Lauren Stephens Targets Redemption and Victory at Leadville 100 MTB

Lauren Stephens enters the back half of the 2026 Life Time Grand Prix circuit preparing for the Leadville Trail 100 MTB, aiming to redeem a performance from the previous year that ended in disqualification. According to Cyclingnews, the three-time US Gravel National Champion crossed the finish line with the third-best women’s time in 2025, only to be stripped of the result after accepting aid from a crew member outside an approved elite rider feed zone.

Pursuing a Leadville Dream

Stephens first set her sights on the Colorado mountain bike race in 2009 after watching the documentary Race Across the Sky: the Leadville Trail 100. That film captured the high-altitude climbs alongside a dominant women’s winner Rebecca Rusch and a men’s showdown between Lance Armstrong and Dave Wiens.

Before I was racing and just getting interested in cycling, I remember going to the theatres to watch the movie about Leadville, and just being like, wow, I want to do that one day, Stephens told Cyclingnews. Gosh, that was almost 20 years ago.

Though she built a decorated road career with USPro and Pan American championship titles, a busy professional road calendar kept her away from the Colorado dirt. After stepping back from racing professionally in Europe, she made her debut in 2025.

It was a big goal of mine last year to win it, and finishing third was amazing, Stephens said from her high-elevation training base near Telluride, Colorado. And yeah, this year I’m back to try to win.

Standings and 2026 Season Form

Entering the Leadville event, Stephens sits fifth overall in the Life Time Grand Prix standings. She faces an 18-point deficit behind series leader Sofia Gomez Villafañe.

Her 2026 campaign has featured strong results across multiple disciplines. She opened the year with a runner-up finish behind Villafañe in a sprint at the Sea Otter Classic on dirt. On the road, she secured general classification titles at the Redlands Bicycle Classic and the Tour of the Gila, alongside a victory at The Growler during Levi’s Gran Fondo.

Following a 15th-place finish at Unbound Gravel 200 and a second-place result behind Kate Courtney at the USPro road race championship, Stephens shifted her focus to US off-road endurance. She relocated from Dallas, Texas, to Colorado, spending six weeks training around Telluride and winning the FoCo Fondo for the third time in mid-June.

Course Changes and High-Altitude Strategy

Organizers altered the Leadville course due to wildfire smoke concerns, eliminating some climbing, including Powerline near the end of the race. Stephens noted that while the adjustment removes a place where you could make your final attack, the core character of the high-altitude test remains intact.

We still have Columbine, so it’s still a climbing race, Stephens told Cyclingnews. But not having Powerline at the end definitely changes the race quite a bit. I think it makes Columbine even more important.

Without Powerline available for a final decisive attack, Stephens expects the punishing, long ascent up Columbine to drive the key splits and attrition. With the race featuring almost 10,000 feet of climbing and exposed winds whipping across wide-open stretches from Turquoise Lake to Twin Lakes, fatigue will remain a central hurdle for the elite field.