Sofiane Sehili waves as he passes through Ovando.
Second to arrive in Ovando was veteran to the race and past winner Josh Kato, 44 of Washington . He enjoyed ice cream on the porch of the Blackfoot Commercial.
Lael Wilcox smiles for the camera in Ovando.
OVANDO - Bike packers have begun to trickle through the area on the 2019 Tour Divide bike race. As of Tuesday, June 18, there are still 146 racers (originally 159) that left with the Grand Depart from Banff, Canada June 14. The winners are on pace to reach Antelope Wells, New Mexico in just more than two weeks.
The Tour Divide, billed as the hardest bike race in the world, is a single-stage, self supported 2,745-mile mountain bike race on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Riders left en masse from Banff, Canada June 14. Tour Divide race leader cyclist Sofiane Sehili, 37 of Paris, France, arrived in Ovando just before 12 p.m. Sunday, June 16. Ovando is 542 miles from the grand depart in Banff. His arrival time was just short of the course record set by Mike Hall in 2016.
While Hall stopped and had a lunch at the Stray Bullet in Ovando in 2016, Sehili chose to down two hot dogs and a pastry at the Blackfoot Commercial Company and was back on the route within minutes. As of Tuesday morning, he was nearly 850 into the trek.
Kathy Schoendoerfer, owner of the Blackfoot Angler in Ovando, said Sehili looked great and energized despite not sleeping in about three days. His goal is to win this year's Tour Divide - beating Hall's record is not a top priority.
Lael Wilcox, 32 of Anchorage, Alaska, is the female front-runner in the race as of Tuesday morning. She was the sixth racer into Ovando and is hoping to beat the female course record that she set in 2015.
"Lael is doing great. She is happy with her ride so far," wrote Schoendoerfer on The Blackfoot Angler's Facebook page adding she stocked up on snacks and hot dogs for later and was off again.
Alexandera Houchin, 29 from Cloquet, Minn. and female winner last year, is on the course again this year in her cutoff jeans, spaghetti strap tops and military boots. She rolled out of Ovando before 8 a.m. Monday morning on her single speed mountain bike in quest of breaking the single speed course record.
Riders carry Spot Trackers during the race and their progress can be tracked at http://trackleaders.com/tourdivide19.
Schoendoerfer will be providing her "parade of cyclists photographs." All photos will be posted at bikepacking.net/forum/ultra-racing/tour-divide-2019-race-discussion/ She will also update the Blackfoot Angler Fly Shops' Facebook page as time allows.
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