Just a few hours ago, Justinas Leveika of Lithuania finished the Tour Divide in 13d, 2h, and 16m, which likely qualifies as the fastest official time to ride the race since the late Mike Hall’s record-setting 13d, 22h, and 51m finish in 2016. As of press time, Ulrich Bartholmoes is also set to finish ahead of Hall’s record. Ideal weather conditions likely played a role in faster overall times this year.
Leveika took part in the Grand Depart from the Fairmont hotel in Banff, Alberta, earlier this month and reached Antelope Wells, New Mexico, today just after 9am local time. It’s unclear if the time will be accepted as a new record, as there are many complicating factors that go into qualifying official finishes. For example, Lachlan Morton set an even faster time of 12.5 days last year, but it’s not considered the official record since he had a media crew traveling with him and “visitation” is prohibited.
According to data from Trackleaders, Leveika was stopped for less than 60 hours during his effort. In 2023, Leveika finished the race in about 14d, 16h. This year’s time bests that by a day and a half.
In the women’s race, Meaghan Hackinen is not too far off Lael Wilcox’s 2015 Individual Time Trial (ITT) record pace. She’s on track to finish within the next four days or so.
We’ll update this article with additional information as it becomes available.
