I thought I heard Hannah say they dropped your worst result from the overall classification. LOTS of people skipped Unbound for some reason 
(I personally would have skipped Leadville as it is such an outlier with the extreme altitude)
Yes, you get to drop your worst result, but why risk it if you are likely to gain $25k and the event suits your strengths (MTB)? I haven’t looked at the standings late,y, but say he skips last weekend and then has a mechanical at Big Sugar and can’t finish….no reason to risk the overall (again, maybe the math says he already has it locked up, I don’t know…but you get the point)
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Honestly, I’m glad he chose the US races. I think its cool we’re doing our own thing over here and guys/gals don’t feel the need to validate themselves in Europe. The top road guys will still go over there, but those on the edge can find meaningful racing here.
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There’s probably not that much benefit to Keegan, other than glory, to do XCM worlds. He’s also going to Aus for world road champs, so he also probably doesn’t want to travel a bunch right before that either.
How is a trip to XCM Worlds funded? Would USA Cycling pay his way? If not, I can imagine that traveling to Denmark to race would cost some $$$.
Lots of pros/cons no doubt. The way i saw it was based on all the opinions in this, and another thread, gravel privateers are making good money. We’re all speculating, but i don’t think affording a trip to race in Denmark is a tall ask. Perhaps we can put the money issue aside.
Secondly, XCM Worlds were in the calendar ages ago. Call up to Road Worlds is a last minute thing, so being at XCM Worlds was not planned and therefore his spot in Australia wasnt a factor to not go to Denmark.
Lastly, while there is glory to winning Worlds, there is also a set of stripes that command…endorsements. As a privateer, with an engine that apparently many here feel could crush at the Worldtour level, im surprised that the opportunity to land a world title - on a course that suits him - and the bonuses that come along with it, was not a larger priority.
Of course, no guarantee to win…but no guarantee to place higher than 4th at Chequamegon 40 either. All i can conclude is that he was somewhat obligated to be present in the series and more likely to stay home than risk racing in Europe. It’s interesting.
I doubt it’s disrespectful to ditch a lifetime race for a World Championship race.
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Keegan needed to go to Chequamagon to protect his Lifetime Grand Prix lead. He couldn’t risk a DNF at Big Sugar and now has it locked up. Bird in the hand, so to speak.
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I think the Swenson fanboys will be really disappointed this weekend, he’ll do nothing, and in fairness for him to do anything would be a totally unrealistic expectation. If I was a US up-and-comer who had been passed over for someone whose previous biggest road race was Utah state championship (according to the most recent AACC), I would be seriously hacked off.
People need some realism about Swenson - he is an elite level national mountain biker who has no results of note as a senior outside the US and didn’t make the most recent Olympics. I hope he wins races and makes a load of money to set himself up for life after pro cycling, but some of the hyperbole around him on the podcast and forum is starting to border on the ridiculous.
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Didn’t Tadej just outsprint WVA in Montreal?
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Isn’t it $125k?
That is the total purse for the individual fields, I believe ($250k total purse). Winner for each division nets $25k, IIRC.
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I suspect he’d also get a dreadful callup for XCM worlds considering he hasn’t done UCI races for a while and when he has, it hasn’t gone well since he was a junior. You need to be committed to that for it to work well if it’ll work at all. If Covid travel restrictions and disruption continue to ease and there’s good money on offer, perhaps there will be more foreign riders go to the US for races, increasing the depth of those fields.
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Pretty surprised to see so many people quick to dismiss Keegan’s ability. I don’t think anyone would assert that he can go out and win big world tour races, but he competed at the highest level of mountain bike for several years, performed very respectably, and has recently shown that short intense MTB efforts might not even be his strong suit. I think he certainly has the ability to ride in a world tour peloton and probably could find a niche that he could perform very well (hilly breakaways maybe?).
With teams like EF retaining guys like Lachlan and Howes essentially to be their ambassadors to gravel(with Keegan handily beating both), I’d be amazed if offers haven’t been made already. As many have said I think its his decision to keep doing what he’s doing unless the right offer comes up.
The fact that he’s racing worlds this week should answer any of these questions anyway. Maybe he gets popped on the going up the climb on the second lap. Maybe he tries to go with a breakaway to take pressure off the rest of the US team. If anything it’ll be a barometer of how strong the domestic gravel scene really is, which I’m curious to see.
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Lachlan Morton has been able to transcend cycling with a mix of his personality, his selfness nature, and the wide range of activities he has engaged in often raising thousands of charitable dollars in the process. He’s clearly a special person and someone who is trying to make the world a better place.
Keegan’s focus has been on racing. His go for it or die trying attitude has captured the attention of a lot of U.S. cycling fans. The 250+ posts in this thread are at least some indication of the interest in him. His wins this year have clearly raised his visibility but being on not only the TR Podcast regularly, but also guesting on many others, has helped his brand.
He’s been smart in how he has handled his career. He has a great coach in Jim Miller and he let’s an agent handle the business side of things so he can focus on racing. Now he is getting the results he needs to take him to the next level. Kate Courtney was on a similar trajectory but the lack of results in recent years has slowed her rise. America is ready to embrace a new cycling star.
One thing I have come back to a few times is Keegan’s Leadville performance this year compared to Lance’s in 2009. Lance set the course record in 2009 with a time of 6:28:51. Last should have been in pretty close to peak shape coming off the tour. Lance was led out by a group in the first half and then rode solo to the top of Columbine and then all the way back. Lance did flat near the end, so that cost a bit of time. Bike tech in 2009 also not as good as 2022. That all being said, Keegan’s near 6hr time is significantly faster and does speak to how well he rode this year and what he is capable of.
It’s not realistic for Keegan to go head to head with the likes of WvA, Pogacar and MVDP, but perhaps some TV time in a breakaway or some attacks when the road turns up forcing the others to respond is something we’ll see. He will need to learn how to handle the dynamics of the pro peloton on the road as well but nothing like trial by fire.
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Keegan’s time at Leadville this year didn’t beat Alban Lakata’s in 2015 – 5:58. Lakata was the reigning XCM World Champion at the time and had two other teammates to work with (one of which, Kristian Hynek, also went sub-6).
It may be a pipe dream, but I hope Keegan surprises everyone and at least gets in some breakaway action. Is he wearing a hydration pack?
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Jeremiah Bishop was hammering on the flats in 2015 both outbound and inbound, and played a big part in Lakata’s record breaking time. There is a really good recounting of this on a recent Bonk Bros podcast: Bonk Bros: Episode 10 - All Things Leadville w/ Special Guest Jeremiah Bishop no Apple Podcasts
Keegan coming within a couple of minutes of this with soloing over half the race makes his effort that much more impressive. Somehow Keegan didn’t think he was as close to the record time as he was and mentioned that he might have pressed even more towards the end had he realized this. There is also still some debate as to whether the course, with the changes made in 2021, is slightly faster or slightly slower, compared to before the changes were made.
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We can appreciate his talent and abilities while at the same time acknowledging how difficult will it be for him to break in the top 50-100 in the world tour.
It’s a good thing he is a MTB guy and the gap with Europeans is going to be smaller in the handling department, but fast, pack riding in narrow twisty roads will for sure provide a reality check if he ever goes there.
I’ll be rooting for him this weekend! 
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This is pretty much exactly where I am. One can probably find examples of people claiming he can win worlds or a grand tour or whatever, mostly tongue in cheek. Very few people would seriously claim that.
But people trying to assert “reality checks” are really only arguing against that point almost no one believes, because it’s a fairly easy case to make. To me he clearly has a world tour level motor, probably a decent bit better than average. It’s really hard to imagine someone figuring out that level of racing quickly (and not in one race). On the other hand, he has some specific experience that seems like would help accelerate that learning curve.
Put me in the “Keegan could be a really good world tour rider, on the level of ‘guy whose name cycling fans know.’”
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Every guy in the world tour was a local champ, state champ, probably a national champ, and maybe even a junior world champion. Then they get to the world tour with all those other champs and there are 20 guys that win most of the races. It really must suck on some level to be the guy that is 50th or 100th best in the WT after having been the best local guy while coming up. It’s still maybe a good life if you love training and riding and working for others.
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