All images by Eddie Clark except where specified

Today, cyclists from all over the world have converged in Banff for the event that is arguably bikepacking’s marquee race. The Tour Divide has come a long way since its first edition in 2008, when two dozen scrappy adventurers lined up outside the YWCA hostel with paper maps and quarters to call in their daily updates from pay phones. Last year’s Tour Divide was widely regarded as the largest and most competitive edition in the event’s history, culminating in a historic sub-12-day finish. For its 17th full edition, the 2026 Tour Divide features an international roster of elite ultracyclists, professional mountain bikers, Tour de France finishers, collegiate triathletes, and even a former martial arts world champion.

More than 250 riders have stated their intent to join the 2026 Grand Depart, which begins at 7 a.m. local time, simultaneously from the northern terminus in Banff, Alberta, Canada, and the southern terminus in Antelope Wells, New Mexico. Riders will follow a variation of the iconic Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, mapped by Adventure Cycling Association—2,700 miles (4,345 kilometers) of rolling, often rugged mountain roads along the spine of the Continental Divide. They’ll face snow, mud, wind, rain, heat, exhaustion, and everything else the mountains throw their way. Wildfire closures, smoke, dust storms, and dried-up water sources have increasingly become part of the June event.

Weather variability, route changes, and detours make it difficult to compare finishes from year to year. The Tour Divide is also a route that can be raced at any time in an individual time trial, so Grand Depart wins sometimes stand apart from overall records. The Grand Depart records are held by Justinas Leveika of Lithuania, who set a men’s time of 13 days, 2 hours, and 16 minutes in 2024, and Meaghan Hackinen of Canada, who won the 2024 women’s race in 15 days and 23 hours. In 2025, Swiss cyclist Robin Gemperle blitzed the route in 11 days, 19 hours, and 14 minutes, but the race was disrupted by a mandatory 140-mile fire detour in central New Mexico—a variation that unfortunately precludes an overall record. Austin Killips holds the fastest time recorded by a woman at 14 days, 23 hours, and 12 minutes, established during an individual time trial in 2024.

One aspect of the Tour Divide that never changes is its self-supported ethos. It does not require formal registration, and there are no entry fees or prizes. The overarching rule is that riders must complete the entire 2,745-mile route under their own power without outside assistance, support crews, or planned supply drops. Deviations beyond official wildfire detours are not allowed. If a rider leaves the course to resupply or deal with a bike mechanical, they must return to the exact spot they left the route. Racers’ strategies for taking care of themselves matter as much as showing up at the start line fit and determined.

The Route

Even without wildfire detours, the official Tour Divide route often changes yearly. Early editions of the race closely followed the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. In subsequent years, Adventure Cycling Association made a few changes to the route, such as routing through the Flathead Valley in British Columbia. And Tour Divide organizers have added some spice as well, throwing in a few singletrack segments such as the Gold Dust Trail outside Breckenridge, Colorado, and the Continental Divide Trail north of Silver City, New Mexico. Flooding in 2016 forced a significant reroute south of Banff, and now riders must tackle a grueling hike-a-bike infamously known as Koko Claims.

The route runs the gamut of climate and terrain along the Rocky Mountains. The Canadian section is steep and forested, feared for its grizzly bears and June snow. Northern Montana is similar, with snowed-in passes and frequent cold storms. Then riders drop into the rolling grasslands and deep canyons of southern Montana, a section feared for its thunderstorms and peanut-butter mud. Riders climb high over the Tetons in Wyoming and cross the hot and windy Great Divide Basin, where water is scarce, and it’s possible to ride 100 miles without seeing another person. Then it’s back to the high country through Colorado, climbing to a high point of 11,910 feet (3,630 meters) at Indiana Pass. The Southern Colorado and New Mexico sections return to the high desert, where rugged roads, heat, mud, wind, and desolation have broken many spirits. South of Silver City, a long and lonely highway brings riders to Antelope Wells, a border crossing so remote that there might not be another human around to greet them.

The 2026 Tour Divide route remains mostly unchanged from last year, except for a diversion out of Silver City, New Mexico. The race will now route onto the San Vicente RR Grade Trail instead of the traditional San Vicente Creek Trail. The Rocky Mountains experienced historically low levels of snowpack during the winter of 2025-26. Snow crossings have recently been reported on passes in the northern section of the route through Canada and Montana, but most of the route is snow-free. The larger concern for this year’s race is hot, dry conditions and wildfire danger. There are currently no fire detours or closures along the route, but that can change quickly.

Weather

The Tour Divide is famous for its steep climbs and steeper swings in weather. Riders need to prepare for everything: winter storms, accumulating snow, heavy rain, dangerous thunderstorms, high winds, and triple-digit heat.

The mountains near Banff, Canada, received significant snowfall earlier this week, with a nearby ski area reporting 60 centimeters (nearly two feet) of fresh snow accumulation across the highest peaks. The snow tapered off on Wednesday, but with just two days to go before the Grand Depart, some of that new snow is likely to stick around amid cooler temperatures and rain through late Friday.

The fresh snow could pose problems for riders packing ultralight. In 2022, a severe storm hit just after the race began on June 10, dumping over three inches of rain in the valleys and heavy, wet snow across high mountain passes. The storm led to widespread chaos in the Tour Divide, and Fernie Search and Rescue had to execute approximately 15 separate backcountry rescue operations to pull distressed cyclists off the route. At least 11 riders were treated for advanced hypothermia after trying to push or carry heavy bikes through deep snow for hours. Four others were treated for trauma injuries like broken ribs. The volume of emergency calls added heavy strain local search and rescue groups who were already responding to local flood risks and evacuation alerts. Because there is no official organizer for the Tour Divide, the local community felt it was forced to shoulder the burden of safety management for private event, and many were angry at what they saw as wreckless, dangerous behavoir on the part of the racers.

Although there are currently no severe storms in the forecast, a cool and wet start with snow on the route means riders need to take precautions from the start, which could possibly slow things down for the leaders. Today’s forecast shows a chance of rain with temperatures in the 40s, dropping into the 30s overnight. The weekend should be warmer and drier as riders make their way south into Montana. Next week should be mostly dry and mild for the Northern Rockies.

Farther down the route, for the long-term outlook, forecasters predict a wetter-than-normal, highly active summer monsoon season across Colorado. Lightning risk could make timing tricky on the higher passes, but afternoon showers would help reduce the current high wildfire risk.

For the long-range outlook in New Mexico, the National Weather Service is calling for a strong Four Corners high-pressure ridge to lock in unseasonably hot conditions, with shifting wind patterns pulling intense tropical moisture from the Pacific. For the mountains, this means heavy downpours, frequent lightning, and flash flood risks. At lower altitudes, high temperatures are likely to persist. A strong summer monsoon combined with heat at lower altitudes could make this year a challenging one on the Divide. Time will tell.

The Pointy End of the Race

The 2026 Tour Divide promises to be a competitive race, stacked with wizened veterans and talented rookies who have yet to prove themselves in the Rocky Mountains. This year’s race features a high number of first-timers, with around 190 of the 270-some names on the roster noting they’re racing the event for the first time. About 45 racers have finished the Tour Divide at least once. Last year’s winners, Robin Gemperle of Switzerland and Nathalie Ballion of France, aren’t returning this year. Previous champions include current women’s Grand Depart record holder Meaghan Hackinen, who was the first woman and finished seventh overall in 2024. Previous top-10 finishers returning to this year’s race include Bailey Newbery, who finished second overall in 2018, Laurens ten Dam, who finished third in 2024, and Xavier Chiriboga, who finished fifth in 2025.

Men to Watch

Alex McCormack

At 28, Alex McCormack of Britain has rapidly ascended in pro ultra-distance cycling. In April, while battling unseasonably cold and rainy weather, McCormack set a provisional world record for the longest distance ridden on an upright bicycle in a week, cycling 2,377 miles (3,826 kilometers) along the Moselle River in Germany. He finished the effort with a bungee cord attached to his helmet to support a severe case of Shermer Neck. The distance cyclist also has a solid track record in bikepacking. He won the 2025 Atlas Mountain Race, the 2025 Hellenic Mountain Race, and holds the record in Scotland’s Highland Trail 550.

Photos by Juanan Barros and Nils Laengner (2022 Badlands)

Seb Breuer

Seb Breuer of Germany is a former professional mountain biker who approaches ultra-endurance racing with the calculating tactics of an engineer. His strategy focuses on “marginal gains,” deploying optimized aerodynamic setups and strict watt-pacing metrics to endure days of continuous riding. After winning the 2021 European Mountain Bike Championship, he burst onto the bikepacking scene by winning the 780-kilometer Badlands Race in Spain. He won the 350-mile Unbound XL in Kansas in 2024. In July of that year, he completed his “European Connect” project, riding 4,660 miles (7,500 kilometers) across 10 countries from Norway to Portugal in 30 days.

Laurens ten Dam

Laurens ten Dam is a Dutch former professional world cyclist who spent 16 years in the professional peloton. He finished ninth overall in the 2014 Tour de France. By 2019, severe overtraining led him to nearly quit cycling. But a casual 50-mile gravel race in California reignited his passion, and he’s moved to elite gravel racing and bikepacking. Ten Dam finished third in the 2024 Tour Divide in just over 15 days. He admitted the effort left him more physically “trashed” than the Tour de France ever had. But he’s back for more this year, with experience on his side this time.

Victor’s 2026 Traka 560 Win (Coros)

Victor Bosoni

French cyclist Victor Bosoni is another former pro with youth on his side. The 25-year-old spent three years racing at the National 1 tier in France before a genetic condition ended his sprinting career. He won the 2025 Transcontinental Race, riding 5,000 kilometers from Spain to Romania in 10 days, 16 hours, and 38 minutes. Earlier this year, he won the Atlas Mountain Race and secured a second consecutive title at the Tracka Adventure 560 in Girona, Spain.

Brian Elander

At 24, Brian Elander of Moab is another youthful prodigy known for crushing vert. So far this year, he finished second in the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo, first in Royal Gorge 12, and 15th overall in the Pacific Race in Costa Rica. For the past six years, he’s kept a personal goal to climb 1 million feet (304,800 meters) on his bike in a calendar year.

Angus Young

Angus Young of Britain is a reasonably speedy runner (his marathon PR is 2:28) with an aptitude for big distances on a bike. He holds the record on BIKEPACKING.com’s Eastern Divide Trail, a 5,950-mile (9,575-kilometer) mountain bike route from Cape Spear, Newfoundland, to Key West, Florida, crushing this distance in 39 days, 10 hours, and 22 minutes in 2025. He also holds the benchmark time on the 7,600-kilometer European Divide Trail. He won the Highland Trail 550 in 2023 and the Dales Divide in 2025.

Xavier Chiriboga

Xavier “The Farmer” Chiriboga balances life as a full-time cheesemaker in Quito, Ecuador, when he’s not racing big distances on a budget. He burst onto the cycling scene at the 2021 TransEcuador Mountain Bike Race with an old mountain bike and a frame bag crafted out of a shower curtain. He won the race by a day and a half. He put together an “Amazon budget bike” for his first U.S. race, the Stagecoach 400 in 2022, then set a new record in that event at 37 hours, 21 minutes. In 2025, he raced his first Tour Divide and finished in fifth place in 15 days, 2 hours, and 22 minutes.

Yossi Baruch

Yossi Baruch of Israel notched a strong finish in his first Tour Divide, finishing the 2025 race in 16 days, 6 hours, and 22 minutes. He’s gone on to win recent regional challenges in the Discover Israel Race and the Holyland bikepacking challenge. He’s stated an intention to attempt a sub-14-day finish this year.

Bailey Newbrey

Bailey Newbrey is a singlespeed crusher who completed the 2018 Tour Divide in 15 days, 11 hours, and 11 minutes—just shy of Chris Plesko’s singlespeed record of 15 days, 8 hours, and 4 minutes, set in 2016. Newbrey pivoted to fastpacking and trail running following a severe hand injury, but he’s coming back to Banff to challenge the singlespeed record again.

Cyrus Desmarais

Cyrus Desmarais of Wenatchee, Washington, is a standout mountain runner who holds several speed records along rugged routes in the Cascades. He masterminded a 250-mile high alpine route across the Columbia Plateau in Washington. But he’s not bad on a bike; he finished ninth in the 2023 Tour Divide in 16 days, 8 hours, and 23 minutes.

David Tschan

David Tschan of Switzerland has notched podium finishes in the Transcontinental Race across Europe and the TransAm. He raced his first official gravel race in 2025, the highly competitive Unbound XL, where he managed a fifth-place podium spot after overcoming a flat tire and a chaotic hailstorm. He’s since challenged himself on more rugged terrain in the 2025 Atlas Mountain Race and this year’s Pinyons and Pines.

Photo from Ian Davidson via Instagram

Ian “Mojo” Davidson

Ian “Mojo” Davidson is a rookie from New Zealand gunning for a sub-15-day finish. He is a regular fixture in technically demanding New Zealand races, capturing the top spots in the Renegades Muster and Coastal Crew NZ Race in 2023. He has also captured top-five finishes in the Tour Te Waipounamu. This is Davidson’s first year on the international stage.

Women to Watch

Meaghan Hackinen

Meaghan Hackinen, the 2024 Tour Divide champion, is a clear favorite in this year’s race. The Canadian cyclist and author was the first woman to finish the mass-start event in under 16 days. Last year, she podiumed in the three “Mountain Races,” finishing second in the Atlas Mountain Race, first in the Hellenic Mountain Race, and first in the Silk Road Mountain Race. She holds records in the BC Epic 1000 and the Arkansas High Country Race. She is also a past World 24 Hour Time Trial Champion, logging 460 miles in a single day. Hackinen has been preparing for this year’s race with a high-volume, high-altitude training camp in Colorado.

Karin Pocock

Karin Pocock is a professional mountain guide from Moab, Utah. In 2018, following a series of injuries, the avalanche safety expert turned to cycling for rehabilitation. Pocock has a long history with the Colorado Trail Race, competing for four consecutive years from 2021 to 2025 and capturing podium finishes in 2021 and 2024. She also won the Oregon Timber Trail 300 in 2024. She finished third in the women’s division of the 2025 Tour Divide in 18 days and 11 hours, just weeks after placing first in the Pinyons and Pines race. Later that year, she won the Arizona Trail Race, finishing the 830-mile singletrack route in 11 days, 3 hours, and 13 minutes and placing fourth overall.

Tanja Hacker

Tanja Hacker of Austria is a prominent figure in the European self-supported bikepacking community. She was the first woman across the finish line in the 2018 Trans Am and podiumed at the 2019 TransContinental Race. In 2025, she overcame a three-day delay caused by a lost bicycle to finish eighth overall in the Trans Am Bike Nonstop. Hacker is also the mastermind behind the 2,500-kilometer Australian Extreme Bike Race.

Alyssa Secreto

Alyssa Secreto from Colorado Springs, Colorado, is a former cancer researcher who left her career in 2021 to embark on a cycling career that celebrates her mental health journey. Between age 13 and 27, she battled treatment-resistant depression and survived five suicide attempts. To honor her survival, she has launched an ambitious mission to complete five endurance events in a single year: The Mid South Double, the Grand Loop, the Tour Divide, the Colorado Trail Race, and the Dakota Five-O. She was the first woman across the finish line in this year’s Grand Loop, a punishing 365-mile high-desert route in Colorado and Utah. She also finished the Mid South Double in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which consists of a 50K ultramarathon trail run immediately followed by a 100-mile gravel bike race. She is also a veteran of the Tour Divide, finishing the 2024 race in 24 days and 1 hour.

Leah Goldstein

Leah Goldstein continues to defy the odds well into her 50s. Born in Vancouver and raised in Israel, she won the World Bantamweight Kickboxing Championship in 1989 at 17 years old, then later transitioned to professional road cycling. In 2004, a catastrophic crash at the Cascade Classic left her severely injured, and doctors told her she’d never walk without a cane. She recovered and returned to ultra-distance racing. In 2021, at age 52, she became the first woman to win the overall solo division of the 3,000-mile Race Across America. She shifted into unsupported racing with the 2024 Trans Am Bike Nonstop, finishing as the first woman and third overall. With the 2026 Tour Divide, she appears to be taking on her first long-distance off-pavement route at age 57.

Torin Lackmann

Torin Lackmann of Boulder, Colorado, is setting out to become the youngest woman to complete the Bikepacking Triple Crown. The 23-year-old has a rigorous endurance background as an NCAA collegiate triathlete at Colorado Mesa University. Last summer, she finished the Tour Divide in 22 days and 17 hours, then notched a fastest known time on the human-powered Colorado Fourteeners route when she rode her bike and summited every 14,000-foot mountain in Colorado. This summer, somewhere in the midst of her Triple Crown, she’s devised a “Picnic Ride Challenge” that involves swimming across a frigid alpine lake and summiting the 14,259-foot Longs Peak on a technical route. It will be fun to watch what Lackmann does with her wild ambitions.

How to Follow Along

We enlisted seasoned Tour Divide photographer Eddie Clark to bring the race to readers again this year, and he’ll be out driving up and down the route to track down riders over the next couple of weeks. As usual, you can expect several mid-race updates and top-notch photos of all the action. Use our 2026 Tour Divide Tracker to keep up with everything, including live tracking, regular notes, Dispatches, and posts you may have missed, such as our annual Rigs of the Tour Divide roundup, which we shared in two parts earlier this week. Stay tuned for much more!

Check out the 2026 Tour Divide Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map, and stay tuned in for more event coverage. Find it here.

Further Reading

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