DotWatcher.cc
Transcontinental Race No10
Overall winner: Robin Gemperle First woman: Jana Kesenheimer
The Transcontinental attracts some of the finest bikepackers for a race across Europe, and into Asia for the first time in the race’s decade-long history. The 2024 edition presented an exciting routing dilemma: shorter but rougher or longer and smoother, which was always going to make for exciting dotwatching. Two-time winner Christoph Strasser lined up as a bonafide road racer against the likes of Robin Gemperle and Abdullah Zeinab who have both won races on the rougher stuff. For Robin it was third time lucky having finished eighth and second in the previous two editions. Meanwhile, Jana Kesenheimer cemented herself as one of Europe’s strongest bikepackers by joining only four other women who have finished in the top twenty overall at TCR since its inception in 2013. Finishing ahead of Jaimi Wilson who was 2023’s first woman
A standout ride for us and many dotwatchers alike was the young Victor Bosoni’s 550km reroute to pick up his lost passport in only the first few days meaning he slipped down the rankings and arrived at the first CP in Slovenia in 158th position. Over the following week, he made his way back up the rankings to finish in 24th position. An astonishing comeback full of heart and perseverance. We look forward to seeing him line up at his next race, hopefully drama free!
Highland Trail 550
Overall winner: Alex McCormack First woman: Kerry Macphee
Highly dependent on trail conditions and forecast weather, the speculation and predictions before the HT550 is rife. The recipe for some rapid riding was filled; some of the driest trails in HT history and a packed lineup of both accomplished bikepackers and those rookies we all suspected were set to go well. Alex McCormack lined up to right his wrongs from his rookie ride in 2023: he led from the gun and never looked back to finish in 3D 5H 30M. A ferocious ride to take almost two hours off Angus Young’s record set only the year before while Kerry Macphee rode within a hair’s breadth from Lee Craigie’s longstanding women’s record. It often looked like she had the record in her grasp but eventually slipped back to finish only two and a half hours behind Lee’s time as first woman and 6th overall, being only the second woman to finish in sub-four days.
The Triple Crown Challenge Overview
Overall winner: Justinas Leveika Other finishers: Johnny Price (singlespeed), Tom Kavanaugh and Dylan Disarro.
We’re cheating a little with this one given it’s three races not one, but it’s impossible to talk about 2024 without mentioning Justinas’s new record* on the Triple Crown Challenge! He finished first at all three of the races in the challenge: the Tour Divide, Colorado Trail Race and Arizona Trail Race totalling 25 days, 5 hours and 21 minutes of racing. Justinas did not start the year knowing he would race TCC but when he finished twenty hours ahead of Ulrich who was attempting the TCC, he decided to tackle the challenge as well. Eventually, he took over two days off Jay Petervary’s time which had held since 2015. His finish is noted with an asterisk as it is in the CTR results because he took motorized transport to fix a mechanical which is not allowed by CTR or AZTR rules.
Tour Divide
Overall Winner: Justinas Leveika First woman: Meaghan Hackinen
Records are made to be broken, in the words of coach Peta McSharry and broken they were. This year, Mike Hall’s long-standing Tour Divide Fastest Known Time was toppled by Justinas Leveika in the most competitive edition of the Tour Divide we’ve ever seen. A stacked field and plenty of variables to contend with. Meaghan Hackinen was a force to be reckoned with, finishing the race in a time of just under 16 days which made her the third woman to achieve a top ten finish ever.
Justinas came across the finish line in just over 13 days after being chased down by the previous winner, Ulrich Bartholmoes and newcomer to the Tour Divide Fray, Laurens Ten Dam. This race was one of the most exciting races we’ve seen at DotWatcher and we highly recommend taking a look at our YouTube updates for the full recap.
A big factor in the 2024 edition was akin to the 1996 storm-chasing epic, Twister. Justinas managed to outrun a storm that tailed him through the final 100kms of the race, whilst Ulrich and Meaghan, amongst others, were trapped the other side leaving little option other than to wait out the storm.
In the same year, Austin Killips took on the trail at a different time of year in an ITT, she was tackling Lael Wilcox’s ITT FKT and managed to not only take the time, but smash a full 12 hours off the record.
Colorado Trail Race
Overall Winner: Xavier Chiriboga First Woman: Nicolette Jones
The shortest of the Triple Crown Challenge races, the CTR takes riders into a whole new world of ultra - the sub-1000km category. At 850km, this race is one of little sleep and every decision counting. Xavier Chiriboga raced toe to toe with Justinas for the initial stages of the race, with tracking issues arising it was difficult to follow, but wherever Justinas was, Xavier was close by. Due to a deviation from the rules, Justinas’ trip to the bike shop cost him the race, leaving second across the line Xavier as the winner. A fierce battle between these two was exciting but left many somewhat deflated as Justinas’ error left some keen DotWatchers questioning if the FAQ section was a place for the rules.
With the intensity of this race, we have a high risk of drop out leaving only 5 women chasing the finish line at the 2024 CTR. Nicolette Jones and Karin Pocock had a tight race, with Nicolette putting space between herself and the mountain guide, Karin, in the last few days of the race. One to watch, New Zealand native, Emma Bateup, ended in third. The young MTBer has ticked off some pretty epic races and will surely be someone to keep in mind in 2025 and beyond.
Hellenic Mountain Race champion, Christophe Dijkmans crossed the line in tandem with Jesse Reeves in second place overall. Having been increasingly prevalent in the top 5 finishes, Christophe is making his mark in the off-road ultra world and Jesse may be a rookie of the ages. These two riders will surely be around in 2025.
Arizona Trail Race
Overall Winner: Justinas Leveika First Woman: Alexandera Houchin
The closer to our Triple Crown was the icing on the cake for Justinas and Alexandera. After a full season of racing, Justinas took to the Arizona trail like a fish to water, with previous winner and course record holder Alex Schultz leapfrogging him along the way. However, after feeling the effects of heat stroke, Alex slowed allowing quite a large gap to form and with Justinas crossing the Grand Canyon in one swift trek the gap was not closeable. A clear run for one of our most intrepid riders, Alexandera Houchin, saw her finally take the win at the AZTR after contracting bronchitis on a yo-yo foot and bike attempt of the Colorado Trail Race.
This year, due to massive fire reroutes, the race was no longer eligible as an FKT year. This left race director John Schilling questioning the feasibility of continuing the tradition of course records on race departs. With climate change affecting routes and trails changing due to increased traffic it’s becoming a comparison of apples and oranges that isn’t quite in the spirit of competition. Could the current FKTs therefore be frozen in time?
Again, Austin Killips set out to make her mark, cementing a new ITT record of 8d 23h 27m in Spring. Could this be a sign that 2025 may see another record toppling year?
Pan Celtic Race - Magnum Opus
Overall winner: Alex Boswell First woman: Taylor Doyle
For the final Pan Celtic Race Ultra, veterans had the option to tackle the Magnum Opus; an iteration of this race five years in the making whereby any rider who had finished two previous editions or won one edition could tackle this prefix event to the race’s grand depart on the Isle of Man. The organisers released a menu of Magnum Opus routes in each of the five previously visited Celtic nations from which the riders could choose and design their own route between eventually ending on the IoM for the Pan Celtic Race’s grand depart.
Naturally, the dots on the MO were very familiar to dotwatchers which brought out much support from the community, even from those who would later line up against them on the Isle of Man. The men’s and women’s was won by some firm favourites: Taylor Doyle and Simone Eder were the only two women who raced and both finished in the top 10 only 8 hours apart whilst Craig Nilsson, Alex Boswell and Stuart Percival took the men’s podium.
A special mention goes to Taylor Doyle, founder of both the Ultra Distance Scholarship and the Plastic Free Ultra, who lined up alongside three of the UDS’s 2024 scholars in the grand depart and finished whilst riding a plastic-free race.
The Unknown Race No2
Overall Winner: Will Vousden First Woman: Jana Kesenheimer
Unique in the bikepacking calendar as a race concept born out of the sleepy, hungry and cold aftermath of the Two Volcano Race in 2022; three veterans were inspired to create a new race format that has surprise running through its veins. Once again the adventure unfolded from Vienna, with the location of CP1 being revealed one hour before the start with subsequent checkpoint locations revealed along the way.
Holding a race in April in the Austrian Alps could be a head-scratcher with regard to weather conditions and kit choice. Adverse weather caused significant disruptions to the race from the gun; chaos erupted early on along with a snowstorm, causing CP1 to be relocated to the city of Liezen. Following this, one of the routes to CP2 via the Sölk Pass was closed due to avalanche danger, when riders were already on the pass!
Arriving first back into Vienna was Will Vousden, showing strong form from CP3, reaching the finish two hours ahead of Lucas Becker. Laurens van Gucht completed the podium. In the women’s race, Jana Kesenheimer took the win and was also tenth overall; a strong sign of things to come from Jana later in the season at the TCR. In such wintery conditions with plenty of adaptation on the fly, the early season race demanded everything from riders and equipment.
Two Volcano Sprint
Overall Winner: Adam Bialek First Woman: Andrea Eva Rösch
After a year hiatus, 2VS was back on the calendar with a twist to the plot; it was held as a free-route for the first time ever since its inception in 2019. As always it promises to be a grand European season finale for riders looking for a challenge to finish the season with.
Following a commanding win of the inaugural VIA race earlier in the season, Adam Bialek was looking to add another victory to his ever growing palmarès, which he did in fine style. Amongst others, Adam routed via a banned road during the race, so time penalties still had to be taken into account following his arrival in Nicolosi. His gap to second place Laurens Van Gucht was sufficient to secure the win. The first woman to finish to a welcome of arancini was Andrea Eva Rösch, and a very respectable 9th place overall. This is a phenomenal achievement given how little ultra-race experience Andrea has under her belt.
The organisers behind the 2VS have always emphasised the journey over the final destination, and this year prizes were awarded for the 'Most Interesting Route' and 'Spirit of the Race' alongside the final leaderboard. Out of 75 starters, just 5 riders scratched, giving a 93% finish rate - perhaps the highest in 2VS history.
VIA Race
Overall Winner: Adam Bialek First Woman: Joanna Ruminska-Pietrzyk
The first chapter of VIA paid homage to the grassroots of ultra-distance racing. Designed as a trilogy consisting of three chapters over the next three years, the inaugural race saw riders tackle a 4000km free route across Europe from Cartagena (southern Spain) to Giovinazzo (southern Italy).
A strong performance from the gun, Adam Bialek took the win, dipping under the 10-day mark. He established his lead from the early stages of the race and never really looked in doubt for the win. The part that perhaps sealed the deal was the decision to take the northerly route into the Col De Nivolet via the hike a bike section, a part that divided opinion as many riders opted for the long diversion on the road. Adam paused briefly in the InterSport in Bourg St Maurice to get some running shoes, a masterclass of sensible judgement and race management.
The first woman to finish was Joanna Ruminska-Pietrzyk, with Saz Harris just 3 and a half hours behind to finish in second place - a small margin in ultra distance terms! From day one Joanna never relinquished her pole position, a strong performance from start to finish. Chapter 2 of VIA picks up where it left off previously, with a start in Giovinazzo. With a growing community at its heart, old and new riders are expected to join the adventure in 2025.
