This weekend, Lawrence ten Dam will face the daunting challenge of competing in both the Leadville 100 and the SBT GRVL. While a double win is not part of his ambitions, the former World Tour star hopes to be competitive in both events.

Tendam has only raced mountain bikes once before, at Leadville in 2016, where a crash eliminated him from the race, but his gravel skills make him a strong contender for Sunday's SBT GRVL.

He won Gravel Loco earlier this year and was second to Ian Boswell in Unbound Gravel, but with little to recover between races this weekend, the Dutchman knows he will face a fresh opponent on Sunday.

"Why bother coming all the way to the US for one race when you can have two? Ten Dam told Cycling News after arriving in the US last week and driving to Leadville.

"My body feels good, though. Originally I was supposed to stay in the US for five weeks from the Belgian Waffle Ride until this weekend, but my wife and kids weren't allowed in the US, so we did a family vacation in France. I feel good and I'm used to stage races so I'm not afraid of this weekend. So two days in a row should be possible."

Ten Dam is new to mountain biking and is cautious about his predicted results in Leadville, which is considered one of the toughest off-road races.

"I don't know much about mountain bikers; five years ago, in 2016, there was a rider who attacked early in the race and I was like, 'Who the hell is this?' ' and I thought it was Todd Wells, who won the race," he recalled.

"I don't have a clue, but I'll try to stay in the first group and see what happens in the end. Last time I crashed in the downhill and the race was over, but after seeing some of the courses I feel more prepared than I did five years ago."

"I've only raced mountain biking once since Leadville five years ago. So I'm not really a mountain biker, but I rode the bike that Specialized provided for me four times. I think that's good enough and I think I'll do well in the SBT on Sunday, I'll be racing in 42s and I think I've adapted well to the high altitude.

Two of the strongest gravel racers on the men's circuit, like Colin Strickland and Ian Boswell, will focus their weekend solely on the SBT GRVL and skip Leadville. This is an advantage over the pair of Ten Dam, Peter Stetina, and EF Education-Nippo's Lachlan Morton and Alex Howes.

"They have a slight advantage. I ran with Colin and he seemed to be at a higher level than before, and I ran with Ian in Kenya and he was really strong. I don't know how his training went, but I had to hold back a little bit because of a family vacation.

"For me it is impossible to win a mountain bike race, but I want to do the best I can. And in the SBT I want to do the best I can and try to recover. If I can race like I did this year, I will be a contender for the win. If I have the same legs I had a few weeks ago, I will be in contention."