Nathalie Baillon made a stunning return to competitive ultra-distance cycling by winning the 2025 Tour Divide women’s race, arriving in Antelope Wells after 16 days, 10 hours, and 17 minutes. Despite a major mechanical setback in Montana that briefly cost her the lead, Baillon charged back with unwavering resolve, holding a commanding position to the finish. Find photos and details here…

Photos by Eddie Clark

Nathalie Baillon just arrived at Antelope Wells as the first woman to finish this year’s Tour Divide. As a rookie on the route, she took the race out fast, overcame a mechanical disaster with grace in central Montana, and came back with a fighting spirit that ultimately propelled her to the win with a time of 16 days, 10 hours, and 17 minutes.

Baillon led the women’s competition in the early days of the race, seeming a bit incredulous that she was ahead of Lael Wilcox while crossing into the U.S. She maintained her steady pace but was sleeping significantly less than Wilcox, something that many thought would come back to haunt her in the later stages of the race. But it wasn’t the Sleep Monster that got her, it was a freehub that decided it no longer wanted to function after getting her to the top of Fleecer Ridge just south of Butte, Montana. Baillon managed to get herself down to the highway at Wise River and hitch a ride to a bike shop that could repair her rig. It was a five-hour ordeal that involved visits to multiple shops before she was able to return to Wise River to resume her race. Unfortunately, the 20-mile lead she had on Wilcox had turned into a 20-mile deficit.

Over the next couple of days, Baillon chased with dogged determination. She was able to overtake Wilcox just past Lima at the southern edge of Montana, and the two rode in close proximity for the following days. Wilcox eventually fell off the pace with breathing issues and had to withdraw from the race in Wyoming. This left Baillon with a comfortable lead over Ana Jager, but she never let off the gas, preserving a 100-ish mile lead the rest of the way to the border.

Baillon seemingly started her ultra-racing career with the B-Hard ultra around Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2021. She went on to place second behind Wilcox at the Trans Balkan race in 2022 and won the Silk Mountain Race in 2023. She continued with a second-place result at the Atlas Mountain race in 2024 and finished fourth at Badlands after incurring a time penalty.

In an Instagram post before the race, Baillon had said she’d been having trouble finding joy in racing and had taken an extended break from competitive bikepacking. Tour Divide was her return to the sport, and what a return it was! Congrats on your win, Nathalie!

Check out the 2025 Tour Divide Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map, see our Rigs of the Tour Divide roundups, and stay tuned in for more event coverage. Find it here.

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