From Injury to the Stars and Stripes: Melisa Rollins’ Comeback and Her Custom Leadville Liv Pique

Melisa Rollins is heading back to the Leadville Trail 100 to race the legendary event for her ninth time. Her path to the Colorado high country this year has been tumultuous and sounds like a movie script. Just five months ago, she was in South Africa getting ready for the Cape Epic when a training crash left her with a broken left elbow and a fractured right wrist. Her season looked cooked at that point. From there, it was just one blow after another: a partially torn triceps muscle in April, getting hit by a car while training on her road bike in May, and another mid-race pileup at SBT GRVL in June. 

But instead of throwing in the towel, Rollins kept fighting back. In July, she lined up at the Marathon Mountain Bike National Championship in Virginia, shook off a mid-race flat tire, and rode away with the elite Stars and Stripes jersey. 

To celebrate that historic win, she is rolling up to the Leadville start line with quite the special machine. Her team built up a custom-painted Liv Pique Advanced 29 decked out in a full Stars and Stripes livery. 

The frame features a stunning red, white, and blue motif, with championship stars blended across the top tube to match her new national title jersey. The build is dialed for the brutal Colorado terrain, featuring a RockShox Flight Attendant suspension to provide predictive damping adjustments so she doesn't have to think about lockouts. For rubber, she went with a fast-rolling setup, wrapping her Zipp wheels in a set of 29 x 2.2-inch Continental Dubnital tires. Of course, she’s using SILCA’s tire sealant and Super Secret chain wax for clean, fast, and efficient pedaling.

Even with her rough spring, Rollins is a heavy favorite this weekend. She absolutely knows how to win here, having taken the top step in 2024 and posted a sub-seven-hour ride to finish second in 2025. Since last year's winner, Kate Courtney, is currently over in Europe racing on the road, the spotlight is squarely on Rollins. 

Because her injuries forced her to miss the first couple of rounds of the Life Time Grand Prix, she is currently sitting low in the overall standings. However, because the series lets riders drop their worst two scores, her hunt for the overall series podium officially starts in Leadville.

It won't be a typical Leadville race, though. Nearby wildfires have forced organizers to cut out some of the traditional course’s most famous climbs, including Powerline and Sugarloaf Mountain. 

Rollins commented that losing Powerline is disappointing, but noted that it is far more devastating to have seen the surrounding mountains on fire. The rerouted course swaps out those steep, rocky technical climbs for a faster, more rolling profile, which will certainly lead to some dynamic racing.