Lauren Stephens takes lead with win in Women’s Elite field
Munro throws down ripping women’s time in Epic Stage 1
By Shauna Farnell
Images: Eddie Clark
Among the 55 women starting Stage 1 in the 2025 Breck Epic, it was 23-year-old Madigan Munro who turned heads in the opening race on Pennsylvania Creek Sunday.
Riding for Trek Factory Racing XC, the Boulder athlete finished the 35.7-mile course in a smoking 3 hours, 5 minutes and 9 seconds. A three-time U23 national champion who has also landed on a handful of World Cup podiums, Munro is participating in her first Breck Epic, but is competing in only the first three stages. Her Stage 1 time, however, placed her nearly 20 minutes ahead of Women’s Elite winner Lauren Stephens and ahead of several athletes in the Men’s Elite field.
“My dad and cousin were planning on doing this all summer. This was their big race. I just came up with my family, so I figured I might as well race,” Munro said. “We’ve been coming to Breckenridge every summer since I was a kid, then we kind of stopped when I got really into racing.”
Having competed in Breckenridge’s Firecracker 50 race, Munro was familiar with much of the Stage 1 course, which took riders up the road on Boreas Pass, down Aspen Alley and on Blue River Singletrack, back up Boreas Pass, down Little French and around French Gulch for a total of 5,700 vertical feet of climbing.
Munro established her lead on the women’s field from the dirt onward and rode with the men’s frontrunners for most of her race.
“Lauren Stephens went out really fast. She was really strong on Boreas. I was actually thinking, well, this is going to be a really long day if this is the pace the whole time,” Munro said. “Then I went in front on the downhill and got a little gap, then kept trying to keep the pressure the whole way.”
Stephens (Aegis Cycling Foundation) took third in Saturday’s Leadville 100, but was unfortunately disqualified for taking a water bottle outside of the designated aid station area. She was the second woman to cross the line Sunday, leading the Epic Women’s Elite field in a finish time of 3:24:28.
“Coming into the day, my legs felt heavy,” the 38-year-old from Texas said. “I definitely felt a lot better than I expected throughout the day.”
A two-time national gravel champion and long-time road racer, Stephens has never before competed in a mountain bike stage race. She was slowed during Stage 1 by a tire leak, stopping to fill it three times. After Munro caught her early on, Stephens’ primary competitor was Leah Van der Linden, who was hot on her heels coming into the final climb.
“I stopped the last time to fill some air and just before we made this final climb, she was only like 200 meters behind me,” Stephens said. “Knowing she’s an incredible descender, I just attacked. I knew I had to get some time on her before we came down this last singletrack.”
From Boulder, Van Der Linden (Lauf/Continental/Hunt/Eliel/Tifosi) also competed in Saturday’s Leadville 100 (she took 22nd), and couldn’t quite reel in Stephens. She finished second among the Women’s Elite field, in 3:25:20.
“She was hammering right from the start, and I was like, I can’t. I’ve got to go my pace,” Van der Linden said. “I had a good tempo all the way up Pennsylvania Gulch and caught her at the bottom of Little French. I was like, OK, it’s time to go. I caught her again around French Gulch. I was like, oh man, I got one more climb. She just got me there. It’s fun, though, to keep it close.”
Stella Hobbs (PRO FWD/MAAP/Zwift/Wahoo) also stayed in the mix Sunday. After taking 21st in Leadville, she rounded out the Epic’s Stage 1 podium with a time of 3:27:30.
“That start out of the gate was deep molasses,” said the 32-year-old from Whitefish, Montana, who competed in her first Epic last year, winning Stages 1 and 3.
She was surprised to learn that she had finished third in Sunday’s race.
“I just settled in and was like, this is what I have today,” Hobbs said. “My mantra today was believe in the bounce. You’re gonna bounce. Then we got into the fun stuff and I was reminded why I came here. I just love these trails.”
The Breck Epic continues with Stage 2 Monday, a 42.5-mile course on The Colorado Trail that includes nearly 6,000 feet of climbing.
Stella Hobbs crosses Little French Creek.
Image: Eddie Clark
Matt Pike pulls off more than two-minute lead with Breck Epic Stage 1 win
The Colorado rider sets strong pace in 17th running of iconic six-stage race
By Shauna Farnell
Always in the mix of the Breck Epic’s top dogs, Longmont’s Matt Pike launched his six-day race in record fashion Sunday, winning Stage 1’s Pennsylvania Creek course in 2 hours, 46 minutes and 43 seconds. Starting in super dry conditions and less-than-fresh air due to several distant wildfires burning around the state, Pike, a back-to-back Stage 6 winner who was third in Stage 1 last year, made an early break. He took off a few minutes into the race chasing Stefano Barberi (who ended up fourth), and didn’t pedal long before he found himself alone for the rest of the race.
“I didn’t want to force it initially,” Pike said. “Stefano then started to push the pace on the pavement, so I figured at least force it into the singletrack, recover on that descent a little bit and see where things are. Then I realized nobody else was going with us.”
Firing down Aspen Alley – the first singletrack descent on the 35.7-mile course with 5,700 vertical feet of climbing – Pike was aware of athletes distantly behind him on the switchbacks. Once he turned up the next gradual climb, though, he laid down the hammer, then enjoyed serenity for the remainder of his time on course.
“It was just me and my thoughts,” said Pike, who also holds the fastest known time (10:09:45) on the 137-mile Kokopelli Trail. “It’s super cool to get a win. I have no expectations beyond this. We’ve got five more days.”
Breck Epic 2025 marks the event’s 17th running. All categories accounted for, it features nearly 600 riders from 20 countries and 35 states.
New Zealand’s Caleb Bottcher (Yeti/Shimano/ENVE/Goodyear) was Stage 1’s second athlete to cross the finish line. Like the rest of the field, he was wearing a mask of dust from the dry trails, but also a pair of bloody knees from an unfortunate crash when he took a wrong turn. He finished two minutes and 10 seconds behind Pike.
“I sprinted like a minute up the road, my computer beeped [indicating off-course], I panicked, turned around on loose rocks, then totally ate shit,” Bottcher said as a medic mopped blood off his knees and prepared him for at least one stitch.
One of about 12 Epic riders who also competed in the Leadville 100 race on Saturday, in which he finished 18th, Bottcher has been pedaling Colorado’s trails for the last several weeks. In spite of his injury, he’s looking forward to the rest of the Epic.
“I knew that having a race yesterday, I needed to be a little cautious,” he said. “Being from sea level, I find it quite exciting to have the challenge of preparing for these altitude races. I kind of knew if I can get through today feeling alright, then really double down on recovery, it’ll make for a good week.”
Cassius Anderson (Marin Service Course/Castelli/ENVE), primarily a road and gravel racer also participating in his first Epic, rounded out the Stage 1 podium, finishing just shy of four minutes after Pike’s winning time.
Behind Barberi (Scarborough Bicycle Accident Law/Orbea), who finished fourth in 2:51:27, Canadian and perennial Epic podium finisher Cory Wallace (Kona Bikes) took fifth in 2:52:38.
Stage 2 – The Colorado Trail – kicks off from Downtown Breckenridge at 8:30 a.m. Monday, taking racers up, over and across Keystone’s back ranch on the Colorado Trail, looping back to Breckenridge for a total of almost 42.5 miles and 6,000 feet of climbing.
Caleb Bottcher (Yeti/Shimano/ENVE/Goodyear)
Image: John Hanson
