{"id":128409,"date":"2026-04-21T21:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/freeburn-finishes-sixth-at-sea-otter-classic\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T21:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T03:51:14","slug":"freeburn-finishes-sixth-at-sea-otter-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/freeburn-finishes-sixth-at-sea-otter-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"Freeburn finishes sixth at Sea Otter Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango's
Durango's Cobe Freeburn competes in the 2026 Life Time Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California, on Thursday. (Courtesy Dan Hughes\/Life Time)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Round 1 of the Life Time Grand Prix off-road cycling series is over, and Durango\u2019s Cobe Freeburn sent a message to the off-road community that he\u2019s ready to compete with the best.<\/p>\n

Freeburn and a large group of Durango riders competed against a world-class field in the Sea Otter Classic on Thursday in Monterey, California. The elite gravel races were the first round of the Life Time Grand Prix, and many Durango riders didn\u2019t have the race they wanted after 90 miles and 4+ hours in the saddle.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old Freeburn, however, bounced back from a tough 2025 Sea Otter to finish sixth in the elite men\u2019s gravel race, finishing as the top Durangoan in his first start as part of the LTGP.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super proud of that,\u201d Freeburn said. \u201cI didn\u2019t really know what to expect. Last year, I raced pretty poorly, so I wasn\u2019t sure how I\u2019d be. I kind of figured I was in a better place than last year not being sick \u2026 but I didn\u2019t expect to be that far up \u2026 If I could do top 10, top 15, that\u2019d be a really solid way to start. To be in the front group was pretty crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeburn finished sixth overall and fifth best of the men\u2019s LTGP riders in four hours, 16 minutes and 52 seconds after three laps on the 30-mile course that starts and ends on the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. He was less than two minutes of winner Bradyn Lange in 4:15:03, Keegan Swenson in second in 4:15:03 and Alexy Vermeulen in third in 4:15:14.<\/p>\n

Now riding for Trek Driftless, Freeburn had a great start to his 2026 season, winning the Mid-South Gravel Race in March, which gave him confidence, translating to Sea Otter.<\/p>\n

Sea Otter can be a draining experience for riders with all the sponsorship responsibilities that go with one of the biggest gravel races of the year with riders from around the world. Freeburn said he did a good job planning out his schedule so he didn\u2019t have many commitments until after the race.<\/p>\n

Freeburn went with a pretty light and fast setup for Sea Otter. He took a risk with narrow tires. Freeburn is a heavier rider, so he wanted the lightest setup for the notable lookout climb and that he could still get around the course with.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really hard because it\u2019s a lot of climbing, a lot of the climbing is pretty steep and \u2026 it\u2019s just all up and down, which seems to suit me pretty well,\u201d Freeburn said. \u201cA lot of corners and a lot of changeable conditions \u2026 it\u2019s pretty loose gravel, so it\u2019s kind of slippery corners. That suits me pretty well. It\u2019s similar to Durango in that sense, where it\u2019s a little bit of a controlled slide everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The start of the Sea Otter men\u2019s race was pretty hectic with 137 riders climbing up part of the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca before getting into the off-road part of the course. Freeburn didn\u2019t have the best start, struggling to clip into his pedals. He almost ran into the slow-moving media car after that, but he didn\u2019t panic, despite being stuck behind some people in the first downhill. He caught up to the leaders on the first main climb.<\/p>\n

Even after getting a stick stuck in his cassette, Freeburn managed to stay at the front as the lead group dwindled to seven on the final lap. It wasn\u2019t until the lookout climb on the final lap that Freeburn and former Fort Lewis College rider Cole Paton were dropped.<\/p>\n

After that, it was Freeburn and Paton battling for sixth. Both riders had to navigate a tricky finish with a sandy corner before 180-degree turn leading to the finish. Freeburn did enough to win the sprint finish in front of the fans for sixth.<\/p>\n

\"Durango's
Durango's Cobe Freeburn (left) sprints to the finish against Cole Paton at the 2026 Sea Otter Classic on Thursday in Monterey, California. (Courtesy Dan Hughes\/Life Time)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI just knew leading into the corner before the finish straight was super important, because there was no getting around anyone unless you\u2019re a much better sprinter. So I just made sure to lead into the corner first and then punch out of it really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeburn is taking a lot of momentum into The Traka gravel race in Girona, Spain, from April 29 to May 3.<\/p>\n

Durango\u2019s Lauren Aggeler didn\u2019t show her lack of gravel experience, finishing as the top Durango woman in the women\u2019s elite gravel race on Thursday in 23rd in 5:20:46. More importantly for Aggeler, she finished second in the women\u2019s U-23 category. Former FLC cyclists Sofia Gomez Villafane won the women\u2019s elite race in 5:10:39, with Lauren Stephens in second in 5:10:41 and Nele Johanna Laing.<\/p>\n

\"Durango's
Durango's Lauren Aggeler competes in the 2026 Sea Otter Classic on Thursday in Monterey, California. (Courtesy Dan Hughes\/Life Time)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Not too far behind Aggeler was Durango resident Maude Farrell in 30th in 5:23:53. Farrell\u2019s race was very consistent as she was in between 30th and 39th in all 12 splits throughout the race. Durango resident Michaela Thompson finished 33rd as she\u2019s trying to earn a wild card spot to the Life Time Grand Prix. She was the fifth-best wild card rider in the women\u2019s field, and four wild cards are selected after the second round of the LTGP.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe women\u2019s racing has grown and changed so much \u2026 Every pre-race and split second race decision is everything,\u201d Thompson wrote on Instagram. \u201cAs soon as I lined up at the start line I knew it was going to be like no other Sea Otter I\u2019ve done \u2026 A dynamic course and dynamic group made for an intense race.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Durango
Durango resident Michaela Thompson competes in the 2026 Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California, on Thursday. (Courtesy Dan Hughes\/Life Time)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ellen Campbell finished 45th in 5:44:51 as the next Durango female. Campbell is also going for a wild card spot, and she was the 11th-best wild card in the elite women\u2019s race. Campbell didn\u2019t get higher than 35th at any of the 12 splits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sea Otter Classic delivered one heck of a tactical, stacked gravel race (which honestly felt like a road race at times), and I for sure got my butt kicked,\u201d Campbell wrote on Instagram. \u201cDefinitely proud of some moments out there but honestly I\u2019m finding myself scratching my head at that one. Not really sure where it went wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durango\u2019s Ruth Holcomb and Durango resident Ruby Ryan didn\u2019t finish the women\u2019s elite gravel race. Holcomb was dealing with a lingering illness.<\/p>\n

Back on the men\u2019s side, Durango\u2019s Henry Nelson finished 37th in 4:35:55. Payson McElveen finished 58th in 4:45:15, Animas High School\u2019s Jake Sandau finished 83rd in 4:54:42 and FLC\u2019s Isaac Allred finished 112th in 5:37:38.<\/p>\n

Many Durango riders are heading to The Traka next. The second round of the LTGP is Unbound Gravel in Emporia, Kansas, on May 30.<\/p>\n

bkelly@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

competed in stacked field on Thursday in California<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":128410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6407,6408],"tags":[657,1820,950,28,977],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-128409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-sports","category-professional-sports-sports","tag-cycling","tag-dh-trueanthem","tag-durango","tag-headlines","tag-mountain-biking"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128409"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=128409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}