If Einstein Racing’s Jorden Wakeley went north with heavy expectations, they didn’t weigh him down at all.

The World Championships in Marquette were supposed to be a showdown, with the Giant of Grayling finally receiving a stiff challenge on a fat bike. It never panned out. Wakeley had a ten minute lead at the first CR510 check point, and that gap ballooned to over fifteen minutes with 10km to ride. Behind, Tyler Gauthier rode like a man possessed to fend off a late charge from Einstein Racing’s Jason Lowetz, who nearly bridged a ten minute gap over the last half of the race to take a heroic third place finish in his second fat bike race of the season.

Behind, Evan Simula was dealt a rigged deck. After being caught by Einstein Racing teammates Chris Kushman and Ryan Kennedy, he succumbed to the 1-2 and chased all the way to the line, but came up short. Kennedy slipped in fourth and Kushman rounded out the top five, giving Einstein spots 1,3,4 and 5 on the day.

The women’s race was close early, with April Morgan keeping the gap around five minutes to Danielle Musto at the first time check. The pace was too much, and Musto came in just over six minutes up on the battling Morgan.

Wakeley, Lowetz, Kennedy and Kushman are all confirmed for the Fat Camp! race next weekend, February 2 at Timber Ridge. It marks the first race under the lights on the calendar and the first chance for Wakeley to don the World Champion’s jersey in competition.