Manny Prado (Sho Air) stood on the podium one spot below Lance Armstrong last year at the Leadville 100. This year he came back to race it again, facing some stiff competition and brutal weather conditions that can sometimes break a person. Manny competes in both XC and endurance events.  He just came back from  racing two of the UCI World Cup races in Quebec, Canada, and is a regular at La Ruta (his home turf!). Check out his Leadville 100 race report to see what it takes to push through and make decisions only a few elite athletes face in their career.
Rebecca Rusch (Specialized) is standing tall in the number one spot on a regular basis these  past few weeks.  She won the 2009 Leadville 100 where, despite getting caught up in a little storm on the big turnaround climb, had a pretty perfect race where everything fell in that sweet spot and she yielded to total elation. Obviously, she’s been able to recover quickly form her three-peat at the 24 Hour Worlds.  Check out her 2009 Leadville 100 race report here.