On Saturday 15 August 2026, Colorado’s John Keller obliterated the field at the Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb in New Hampshire, USA, stopping the clock in 47:21 on the notoriously brutal 7.6-mile ascent averaging 12% gradient to shatter the course record — not by seconds, but by nearly three minutes.
The previous men’s mark of 00:50:15, set by former WorldTour pro Ian Boswell in 2025 on the freshly repaved course, had stood for just one season.
Keller’s ride also crushed the rest of the 426-rider field: runner-up Peter Stetina, the former WorldTour professional now thriving in gravel racing, crossed 3 minutes 27 seconds back in 00:50:48. Cameron Cogburn was third, 4 minutes 44 seconds behind, with 2025 UCI Gran Fondo Time Trial World Champion Andrew Knight fourth and Philip Mason fifth.
The course’s record book has been rewritten before for reasons beyond speed. In 2011, times set by Tyler Hamilton and Geneviève Jeanson were struck from the records after both admitted to doping, and organizers reset the marks again in 2022 once the Auto Road’s remaining gravel sections were paved.
In the women’s race, USA national e-sports team member Kristen Kulchinsky of Dix Hills, New York, took the overall title in 01:04:06, finishing 14th outright. Amber Ferreira was second, 5 minutes 40 seconds back, with Charlotte Lellman third.
For Keller, 29, the win extends a breakout season that already includes a dominant win atop Colorado’s 14,000-foot Mt. Blue Sky in July.
Whether his time holds for just one year like Boswell’s remains to be seen — but for now, the toughest hillclimb in America has a new benchmark and champion.
View Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb results HERE
Photo Credit: Granite State Race Services
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