After an amazing day, three teams will battle in overall for the 2014 title!
The pace was fast and peloton was nervous during the 6th stage, riders times are not too far from each other so the great decision will happen in the last stage, on Saturday, 25th in Mucugê – Bahia.
Riders were lucky to have cloudy weather and wind on Friday (24th Oct) so they could ride 143km faster climbing over 2.800m from Rio de Contas to Mucugê.
With 500 km accumulated on previous stages and without much sleep, riders woke up at 4 am for a furious race, so these are the highlights:
“Weather helped a lot with mild temperatures, and it was a complicated stage for us in relation to the overall classification. Hans (Becking) and Jiri (Novak) did a good ride. We came in 3 teams, including the leaders, however Hans and Jiri took some advantage ahead. I was feeling well since the beginning and I knew I could take some time in the final session (flat), but after 80km ride my suspension blowed up and it became hard”, comments Henrique Avancini (Caloi Elite Team), that became 2nd place in the 6th stage.
After 6th stage results a tough fight is expected for the tittle of Brasil Ride 2014 as 3 teams are really close to the victory. So from now on it’s all or nothing!
“We gave our best today, attacked first at the km 6 of race and we kept the escape for 20 km. Tomorrow it will not be different, we are going to push to the limit to leave this competition wearing the yellow jersey”, added Avancini.
The champions of the day were: Hans Becking e Jiri Novak (Superior Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team) with time of 5 hours and 41 minutes! An amazing speed average of 25,17km/h!
“Everybody that want to get the leader jersey have to attack early in the race. You have to be different and 60km after the start we attacked and didn’t look back. We suffered a lot because of the strong wind”, explains Hans Becking from Netherlands. “This is impossible because you were behind me most of the time” said Jiri Novak from Czech Republic.”Also behind him it was windy”, completed laughing the Dutch rider.
The big surprise of the day was about Raphael Mesquita Mendes and Halysson Ferreira (JC Bikes Team) finishing top 3 overall: “We knew we had to cross the hill together with leader riders. We ended staying behind however we managed to ride well on the tarmac session and this podium is very important for us”, said Raphael better known as “Catalão”.
An exciting fight could be seen in mixed category as well and Mateus Ferraz and Ivonne Kraft (Niner / Shimano) became the winners of the day:
“Look, we managed to take another one, this is our 4th victory and they won 2 stages. We knew that today wouldn’t be easy, because we knew that she (Italian Anabella Stroparo) does really well on the road, anyway we did a good job”, said Mateus.
“It was a “fair play” race, we came relaying with Annabela and Piero, also with Rosinha and Brou. Piero ended having a crash, we waited in the feeding area, however in the climb we kept our pace and ended winning”, comments Ivonne on the way to the 5th tittle in Brasil Ride.
In the women’s category the first place changed hands as Specialized riders did really well on the open roads and tarmac session:
“Awesome, I feel really good about the hole day, seriously”, said Ally Stacher that is originally a road rider from Lululemon team and is racing Brasil Ride with Rebecca Rush.
“This stage was really good for Ally, she’s a road racer and it was so incredible, how strong she was in the wind. I mean, there are so many places to work together as a team, and I mean I couldn’t have done without her. She’s so freaking amazing!” Completes Rebecca.
Master riders Bart Brentjens and Abraão Azevedo took the leadership of the stage just in the last hard climb of the stage wining their 6th stage in Brasil Ride 2014.
Brasil Ride slogan is “More Than a Race” and day by day this words are becoming more evident. “Chapada Diamantina is a fantastic place for cycling and Brasil Ride is motivating cyclists to discover this precious region. Back in the day it was all about trekking and after Brasil Ride we started to enjoy cycling on the trails”, comments Joab, a local cyclist that won in the corporative category. His is from Mucugê and works as eco tourist guide for 15 years.
Brasil Ride 2014 ends in great style on Saturday (25th October) with final stage and for the ones that wanted a day race only organizers are promoting the Brasil Ride XCM that is part of Bahia State Championship and will have other 500 riders!
In the great final, riders are going to ride 61.8km climbing 307 around Mucugê. Start will be at 9AM and circuit will have some of the same technical and fun trails from the prologue (first day).
Complete results: www.brasilride.com
Brasil Ride 2014 is sponsored by: MINISTERY OF SPORT (BRAZIL) - SUDESB/ GOVERMENT OF BAHIA - BAHIATURSA - CAIXA – SHIMANO -TREK - GORGEOUS EVENTS – THULE – OAKLEY – KAILASH
Supporters: Continental Pneus, Red Bull, JC Bikes, Café Mucuge, Prefeitura Municipal de Rio de Contas, Roma Comunicação, Penks. Media Partners: Revista Bike Action, Rádio Bradesco Esportes FM, Bike Magazine Portugal, Revista Go Outside, Webventure e BikenaMídia.com. Supervision: UCI (Union Cyclist International), CBC (Brazilian Cycling Confederation) and FBC (Bahia Cycling Federation). Realization: REC e Prefeitura de Mucugê
Imagens relacionadas
 Fast & Furious since the start of sixth stage! Fabio Piva / Brasil Ride baixar em alta resolução |
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