Tour Divide departs Banff
Everything you need to know about the Tour Divide and the current race leaders as the racers enter their first night on the divide
More than 230 bikepackers departed Banff, Canada this morning at 7 a.m. local time to begin the 2,700-mile journey along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route to the United States-Mexico border.
The route is perhaps the most famous bikepacking route in the country, and the Tour Divide is the most popular time of year for people to race and ride the route self-supported.
It’s about 260 miles from Banff to the U.S.-Canada border crossing, where riders then pass through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico en route to the finish at Antelope Wells. Along the way, racers face wildlife such as grizzly bears and rattlesnakes in addition to rain, wind, snow, and trail conditions ranging from bone dry to peanut butter milkshake mud.
The first afternoon of the race, Victor Bosoni has pulled out a lead at mile 103. Bosoni won The Traka 560 earlier this spring, his second win at the race. The victory wasn’t without controversy, but Victor’s victory stands.
Alex McCormack, Xavier Chiriboga, Angus Young, and Laurens ten Dam follow a couple miles behind to make up the men’s top five.
McCormack races for the Canyon ATR squad and is coming off of a third place ride at Unbound XL. Robin Gemperle, last year’s winner of Tour Divide and this year’s winner of Unbound XL, is not in attendance. McCormack has also won the Atlas Mountain Race this year and set a new seven day distance record of 3,826.47 kilometers.
Chiriboga is an Ecuardorian who won the Colorado Trail Race in 2024. Young has won the Pan-Celtic, Dales Divide and Highland Trail 500 races and holds several FKTs. Ten Dam is the Dutch Tour de France racer turned gravel racer turned ultra cycling maestro.
Meaghan Hackinen leads the women’s category and sits in 11th place overall. She has a 20-mile lead on Karin Pocock, and Torin Lackmann, Alyssa Secreto, and Leah Goldstein round out the top five.
Hackinen just won the Hellenic Mountain Race this year and placed second at the Atlas Mountain Race. Pocock is a AMGA-Certified rock and ski guide and a program director at the famed Silverton Avalanche School. Lackmann is also from Colorado and is a former collegiate triathlete.
Secreto, the third Coloradan in the women’s top four, recently completed the Grand Loop race. Goldstein won the 2021 Race Across America.
In addition to those at the front of the race, the Tour Divide is also known for the dozens of amateurs who take on the toue as a bike tour rather than a race. The Tour also sees participants ride south to north—there are seven northbounders this year.