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Josh Ibbett’s Divide Recap #10

Josh Ibbett, winner of the 2015 Transcontinental Race, will be bringing his racing knowledge to bear on the Tour Divide with daily recaps on DotWatcher.

The top 3 have now all finished the 2018 Tour Divide. Following on from Lewis Ciddor's victory - the 6th fastest ride in Divide history - single speeder Bailey Newbury came home in second place, followed by Greg Gleason.

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Bailey finished in a time of 15, days, 18 hours and 27 minutes - some 16 hours behind Lewis. He finished in the early hours of the morning, after one last tough day battling the heat and strong head winds of the desert. It was a fight to the last, and one which earned a special mention from Lewis in his post-finish Instagram post:

[[ instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BkaYzvChs07/?taken-by=xshippx" ]]

Just over 8 hours later, our third rider on the route, Greg Gleason, made it to the Mexican border. Greg's time was just over the 16 day mark (16 days, 2 hours and 53 minutes), and his ride completed what has been a fascinating few days of racing for our podium riders. 8 hours is a small time gap on the great Divide, so Greg really was pushing Bailey towards the end. Lewis Cidor has commented since finishing that he felt the pressure from Bailey constantly over the last days of the race. Although the Divide can be a very isolated affair when you are in a racing mindset and another rider is relatively close, there is a certain amount of pressure to keep riding and keep stops short. This trio have all done a remarkable ride given the conditions at this year's race: In a drier year we could have certainly expected three sub-16 day times and, possibly a sub 15-day too.

Keep tuned in to the DotWatcher coverage over the next week as we keep an eye on the finishers and stories from further down the field.

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If you would like to get in touch email us at info@dotwatcher.cc

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