The Vermont Sports 30

4. LEA DAVISON: ROLE MODEL ON  A ROLL

It takes a single-minded focus to pursue any sport at the Olympic level and while Lea Davison has dedicated much of her last 15 years to mountain biking, she’s done way more than race results alone can tell. Davison, who grew up in Jericho and later Nordic ski raced for Middlebury College, competed in cross-country mountain biking in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and has two World Championship medals (silver and bronze). She was on track to compete in the 2020 Olympics when Covid-19 hit and at 37, with a bevy of sponsors including L.L. Bean, is training hard.

In 2007, Lea and her sister Sabra founded Little Bellas, with the mission of creating a community to empower women through cycling. Little Bellas started with mountain bike camps for young girls at the Catamount Outdoor Center in Williston and in 2022, it aims to have 60 programs nationwide.

Lea has also served on the board of directors of USA Cycling and the advisory board for Women’s Cycling Association. One of the first openly gay pro riders, she now lives with her wife, Orvis vice-president Frazier Blair, in Arlington.

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