Melisa Rollins and Alexey Vermeulen both produced incredible attacks to claim solo victories in the 2025 edition of the Life Time Chequamegon Mountain Bike Festival.
Melisa Rollins Dominates Women’s Race with Solo Victory
Rollins made the earliest break of the day shortly after mile 23. She pulled away from an elite group of four riders after the tough Firetower climb and then continued to press home her advantage all the way into Cable, where she crossed the line with a four minute and 32 second-winning cushion, repeating her success of 2021.
That left series leader Cecily Decker, Alexis Skarda and defending champion SofÃa Gómez Villafañe to battle it out for second spot. Villafañe produced an explosive late sprint to take second as Skarda took third, narrowly beating out Decker for top three.
Alexey Vermeulen Takes Third Chequamegon Title
Alexey Vermeulen left it until the closing stages to make his decisive move with about three miles to go. He left a pack of 14 riders behind to take his third victory at Chequamegon, this time by a gap of eight seconds.
The fight for the runners-up spot was hotly contested, and it was Kyan Olshove who proved the fastest finisher, with Brendan Johnston then outsprinting Torbjørn Andre Røed for third place.
Life Time Grand Prix Standings Shake-Up
Those results meant Rollins has closed the gap on both Villafañe and Decker at the top of the overall standings in the women’s competition. Rollins now trails Villafañe by just 10 points in third position. Villafañe leapfrogged Decker back into first place, opening up a two-point lead in the process.
Vermeulen’s triumph has seen him rise from seventh to fourth place overall, and the top of the men’s standings is looking much tighter. Keegan Swenson’s advantage was cut to just one point following his 12th-placed finish. Simon Pellaud holds on to second place overall in the Life Time Grand Prix, after finishing seventh overall on the day. Torbjørn Røed is now just a point behind Pellaud in third.
Reaction from the Life Time Chequamegon Mountain Bike Festival:
Women’s winner Melisa Rollins said:
Winning today feels great. We were a pretty big group coming through the first feed zone and I tried to stay patient. The race blew up at mile 25 on the Firetower climb and I was feeling really good. I got a little gap over the top of it but wasn’t able to hold it. I got caught by three riders and then went again shortly after and knew that I was holding my momentum really well, and managed to hold them off until the finish.
Chequamegon has been my big focus since Leadville so I haven’t really thought about Little and Big Sugar yet. I like to take things race by race but I know I want to show up at those two races the best I can and I’m excited to be part of the fight for the overall win. It’s going to be a really close and tough battle for the top spot.
Men’s winner Alexey Vermeulen said:
I started trying to make my moves with around seven miles to go. I could see the group was splintering, and guys were chasing to regain contact, and I knew the rubber band would eventually snap and gaps would start to open up. So I just bided my time. I could tell that anybody who got on my wheel wasn’t willing to work, and it was still quite a long way to the finish. I didn’t think anybody could go solo initially, but in the end I just trusted myself, saw the gap happen, and just committed.
“Once you commit you just have to believe in yourself because if it comes back, they’re going to beat you in the sprint. I’m thrilled I was able to stay away.
Photo Credit – Life Time
Results
Women’s Results
1 – Melisa Rollins (2hr 14min 05sec)
2 – SofÃa Gómez Villafañe (2hr 18min 39sec)
3 – Alexis Skarda (2hr 18min 40sec)
4 – Cecily Decker (2hr 18min 40sec)
5 – Erin Osborne (2hr 20min 28sec)
Men’s Results
1 – Alexey Vermeulen (1hr 56min 35sec)
2 – Kyan Olshove (1hr 56min 43sec)
3 – Brendan Johnston (1hr 56min 43sec)
4 – Torbjørn Andre Røed (1hr 56min 44sec)
5 – Cobe Freeburn (1hr 56min 44sec)
