Lauren De Crescenzo, Payson McElveen win again at the Mid South
De Crescenzo repeats after 2022; McElveen adds 2023 to his 2019, '20 wins in Oklahoma.
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Payson McElveen and Lauren De Crescenzo are the men’s and women’s winners of the 2023 Mid South gravel race.
McElveen rolled across the line in a lightning-fast 4:34:03. After a windy day that saw echelons in the front group, McElveen used the singletrack around mile 88 to pry open a gap with Kerry Werner and John Borstelmann. With 600 meters to go, he launched a surprise attack, dropping Werner and taking Borstelmann along on a long sprint.
Innokenty Zavyalov and Alex Howes completed the top five. McElveen is now a three-time champ of the early season gravel race.
De Crescenzo finished the race in 4:54:03, the 19th rider to cross the line.
Early in the race, she, Emily Newsom, and Ruth Winder were the three lead women working in a larger group. A mechanical took Newsom out of the trio around mile 45.
After the midpoint, De Crescenzo went off the front and at one point, she had 12 minutes on second place. Caroline Wreszin finished in 5:08:03, followed by former pro Ironman triathlete Heather Jackson 56 seconds later.
Rach McBride was the first non-binary rider to finish the 100-mile race.
Unofficial live results here
The Mid South overall men
- Payson McElveen
- John Borstelmann
- Kerry Werner, Jr
- Innokenty Zavyalov
- Alex Howes
- Nicholas Roche
- Ethan Overson
- Griffin Easter
- Matt Jablonski
- Kiel Reijnen
The Mid South overall women
- Lauren De Crescenzo
- Caroline Wreszin
- Heather Jackson
- Katie Kantzes
- Emily Newsom
- Marisa Boaz
- Paige Onweller
- Sarah Lange
- Holly Mathews
- Maria Doering