VN news ticker: Leadville 100 adds qualifier race at Sea Otter, Jack Thompson achieves 1,000,000 vertical meters
This article originally appeared on Velo News
Leadville Trail 100 adds qualifier race at Sea Otter
Riders who want to increase their chances of getting into the Leadville Trail 100 MTB race now have another way to qualify.
The Fuego XL at Sea Otter Classic joins the Lutsen 99er, Silver Rush 50, Tahoe Trail, Leadville Stage Race, and Austin Rattler as a qualifier for the the marquee 100-mile mountain bike race in Leadville, Colorado on August 12.
Each Leadville qualifying series race provides between 25-60 qualifying slots to the Leadville Trail 100 MTB, based on the total number of registered riders at each qualifier event. Half of the qualifying spots will be allocated based on the top age-group performances and half will be drawn among riders who have finished the qualifier race within the allocated cutoff time.
The Fuego XL is a two-lap marathon event covering 65 miles and 7,800 feet of elevation. It takes place on Saturday, April 22 at the Sea Otter Classic festival in Monterey, California.
Jack “Ultracyclist” Thompson rides 1,000,000 vertical meters
Australian ultra-cyclist Jack Thompson has ridden 1,000,000 vertical meters this year, a goal he set in the spring.
Read also: Jack 'UltraCyclist' Thompson is on a quest to ride 1,000,000 vertical meters in 2022
Thompson’s plan was to complete one ‘Everest’ a week for 52 weeks in a row. The globally accepted definition of Everesting is to climb the elevation of Mt. Everest (8,848m) in a single effort, with no sleep. The effort must be made on the same hill or mountain.
Thompson’s weekly Everests were supplemented with 2,068 meters of elevation gain on his "off days.”
As of Thursday, he’d tallied 261 active days of riding and 52 cumulative days of rest.
A vocal proponent of de-stigmatizing mental illness, Thompson raised over $400,000 for three mental health awareness organizations in the process.
Lorena Wiebes racks up another track national championship title
Dutch phenom Lorena Wiebes is having a successful track season at the end of 2022.
After the 23-year-old became Dutch team pursuit champion last weekend and won the scratch at the NK track cycling on Wednesday, she was crowned national champion in the elimination race on Thursday.
The Team DSM sprinter, who will transfer to SD Worx in 2023, is new to the track but has quickly found her legs.
“I don’t have that much experience in this part yet, but of course I have my sprint as a weapon,” Wiebes told CyclingOnline after the elimination race. "The beginning was a bit hectic and even downright dangerous. I want to win, but I don’t want to get injured. But later it became clearer and luckily I was able to finish it."
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