Ramirez opens Breck Epic with stage victory

Federico Ramirez

Federico Ramirez (Image credit: Luis A. Rueda Fonseca)

Moderate temperatures greeted the field for the first stage of the third annual Breck Epic MTB Stage Race. On tap for the day was a classic Summit County route noted for both its proximity to town and for its rugged nature.

At roughly 40 miles, stage one didn't look like much on paper, but as the day played out it proved itself a likely player in the final standings as race favorite after race favorite fell by the wayside, their tire sidewalls victim to the route’s unforgiving character.

Race favorites Josh Tostado (Bach Builders/Santa Cruz) and Travis Brown (Trek) fell victim to stage 1's rocky underbelly, Tostado relinquishing the lead just seconds after its gain to eventual stage winner multiple-time La Ruta de los Conquistadores champion, Lico Ramirez. Brown's misfortune came just five miles from the finish and saw him drop five spots in the overall. Local neo-pro Kevin Kane (Rocky Mountain) held on for second, finishing just eight minutes off the pace set by Ramirez.

On the women's side, Sonya Looney (Ergon) showed up fresh from her CTR attempt with fitness to spare, putting 14 minutes into second-place finisher Katie Lindquist (Ericksen). Jen Tilley (Honey Stinger/Trek) rounded out the podium in the women’s open category.

With approximately 210 miles left to go, none of these categories is decided. Luck, fitness, racing smarts and Mother Nature are all going to have their say. On deck for Monday is 40+ miles of prime high-alpine Colorado singletrack as racers are treated to the legendary Colorado trail. An overnight storm cell dumped a tiny bit of moisture on course, making everything north-facing super-tacky hero-dirt.

Full Results - Stage 1 & GC after stage 1

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Solo men open
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Federico Ramirez3:10:04
2Kevin Kane0:08:07
3Ben Aufderheide0:09:22
4Cameron Chambers0:10:24
5Colby Pearce0:11:34
6Blake Harlan0:11:40
7Colin Cares0:14:16
8Macky Franklin0:15:06
9Travis Brown0:16:28
10Chris Baddick0:17:44
10Samuel MorrisonRow 10 - Cell 2
12Nick Truitt0:24:47
13Chris Mcgovern0:28:14
14Josh Tostado0:28:28
15Kip Biese0:30:21
16Jonathan Davis0:38:35
17Kevin Conerly0:50:06
18Taylor Shelden1:23:36
19Christopher Phelan1:57:43
20Phillip Ball2:08:26
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Solo singlespeed men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Vince Anderson3:37:40
2Michael Melley0:00:45
3Carter Jeffrey0:22:20
4Rob Lockey0:25:48
5Rich Dillen0:40:41
6John Odle0:59:19
7Peter Keiller1:28:07
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Solo men 30+
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mike Schilling3:37:51
2Werner Van Der Merwe0:05:56
3Kevin Ormerod0:22:13
4Geir Ottar Kvernstuen0:29:13
5Rich Digeronimo0:30:29
6Jon Fugitt0:36:03
7Mario Araya0:38:48
8Robin Dutton0:40:45
9Stephen Thompson0:44:01
10Jesse Combs0:45:54
11Grant Hvizdos0:46:25
12Nesse Oystein0:48:29
13Andrew Jauquet0:50:09
14Cormac Ahern0:52:36
15Steven Pauwels0:52:41
16Josh Gray1:05:39
17Chris Hurst1:18:14
18Tim Harper1:37:20
19Christophe Van Lierde2:30:07
20Alex Garcia4:29:02
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Solo men 40+
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mark Llinares3:50:25
2Peter Paelinck0:00:56
3Brian Maslach0:03:13
4Trever Bushnell0:09:04
5Scott Patterson0:09:41
6Tom Brodzinski0:12:37
7Daniel King0:20:34
8Ron Hewitson0:30:21
9Gregg Pattison0:40:06
10Lennie Moon0:44:40
11Gary Hall0:50:08
12Robert Lee1:07:07
13Craig Conner1:07:24
14Ryan GilmerRow 13 - Cell 2
15Eman Podgorny1:09:48
16Stefan Plas1:24:04
17Brad Shield1:29:05
18Danny Drogula1:30:50
19John Riggs2:00:43
20Manuel Pachano4:16:49
21Valois Gonzalez4:17:51
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Solo 50+ men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Rich Cramer3:57:15
2Eric Davis0:00:34
3Mark Hershberger0:02:48
4Kent Eriksen0:09:02
5Bruce Wilson0:14:38
6Dean Cahow0:19:35
7Jim Mitchell0:22:21
8Robert Laroche0:24:09
9Tom Quinn0:40:17
10Jeff Soulier0:40:58
11Kelly Smith0:46:05
12Rick Metzger1:04:36
13Peter Borsato1:12:47
14Delynn Burkhalter1:17:55
15Greg Mckennis1:22:10
16Dirk Long1:22:12
17Paul Labissonniere1:31:06
18Keith Cooper1:41:42
19Mark Halwa2:07:55
20Stephen Ostrander2:38:51
21Mario Gustavo Bacce4:09:54
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Clydesdale men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1David Huntley4:11:22
2Nick Armano0:26:59
3Kevin Andruschuk0:34:44
4Ken Kreidl0:48:45
5Smith Stanford1:52:19
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Solo women open
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Sonya Looney4:06:37
2Katherine Lindquist0:14:00
3Jen Tilley0:22:08
4Selene Yeager0:25:37
5Brenda Munoz0:37:58
6Molly Cochran1:51:18
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Solo women 40+
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Kathy Eckert4:38:01
2Kristi Olson0:03:31
3Lisa Lepoole0:23:41
4Laureen Coffelt0:34:03
5Tinneke Vandevoorde1:21:22
6Lori Halwa1:26:34
7Patricia Vandendriessche1:29:57
8Molly Breslin2:03:23
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Solo women 50+
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Cynthia Ferrer6:37:57
2Alison Jones1:00:22
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Duo men open
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Huseby/Johnson3:58:23
2Wu/Busse0:14:16
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Duo men 80+
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Overstreet/Thompson(Wilderness Sports)3:41:34
2Piker/Breznyak(Deadgoat Racing)0:10:14
3Pizzorni/Zanetta(Ruote Quadre Italy)2:11:07
4Welner/Perry(WaterMen Racing)2:13:39
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Duo men 100+
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Gouge/Asleson4:13:01
2Jones/Ebbern(LiveOutThere.com)0:22:28
3Gable/Mortier0:33:53
4Gauld/Halprin(teamonetwentythree)2:06:06
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Duo coed
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Gersbach/Venzara(Honey Stinger/Trek)3:57:43
2Ryan/Raborn(Beti & the Beast)0:28:23
3Kreb/Malmberg(Kreb Malmberg)1:12:20
4Batchelor/Hoffman(Racer X)1:37:37
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3-day men open
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Yuki Ikeda3:26:39
2Jorge Espinoza0:03:37
3Jeff Kerkove0:11:36
4Christian Mccarthy0:19:59
5Huybert Groenendaal0:21:25
6Patrick Valentine0:26:37
7Adam Pulford0:41:56
8Jordan Carr0:58:31
9Andy Pemberton1:05:26
10Eric Sorenson1:06:53
11Pedro Del Busto1:19:39
12Johnny Petrosky1:49:29
13Adam Pemberton1:50:53
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3-day men 40+
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Michael Hagen3:50:02
2Brian Hludiznski0:02:04
3Cary Smith0:04:24
4Donald Powell0:04:34
5Theodore Fleming0:07:30
6Andrew Yates0:16:50
7Don Roth0:31:48
8Marc Peruzzi0:43:31
9Roman Urbina0:47:40
10Tim Aigner0:56:24
11Peter Dunn1:03:22
12Marco Chinchilla1:04:19
13Jeff Bader1:33:41
14John Arguello1:39:04
15Tad Peacock1:39:06
16Mike Stoll1:55:30
17Larry Peters2:18:12
18Ted Kahan2:18:13
19Chris Baker2:55:05
20Richard Brown2:58:17
21Jim Baxa3:07:56
22Robert Forster3:17:36
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3-day women open
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Pua Mata3:45:04
2Tina Martinez1:01:04
3Elizabeth Overstreet1:09:29
4Amy Thomas1:16:19
5Kelli Lusk1:22:52
6Amy Caldwell1:40:47
7Chelsea Mcgowan2:03:09

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