“I'm just really excited to be racing at home, and it’s just good to take a little rest and get ready for the road race,” said Holcomb, who placed second in the pro women’s Queen of the Mountain omnium competition in 2019 for her combined results in the road race – an eighth-place finish – and win in the mountain bike race. Holcomb, 18, just returned from racing the World Cup mountain bike races in Germany and the Czech Republic with her Bear National Team and just announced she will ride as a freshman for the Fort Lewis College cycling team this fall as she begins her college studies. Holcomb could contend for the road race this year as only an 18-year-old.

Riders in the 2019 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic women’s professional road race, including Durango’s Ruth Holcomb, far right. I'm sure she definitely could have the legs to win it.” “She's been prepping for a European mountain bike season, and she's always really fun to watch. “(Holcomb) is crazy strong right now,” Sturm said. Sturm, who won the 2019 edition in 2 hours, 49 minutes, 13 seconds, tipped a number of local women who may play a factor in the 47-mile road race to Silverton such as Ava Hachmann, Emily Schaldach, Ellen Campbell and junior phenom Ruth Holcomb. She said that she’s seeing how she recovers from the effort but is likely to enter the Iron Horse road or mountain bike events. Last weekend, Sturm rode to a second place finish in the Co2uT Desert Gravel race, which traveled 190-miles of high desert terrain west of Fruita. But they’ll face tough competition from out-of-town mountain bike stars Erin Huck and Evelyn Dong. Local riders such as Sarah Sturm, the 2019 champion, or Kira Payer could race to the win on familiar roads. Olympic hopeful Huck headlines out-of-towners defending champ Sturm and young Holcomb have eyes on keeping title in local handsĪs the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic reaches the infamous climbs over Coal Bank and Molas passes Saturday, any number of riders from the professional women’s field could make the winning move.

Iron horse bike rider weight limit