Breck Epic Stage 4: Sailing on the Aqueduct route
Todd Wells is staying pretty in pink with a stage win and over lead by 0:4:24 in the GC. Photo by Liam Doran Photography
After three days of racing near Breckenridge, the Breck Epic paid a visit to nearby Keystone for stage 4’s Aqueduct route. For full results check out www.breckepic.com.
Race leader Todd Wells and teammate Russell Finsterwald (SRAM-Troy Lee Designs) kept things civil, at least for a while, riding in a larger lead group through the first third of the race until they hit the exceptionally steep climb of the day.
On stage four of the Breck Epic, the top 7 men were all together for the first 15 miles until the decisive climb, Vomit Hill. Photo by Eddie Clark
At the base of Vomit Hill, Ben Sonntag (Clif Bar) hit the gas first with Finsterwald on his wheel. Wells had to unclip and run a bit to get back up to Finsterwald, who had moved past Sonntag. The duo of Wells and Finsterwald distanced themselves for the day, once again.
“We rolled together the rest of the day,” said Wells about riding with Finsterwald. “With the big climb out of Keystone, it is great to have someone with you because of the fast dirt road section.”
Stage four was busting at the seams with quality singeltrack. Photo by Liam Doran Photography
Going through aid two at Keystone Mountain, Wells and Finsterwald held a gap of 1:45 over Chris Jones (Unitedhealthcare Pro Cycling) and Sonntag. Fernando Riveros and Wells’ little brother Troy were another 1:15 behind.
By the finish Wells and Finsterwald had two and half minutes over Sonntag, while Riveros was over six minutes back with Chris Jones was close behind.
Ben Sonntag finishes just 2:30 off of Wells and Finsterwald’s stage four time to finish third on the day and remains third in the GC. Photo by Liam Doran Photography
With Sonntag’s third place finish on stage 4, he padded his overall third place, though he sits almost 22-minutes behind Wells. Kyle Trudeu (CZ Racing) sits in fourth, 12 minutes behind the German, and Drew Free (KUHL-Pivot Cycles) is in fifth.
In the women’s open race, Amy Krahenbuhl added to her lead once again, bringing her advantage to over 40-minutes. Second and third-place overall riders, Emma Maaranen (Rolf) and Ksenia Lepikhina (Tokyo Joe’s) finished the stage placed consistent with their general classification.
A rider takes a moment to rest and reflect on four hard earned days down and two more to go. Photo by Eddie Clark
“I’ve done random races here and there,” said Krahenbuhl about here limited racing past. “More recently, I’ve been doing enduro racing and with that stuff, I would think, I could do really well if this whole thing was timed, because I’m not the fastest climber or descender. But I can go for a long time and hold it together.”
While it may seem as though the overall leads are all but sewn up, but the weather forecast and profile of the Wheeler Pass stage could shake things up. “Anything can happen in mountain bike stage racing,” said Wells. “Hours could be lost.”
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