Gravel events are now reaching new heights in popularity, but racing on unpaved roads has been a mainstay in Colorado at the Boulder Roubaix for three decades now.
First held in 1990, the mixed-surface race started as a local tribute to the Paris-Roubaix. Every other year the Colorado version is held a week before the famed race in France.
Like its European namesake, the Boulder Roubaix features a mix of pavement and dirt roads. In the case of the U.S. version, the pavé of France is replaced by the dirt and gravel roads north of Boulder.
The course is an 18-mile loop with surfaces that are about 40 percent pavement and 60 percent gravel and dirt. As a USAC-sanctioned event, it includes categories for racers of all ages and abilities, and payouts totaled $2,000 for the Elite Women and Men’s races.
The 2019 Boulder Roubaix mixed-surface race took place last weekend. photo: courtesy
The Race
This year’s semi-annual Boulder Roubaix took place on Saturday.
The Elite Women’s race was won by Jennifer Valente (SHO-AIR Twenty20), who finished 16 seconds ahead of second. Gwen Inglis (Stages Cycling) finished second and Lauren De Crescenzo (DNA Pro Cycling) third. Rachel Plessing (ALP Cycles Racing) and Holly Breck (Go Fast – Incycle) rounded out the wide-angle podium.
Colby Lange (Wildlife Generation p/b Maxxis) took top honors in the Elite Men’s race. Colin Strickland (Meteor x Giordana x Allied) took him to the line and finished second. Kevin Girkins rounded out the podium in third. Samuel Grove and Jake Magee rounded out the wide-angle podium.
Results for all categories can be seen can be seen here.
Results for the Elite races are below.
Elite Women's Results: 2019 Boulder Roubaix
| Place | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jennifer Valente | UCI WPT: Sho-Air TWENTY20 | 2:44:16 |
| 2 | Gwen Inglis | Stages Cycling | 2:44:32 |
| 3 | Lauren De Crescenzo | DNA Pro Cycling Team | 2:44:7 |
| 4 | Rachel Plessing | ALP Cycles Racing | 2:44:49 |
| 5 | Holly Breck | Go Fast - Incycle | 2:44:50 |
| 6 | Julie Emmerman | 2:44:50 | |
| 7 | Kristina Vrouwenvelder | ALP Cycles Racing | 2:44:53 |
| 8 | Meredith Miller | 2:45:05 | |
| 9 | Anna Dorovskikh | 2:45:15 | |
| 10 | Claudia Behring | ALP Cycles Racing | 2:45:52 |
| 11 | Emily Jordan | Orion Racing | 2:45:53 |
| 12 | Michelle Henry | Point S Auto p/b Nokian Tyres | 2:47:10 |
| 13 | Abigail Mickey | UCI WPT: Rally UHC Cycling | 2:47:30 |
| 14 | Emily Houtchens | Orion Racing p/b Borah Teamwear | 2:48:24 |
| 15 | Cari Higgins | 2:49:22 | |
| 16 | Cory Popovich | ALP Cycles Racing | 2:49:49 |
| 17 | Erica Clevenger | UCI WPT: Sho-Air TWENTY20 | 2:51:07 |
| 18 | Ashley King | Orion Racing | 3:08:30 |
| DNF | Olivia Cummins | Melton Design Build/Cari Higgins Real Estate |
Elite Men's Results: 2019 Boulder Roubaix
| Place | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colby Lange | UCI CT: Wildlife Generation p/b Maxxis | 2:57:55.05 |
| 2 | Colin Strickland | 2:57:55.05 | |
| 3 | Kevin Girkins | 3:02:19.08 | |
| 4 | Samuel (Hunter) Grove | 3:03:04.06 | |
| 5 | Jake Magee | 3:03:04.07 | |
| 6 | Isaiah Newkirk | UCI CT: 303 Project | 3:03:04.09 |
| 7 | Andrew Clemence | CZ Racing | 3:03:15.10 |
| 8 | James Read | Highline Racing | 3:05:22.09 |
| 9 | Jared Scott | LUX/Sideshow p/b Specialized | 3:05:23.02 |
| 10 | David Almanzan | 3:05:25.05 | |
| 11 | Thomas Herman | Groove Subaru Excel Sports | 3:05:25.09 |
| 12 | Jameson Ribbens | Team Rio Grande | 3:05:44.07 |
| 13 | Tyler Butterfield | 3:05:46.10 | |
| 14 | Yanick Ekmann | 3:05:57.02 | |
| 15 | Andrew Levitt | Groove Subaru Excel Sports | 3:09:49.05 |
| 16 | Jayson Jacobs | FAVE | 3:12:45.10 |
| 17 | Lucas Marshall | Black Swift / Cycleton Cycling Team | 3:12:46.01 |
| 18 | Maxx Chance | UCI CT: Wildlife Generation p/b Maxxis | 3:17:37.08 |
| 19 | Zack Allison | Clif Bar Development Cross Team | 3:18:08.04 |
| 20 | Gabriel Murray | NCCP/ 1st City Cycling Team | 3:18:48.10 |
| 21 | Daniel Crespo | FAVE | 3:20:18.00 |
| 22 | Henry York | Team Rio Grande | 3:20:18.04 |
| 23 | Juan Cortes | Groove Subaru Excel Sports | 3:20:27.10 |
| 24 | Sam Redding | Groove Subaru Excel Sports | 3:20:28.02 |
| 25 | John Hain | 3:25:39.09 | |
| 26 | Melvin Barrios | 3:32:05.06 | |
| 27 | Trevor Connor | 3:32:19.07 | |
| 28 | Andrew Wheeler | Full Send Racing | 3:33:00.03 |
| 29 | Chris Wood | Primal-Audi Denver | 3:33:42.06 |
| 30 | Jiri Senkyrik | 3:33:42.08 | |
| 31 | Samuel Boardman | Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling Team p/b Maxxis | 3:33:44.00 |
| 32 | Michael Hanna | 3:33:48.00 | |
| 33 | Adam Farabaugh | Support Clean Sport / SeaSucker / Guttenplan Coaching | LAP |
| 34 | Scott Piercefield | Full Send Racing p/b Elevation Cycles | LAP |
| 35 | Conor Mullervy | LAP | |
| 36 | Andrew Bernstein | Long Tail Creative Track Team | LAP |
| 37 | Kevin Selker | Groove Subaru Excel Sports | LAP |
| 38 | William Gavato | LAP | |
| 39 | William Dugan | LAP | |
| 40 | Kevin Mullervy | LAP | |
| 41 | John Croom | LAP | |
| 42 | Riley Burgon | Reynolds Roofing Racing | LAP |
| 43 | Michael Rost | Primal-Audi Denver | LAP |
| DNF | Gabriel Antonio Baca Soto | UCI CT: 303 Project | |
| DNF | Aidan Coats-Ballaseux | Above and Beyond Cancer p/b Scheels | |
| DNF | Josh Direen | Groove Subaru Excel Sports | |
| DNF | John Herrick | Project Supertraining | |
| DNF | Blake Romine | ||
| DNF | Spencer Martin | Groove Subaru Excel Sports |
