8th July 2026
DIVIDE AND CONQUER
A historic ride on the 2026 Tour Divide for Angus Young and the MASON Macro, who finished in 13d 18h 03m - the fifth fastest in history.
The 4400km of the Tour Divide make up probably the most widely publicised and prestigious ride in the bikepacking racing calendar. An increasingly competitive field had, for a full 8 years, tried and failed to overhaul Mike Hall’s legendary FKT (13d 22h 51m), set in 2016.
Recent years have seen records tumble, and by eye-watering margins. This year was the fastest edition ever, with MASON rider Angus Young finishing in third place - and still faster than Mike’s time. On board his very well used MASON Macro, he posted the fastest time ever ridden on a metal bike in Tour Divide history. An outstanding record that reflects the capability of both bike and rider.
I know from experience that I never seem to be able to get the most out of myself the first time at any event. So I’m heading into this one with little pressure on myself. I’ve been training hard and I’m in good shape but all I can do is focus on myself and enjoying my first experience on the Divide.
Despite approaching the race with an element of restraint and caution, conditions on this year’s Divide proved to be, generally, pretty good for a fast time, and Angus comfortably worked his way towards the pointy end of the race.
The absence of long stretches of the dreaded ‘peanut butter mud’, however, meant riders instead faced dry tracks that kicked up clouds of dust. As a result, Angus was struggling with a nasty cough from the opening days of the race.
Those of us glued to his daily Instagram updates feared this might become seriously problematic, as it sometimes has in the past. A consistently sensible approach to sleep and recovery throughout the race, though, meant Angus was able to keep his lungs in working order, and he quickly established himself in the chase pack behind race leader Victor Bosoni.
A tussle with former World Tour pro and Tour de France 9th place finisher Laurens Ten Dam became the dominant theme of Angus’ ride, with often only a handful of miles separating the two for the majority of the race.
Leapfrogging each other, with the gap a daily concertina, it wasn't until the closing day or so that it became clear Laurens wasn't catchable, and the battle to protect third place and a podium finish was on.
Despite the hard, relentless racing and sweltering daytime temperatures, Angus soldiered on with his trademark accepting cheerfulness.
Few more hours of riding. Find a ditch to sleep in. Same again tomorrow.
After almost two weeks on the trails, he rolled into Antelope Wells, the US-Mexico border crossing and finish point of the route, in the dead of night, with not a soul to be seen. "Finishing here, at a strange place - it's a really special moment all to myself. I'm going to get my head down for a few hours kip...because I think I need it."
Angus chose to ride his trusty MASON Macro on the Divide. “I went for comfort and reliability over anything else,” he said before the race. “I’ve ridden well over 20,000km on my Macro so I know it inside out. I went with flat bars just to mix things up a bit, but there isn’t really anything extra special for the setup, nothing is new and everything is tried and tested.”
MASON bikes are #fastfar metal machines, crafted to balance performance and speed with robust, all-terrain capability. Angus has ridden our bikes all over the world, setting FKTs, winning races, and pushing his and his bikes’ limits. As with his recent performance at the Traka 560, where he rode his Bokeh to a 5th place finish, Angus was the first metal bike home on the Tour Divide.