish here…

Photos by Eddie Clark

At 2:14 a.m. local time, Robin Gemperle of Switzerland arrived at Antelope Wells, New Mexico, to win the 2025 edition of the 2,700-mile Tour Divide with a time of just 11 days, 19 hours, and 14 minutes (11d:19h:14m). The 2025 route included a 140-mile fire detour in central New Mexico as well as a fresh off-pavement re-route north of Steamboat. Robin is the first rider to complete the route in under 12 days, and his time far surpassed the previous fastest time ridden from Banff to Antelope Wells as part of a Grand Depart, set by Justinas Leveika of Lithuania in 2024. Gemperle, who essentially led the race from start to finish, ended with more than a 300-mile gap on second place.

Gemperle, winner of the 2024 Transcontinental Race as well as the 2023 Atlas Mountain Race, made his intentions to win the race clear from the start. He got lucky with good weather nearly the whole way through, including a strong tailwind pushing him through the 100-mile Great Divide Basin in Wyoming. While swirling winds and rain in spots hit those behind him, if Gemperle hit any bad weather—aside from a thunderstorm on his final sprint to Antelope Wells—he didn’t talk about it in his daily updates. In fact, there was only one update in southern Colorado where he admits the day was simply too much for him to face talking to the camera. He seemed cool, calm, and collected throughout, starting most of his updates by whistling a tune.

His race plan was to push the pace for the first third of the race, settle into a rhythm for the middle third, and then push with anything he had left at the end. Gemperle was never really challenged by anyone else in the race. With the early withdrawal of New Zealand’s Joe Nation—who finished third in 2023—due to sickness, and Canada’s Svein Tuft battling a respiratory infection the whole race before dropping in Salida, Colorado, Gemperle was forced to rely purely on internal motivation to keep on the gas. And he did, even after learning that he would have to detour around the Trout Fire in central New Mexico and miss about 140 miles of the route.

After skipping sleep the first night of the race, Gemperle was quite consistent with his night breaks, with about five-hour stops earlier in the race and the stopped time growing just slightly as the days wore on. He slept, and then he simply rode faster than everyone else when he was moving.

The Swiss Missile, as Tuft called him, or the Swiss Insomiac, as some race fans called him, Gemperle has set a bold new standard for what’s possible on the route. Congratulations!

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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