It would be at no fault of the outside observer to look at the last few years of Keegan Swenson’s cycling career and think of him as ordained with a gift reserved for a select few. During the past three seasons, Keegan has been nearly unbeatable across a range of disciplines.

With panache and style, he regularly smashes course records and, in doing so, has assumed the throne of an elite hierarchy that is developing within the North American off-road racing scene as new events crop up that require athletes to possess both technical skill and an extraterrestrial level of fitness.

At events such as the Lifetime Grand Prix series, Keegan and a select group of other racers are redefining what it means to be a professional. Endurance riders of generations past have often needed to chase careers in the bigger budget European race scene, but Keegan has thrived by opting to stay stateside.

With his bleached blonde mullet and an ever-growing collection of black and grey tattoos, Keegan would look right at home in one of the many metal or hardcore bands pumping through his earbuds during endless training rides. Despite his renegade appearance, he functions as a well-oiled machine—constantly planning ahead, dialing in his nutrition, and perfecting his bike setup. Each subtle improvement, he says, is a way to stay ahead of the competition. Working with longtime mechanic Myron Billy, a relationship that began when Keegan was in his late teens, the two have delivered flawless machines to the top of the podium.

Keegan’s obsession with gear may seem trivial or even extreme to the casual rider. In the days leading up to his victory at the Unbound Gravel 200 race in 2023, Keegan conducted a calculated experiment, puncturing tires over and over in different manners to see which tire plug, boot, and sealant would most efficiently seal the puncture. In a sea of countless CO2 cartridges lying at his feet, a wry smile crept across his face as he found the right combo to seal a sidewall gash in mere seconds—a discovery that could mean the difference between winning and missing out on the podium altogether.

At 30 years old, Keegan has entered the prime of his career, attracting big-dollar sponsors and winning bike races at will. He is a success by any definition, exemplifying what it takes to achieve at the sport’s highest level. While his outward demeanor is laid-back, beneath the cool exterior lies meticulous attention to detail and a fierce competitive drive. Keegan has undoubtedly logged over 10,000 hours in the saddle, a benchmark many consider essential for mastering one’s craft. So, when opportunities arose, he was more than ready to reap the rewards of his hard work.

Growing up in and around Park City, Utah, Keegan was raised by two active parents. Often, he would be the stoker to his father’s tandem bicycle, exploring the roads and trails surrounding town. In his teen years, Keegan began to dabble in local races with friends through the organization Young Riders. It wasn’t long before he found himself at the top of the podium. By 15, he and his family had started to travel to races outside of Utah. He continued to succeed, eventually landing on the podium at mountain bike nationals that year. The following season, Keegan would claim the junior national cross-country title, sparking him toward the career of a pro mountain biker.

For decades, standards and traditions have been set in stone regarding how Americans can become professional bike racers. Junior racers showing the talent and promise necessary to “make it” were usually shipped off to Europe to battle it out with the latest crop of the world’s best. Keegan’s path would be no different.

After another successful junior season, Keegan headed to Europe to try his luck at World Cup XCO racing. With support from the U.S. National Team, Keegan and his teammates chased points and the attention of various factory team managers. Keegan’s own World Cup campaign landed him on three podiums, with a second place in Windham and third in Houffalize and Mont-Sainte-Anne. His efforts caught the eye of several teams, but he eventually signed with the Cannondale Factory Racing team. With the support of a major sponsor in his first season as an Under-23 (U23) category rider, Keegan continued to learn and hone his race craft on tracks across Europe while also finding success at home, winning the U23 Cross-Country National Championship in 2014.

Throughout the following years, Keegan continued his European campaign, putting solid rides together amongst the world’s elite while starting to dip his toes into longer-distance events back home.

“I never really trained specifically for the longer events because I was so focused on XCO, but I was finding they suited me,” Keegan said.

Events like the Whiskey Off-Road 50 and his hometown event, the Park City Point-to-Point, which he won in 2016, acted as testing grounds for expanding the scope of his career. Keegan would continue to dabble in marathon-length events and stage races in the following seasons, but his focus remained on the World Cup XCO series. In his first season with Santa Cruz and the 2020 Olympics on the horizon, Keegan set his sights on securing the lone position to represent the United States. The global COVID-19 pandemic put all of this on hold. With his 2020 season a wash, Olympic selections came down to the first two World Cup events in 2021, and Keegan’s efforts fell short. Disappointed, he returned to the U.S. and shifted his focus from the Olympics to longer, marathon-style events.

“I don’t think it was anger, more frustration,” Keegan said, recalling that ill-fated season. “I raced with extra motivation that summer.”

That motivation propelled Keegan to victory at the Leadville 100, Telluride 100, and the Short Track and Cross-Country National Championship. As the 2021 season progressed, rumors circulated in the domestic racing scene that a new series was in the works—one that would incorporate some of the more significant one-day events in America. The industry and athletes alike were abuzz with talk of big prize money and a mix of marathon-length mountain bike and gravel events.

In the off-season, the LifeTime Grand Prix began to take shape. The series would consist of eight events, with an overall prize for the most points. Keegan and Santa Cruz Bicycle teammates Alexis Skarda and Tobin Ortenblad shifted their focus exclusively to the LifeTime series. After nearly a decade of pursuing World Cup XCO racing, the shift had triggered new motivation.

“For me, it’s been fun to set new goals after doing the same circuit for years,” Keegan said.

He opened the 2022 series with a win at the Sea Otter Classic and set the tone for what was to come. As the season progressed, he went on a tear, winning or finishing second in all of the Grand Prix events and winning the overall classification. His efforts during the inaugural season of the Grand Prix caught the attention of the cycling world at large and offers from UCI World Tour teams rolled in hoping to lure Keegan back to Europe.

“We have a good thing going,” Keegan said, referring to both his team and the Grand Prix. “In the end, the offers weren’t good enough for me to change what I am doing now.”

During the 2023 season, he carried his dominant streak on from the previous year, winning the series outright and setting a new course record at the Leadville 100. His success in Leadville came on the heels of another momentous accomplishment— an overall All-Mountain category win at the Downieville Classic in California. This unique event requires racers to ride the same bike for separate cross-country and downhill formatted races. Keegan won the cross-country race and placed third in the downhill, an accomplishment that solidified him as a rare breed of rider capable of huge aerobic efforts in addition to having an acute sense for technical descending.