Riders had to exceed their limits covering 95km during 5th stage
The day-by-day in a Mountain Bike stage race like Brasil Ride is always intense and exciting. On Thursday, the 23th of October, around 400 riders (originally started 500) started at the 5th consecutive day of competition to finish a total of 370km.Till now riders have done some iconic and classic stages, like the prologue in Mucugê; the longest stage and feared Vietnam trail; the Olympic cross country stage; the epic sceneries during 4th day and the fun ride of the 5th day.
On the 5th day, riders did around 95km and climbed almost 1.900m in total and the highlight was the 40km descend around Serra das Almas! This is considered an easy stage however after so many days on the saddle, most of riders cannot hide the tiredness.
“The accumulated tiredness can affect the ability to ride, so it’s worth saving energy to avoid going over the limit that compromises technical ability, specially in technical sessions in Brasil Ride. In this way you can avoid a crash that can put an end in the competition”, explains Adriana Nascimento that did a speech about Olympic training during the “Olympic Talk”. Hugo Prado Neto (OCE coaching) have also joined the chat to talk about different tools to measure performance, in special about power measuring systems and its benefits for pro and amateur riders.
The hardest part of the stage was between Livramento de Nossa Senhora and Rio de Contas town, in Serra Verde where riders faced 10km of climb on paved road and beautiful background.
Luís Leão Pinto from Portugual that lost his teammate in the last stage, started solo so he was able to input his own pace and managed to cross the finish line with a impressive advantage of 10 minutes ahead from the second riders.
“In a mountain bike stage race like Brasil Ride is very important to manage stress, It’s already the 5th day and you accumulated 400km of trails and these are not any trails, you have a lot of rocks, sand and the body becomes tired…” comments Luís Leão that reminded about the importance of managing the mental strain: “ When you are professional you have to go over your limit, I know this is not easy, but you have to be ready to suffer till the end”, completed.
“Recovery after each race is the most complicated for the athlete. Especially in a hard race like the second stage and at the 3th day the tiredness could be seen. There is no way to avoid, it gets accumulated over the days and in 24 hours we do all we can to recovery: feeding, hydration, massage and yet is difficult. The secret is to keep the pace, because if you strive too much in one day, the next will become harder”, explains Sherman Trezza that finished in 4th overall and kept the America’s leading jersey.
The fight for the tittle was left till the last climb and Sérgio Mantecón and Ricardo Pscheidt (Trek Factory Racing) were in the dispute against Hans Becking and Jiri Novak (Superior-Brentjens Mountain Bike Racing). Not too far were coming Tiago Ferreira and Periklis Ilias (Protek) followed by Henrique Avancini and Sherman Trezza (Caloi Elite). The decision in a great Sprint till the finish line and Superior-Brentjens Mountain Bike Racing team managed to get the first victory of this competition.
“We attacked since the beginning, we managed to get some advantage however I had a puncture. In the single-track we attacked again together with Trek riders. We wanted to win today and they wanted too, we did a great duel! Today was good it will get better day-by-day”, said Hans Becking from Netherlands that finished the stage in 4 hours, 14 minutes and 37 seconds. Protek stays with yellow jersey event arriving 6 minutes behind the first team.
“We always try to have a bit of fun during the race. If not it would be impossible to carry on because it is tiring. We try to find parts of the stage to relax but in this stage we had to push the bikes in some climbs. Descends were done with safety to avoid problems. Fortunately we managed to keep the leader jersey and we will keep going in the fight’, comments Tiago Ferreira.
Ricardo Pscheidt from Trek did a great race after a complicated stage on the 4th day. “Actually we already had two complicated days, in the second stage when I crashed hard ending outside the fight for first positions. Yesterday we lost some time due to a mistake getting the wrong way, today I felt bad in the beginning, with heavy legs, however we did well in technical sessions and we managed to get some positions on descends. Than, we reached leaders keeping a good pace together, and I felt my legs well in the sprint, I lost the leadership in the last 30 meters and this part of the game. I’m happy about the result”, commented the 3 times XCO Brazilian Champion that races on a full suspension Trek Top Fuel bike.
Sonya Looney and Nina Baum (Notubes / Ergon) won their 5th consecutive victory. However other women riders are getting closer each day: The Brazilians Isabella Lacerda and Érika Gramiscelli (CBC/Caixa) finished in 2nd after overtake Specialized riders Rebecca Rusch and Ally Stacher in the last climb.
The fastest mixed team was Annabella Stropparo and Piero Pellegrini (TEAM HERSH AMICI DI ANNABELLA) from Italy; followed by Niner / Shimano team riders Ivonne Kraft and Mateus Ferraz that kept the green leader jersey. Ivonne is on the way to get the 5th tittle in Brasil Ride and Mateus is looking for his 4th gold medal.
No changes in the Masters and Grand Masters categories, as Bart Brentjens and Abraão Azevedo (BRENTJENS MOUNTAINBIKE RACING TEAM) and the Grand Masters Heleno Caetano Borges with Paulo Felipe Vasconcelos (TEAM KONSK / CICLORACE) are still in the leadership.
The Oakley Challenge for the fastest riders in the km 61 was won by Hans Becking , and Jiri Novak and by Sonya Looney and Nina Baum in the women category.
On Friday, the 24th, riders are going to face other long stage crossing 143.5km and climping over 3.200m. This will be the stage 6 starting at 6AM from Rio de Contas to Mucugê.
Check for complete results: www.brasilride.com
Brasil Ride 2014 is sponsored by: MINISTÉRIO DO ESPORTE - SUDESB/ GOVERNO DA BAHIA - CAIXA – SHIMANO -TREK - GORGEOUS EVENTOS – THULE – OAKLEY – KAILASH
Supporters: Continental Pneus, Red Bull, JC Bikes, Café Mucuge, Prefeitura Municipal de Rio de Contas, Roma Comunicação, Penks. Mídias parceiras: Revista Bike Action, Rádio Bradesco Esportes FM, Bike Magazine Portugal, Revista Go Outside, Webventure e Bike na Mídia Assessoria de Imprensa. Supervisão: UCI (União Ciclística Internacional), CBC (Confederação Brasileira de Ciclismo) and FBC (Federação Baiana de Ciclismo). Realization: REC e Prefeitura de Mucugê
Imagens relacionadas
 Leading group on fifth stage Fabio Piva / Brasil Ride baixar em alta resolução |
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