Beukes and Carey win stage 5

With two short stages signaling the end of the Breck Epic, the tight races in the solo men, solo women, singlespeed men and duo men 80+ categories were on the line. This is the closest race in the history of the event, making for an exciting finish. Things only got closer in some categories today.

As racers headed up a technical, tight singletrack just seconds from the start line, Matthys Beukes (Squirt Lube) sprinted the field, ensuring a cross country-like starting effort. Although the stage was short, it was not easy, as racers once again headed up to over 12,000 feet to drop over the saddle between Peaks 8 and 9, many of those miles walking next to the bike because the pitch and elevation are too much for most to handle.

Once over the top, it was a technical, off-camber descent that favored skilled gravity riders, as Ross Schnell (Trek) demonstrated with his third place finish. Beukes and teammate Ben Melt Swanepoel proved their all-around strength with another one-two finish. Overall leader Ben Sonntag had his lowest finish in fourth place and lost five minutes of his 11-minute lead. Swanepoel is now just 5:57 behind Sonntag with Matthys Beukes 17:46 behind Sonntag. Jake Wells (NoTubes) continues to prove he is a strong competitor with consistent top 10 finishes after the first mechanically devastating day.

Tomorrow will be a battleground within the top seven competitors for the top five places, though the exciting finish will be Sonntag against the Squirt Lube teammates. Will teammates work together to position Swanepoel for the overall win?

Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt) chose to start hard in what she touts as her favorite stage. She pulled away at the beginning, staying in front and putting a 13-minute gap on second place overall woman, Yolandi Du Toit (Squirt Lube), pushing Carey almost 24 minutes ahead of Du Toit in the GC. Du Toit still has a chance at an overall win, though it will be a fight.

In the men's singlespeed race, Brady Kappius (Clif Bar) started with a vengeance. However, coming in to aid station three Kappius and overall leader Macky Franklin (Oskar Blues/Reeb) were just tenths of a second apart. They ended the stage in the same manner, allowing Franklin to retain his 4:50 lead over Kappius. Don't expect Kappius to give up tomorrow, however. This category will also come to an all-out battle for the distinction of inaugural "Singlespeed Stage Race World Champion".

Singlespeeders are again the surprise of the stage, this time over in the women's race. Andrea Wilson, coming in to stage 5 with an hour and 46 minute deficit to overall leader, Jen Wilson (NoTubes), decided to put forth her ultimate effort. She came through as the second overall woman today, just seven minutes back from Carey, closer than Jen Wilson has been in any stage. Passing all of the women (and most of the men, as the singlespeed women were staged last), Andrea Wilson managed to summit the saddle just behind Carey and never let up. She came in amid cheers and when Jen Wilson came through the finish line, her first stop was next to Andrea to give her a hug accompanied by a genuine smile.

In the men's duo 80+ category, the teams of Mike Hogan/Thomas Dooley (Kappius Singletrack) and Kervin Quinones /Michael Trimble (Rotor Bike Components) have been dueling since stage 3, where they finished only 14 seconds apart. Up until stage 3, Hogan and Dooley had a fairly substantial lead, but since then, Quinones and Trimble have pushed through and won each subsequent stage, whittling the lead to only 11 minutes and 25 seconds coming in to the last stage. Yesterday Quinones and Trimble won by five minutes, but today Hogan and Dooley finished just seven seconds behind. Tomorrow will be a battle to the finish.

Stage 6 will conclude with a 37-mile race that Kenda/Felt's Colin Cares won in 2 hours and 10 minutes in 2011. With a combination of technical singletrack and dirt roads, the course refuses to favor a single strength. The best all-around rider will come out victorious.

Full Results

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Solo Open Men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Matthys Beukes2:20:53
2Benmelt Swanepoel0:00:52
3Ross Schnell0:05:50
4Ben Sonntag0:06:14
5Josh tostado0:07:34
6Jake Wells0:09:53
7Nick Truitt0:10:18
8Rotem Ishay0:11:20
9Ezekiel Hersh0:17:20
10Ryan Clark0:18:59
11Peter Watson0:20:15
12Shawn Bunnin0:21:50
13Sloane Anderson0:22:05
14Nathan Brown0:24:35
15Calle Friberg0:25:07
16Matt Woodruff0:25:21
17Erik Bakke0:29:38
18Colby Pearce0:30:42
19Taylor Lideen0:32:26
20Vandendaele Thomas0:39:46
21Logan Vonbokel0:47:28
22Brent Steinberg0:48:12
23Warren Stephenson1:24:32
24Derek Oldfield1:46:38
25Alex Tibwitta2:25:20
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Solo Open Women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Amanda Carey3:02:01
2Yolandi Du Toit0:13:21
3Ciara Macmanus0:42:41
4Laura Gleason1:02:14
5Stephanie Wilkinson1:14:02
6Cindy Bonhage1:28:10
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Solo Singlespeed Men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Brady Kappius2:34:31
2Macky Franklin0:00:01
3Dax Massey0:07:07
4Michael Melley0:13:32
5Vince Anderson0:14:20
6Dan Durland0:16:45
7Scott Upton0:27:08
8Donald Powers0:27:46
9Hayes Charlie0:32:19
10Montana Miller0:35:14
11Eric Davis0:35:37
12Ian Palermo0:38:23
13Dean Cahow0:41:15
14Aaron Shelmire0:57:02
15Rob Lochner1:04:03
16John Odle1:09:51
17Jeremy Palermo1:15:26
18Nate Miller1:18:28
19Birtch Dejay1:18:31
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Solo Singlespeed Women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Andrea Wilson3:07:54
2Jennifer Wilson0:11:16
3Sarah Musick0:49:55
4Melissa Liebling1:11:48
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Solo 30 Men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Johannes Huseby2:46:55
2Ian Mills0:07:30
3James Meyer0:08:43
4John Heffner0:23:08
5Amit Dutta0:32:39
6Joshua Roeser0:38:08
7Andrew Jauquet0:45:54
8Philip Thompson0:55:31
9Wu Jeff1:06:10
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Solo 40 Men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jeff Cospolich2:56:56
2Shawn Lortie0:00:12
3Ken Thorp0:03:49
4Mike Driver0:11:27
5Stephen Ushy0:13:24
6Michael Quinn0:18:54
7Jason Sumner0:19:00
8Brian Neyt0:25:46
9Chris Mckillican0:28:20
10Charles Gauvin0:30:26
11David Mccormick0:40:41
12Brad Shield0:49:24
13Tom Boo0:49:58
14Chris Castilian0:55:35
15Lennie Moon1:04:15
16Joel Doctor1:12:17
17John Arguello1:13:45
18Moishe Lettvin1:26:15
19Craig Mcghee1:31:56
20Ty Garber1:33:02
21Farhy Nolan2:04:16
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Solo 50 Men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Russell Kappius2:54:53
2Frost Jeffery0:08:17
3Bruce Wilson0:17:54
4Mike Kane0:36:32
5Rick Metzger1:01:24
6Stan Mayer1:08:05
7Carl Gable1:09:13
8Mark Halwa1:10:38
9Michael Bowen1:16:17
10Brooks Dean1:27:56
11Stephen Ostrander1:34:29
12Lindsay Gauld1:49:39
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Solo Clydesdale
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Kreidl Ken3:49:29
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Solo 40 Women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Tina Martinez3:32:24
2Julie Kelly0:01:32
3Laureen Coffelt0:14:02
4Julie Urlaub0:41:42
5Lori Halwa0:55:11
6Mindi Hoffmaster1:15:12
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Duo Open Men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Blake Harlan & Bryan Alders2:35:06
2Rich Dillen & Peter Keiller1:16:55
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Duo Men 80+
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Kervin Quinones & Michael Trimble2:56:49
2Tim Brezsnyak & Michael Piker0:00:07
3Mike Hogan & Thomas Dooley0:00:41
4Jason Morgan & Russell Henderson0:05:32
5Scott Baca & Sean Fay0:30:25
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Duo Men 100+
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Russ Asleson & Mark Gourge3:24:39
2David Reed & John Pougiales0:23:26
3Joso Dias Da Chunha & Jorg Damas0:29:07
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Duo Women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mary Davis & Rebecca Bruno4:26:56
2Carthy Chan & Linda Green0:17:29
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Duo Coed
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1John Bliss & Michele Bliss3:48:58
2Elden Nelson & Lisa Nelson0:17:31
3Karen Rishel & Alan Rishel0:24:14
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Team Challenge
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
11-Speed Willas Wheels3:02:04
2Got Gears Willas Wheels0:36:26
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Gran Fondo
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mike Blewitt3:03:39
2Karen JarchowRow 1 - Cell 2
3Bradley Schmalzer0:09:39
4Chris Bryce0:45:25
5Terrence Gleason2:28:19
6Pete Biedenharn2:55:34
7Rick Foutch2:56:16
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Solo Open Men general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Ben Sonntag15:51:25
2Benmelt Swanepoel0:05:58
3Matthys Beukes0:17:47
4Tostado Josh0:29:41
5Rotem Ishay0:43:16
6Nick Truitt0:44:27
7Calle Friberg0:48:35
8Ryan Clark1:20:12
9Ezekiel Hersh1:30:22
10Sloane Anderson1:36:30
11Jake Wells1:42:53
12Shawn Bunnin1:54:58
13Nathan Brown2:15:58
14Peter Watson2:19:06
15Ross Schnell2:36:46
16Matt Woodruff2:38:06
17Vandendaele Thomas3:13:53
18Colby Pearce3:15:49
19Taylor Lideen3:40:07
20Brent Steinberg4:24:07
21Logan Vonbokel5:14:24
22Erik Bakke5:41:21
23Derek Oldfield9:06:59
24Warren Stephenson9:40:58
25Alex Tibwitta13:51:30
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Solo Open Women general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Amanda Carey19:47:59
2Yolandi Du Toit0:23:48
3Ciara Macmanus3:21:09
4Laura Gleason8:21:15
5Stephanie Wilkinson9:08:41
6Cindy Bonhage9:18:01
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Solo Singlespeed Men general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Macky Franklin16:57:58
2Brady Kappius0:04:51
3Dax Massey0:43:33
4Michael Melley1:22:24
5Vince Anderson1:42:54
6Dan Durland1:49:11
7Hayes Charlie2:48:42
8Nate Miller3:01:14
9Montana Miller3:34:32
10Eric Davis3:51:50
11Scott Upton3:57:33
12Donald Powers3:58:46
13Dean Cahow4:39:36
14Birtch Dejay5:24:54
15Aaron Shelmire5:26:28
16Ian Palermo5:49:33
17Rob Lochner6:44:09
18John Odle7:18:33
19Jeremy Palermo7:50:28
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Solo Singlespeed Women general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jennifer Wilson21:28:53
2Andrea Wilson1:34:42
3Sarah Musick4:31:41
4Melissa Liebling5:59:22
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Solo 30 Men general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1James Meyer17:57:21
2Johannes Huseby0:53:26
3Ian Mills1:25:52
4John Heffner2:48:58
5Amit Dutta4:05:33
6Joshua Roeser5:05:30
7Andrew Jauquet5:53:33
8Wu Jeff6:59:37
9Philip Thompson8:35:56
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Solo 40 Men general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jeff Cospolich19:18:13
2Mike Driver0:59:34
3Ken Thorp1:13:11
4Stephen Ushy1:22:06
5Shawn Lortie1:46:59
6Jason Sumner2:18:36
7Michael Quinn2:19:32
8Charles Gauvin3:26:09
9Tom Boo4:46:14
10Brian Neyt4:53:20
11Chris Mckillican5:19:19
12Brad Shield5:21:47
13Lennie Moon5:29:05
14Chris Castilian5:56:25
15David Mccormick6:01:23
16Craig Mcghee8:10:34
17Joel Doctor8:36:50
18Farhy Nolan9:22:13
19John Arguello9:22:41
20Ty Garber9:47:11
21Moishe Lettvin10:57:33
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Solo 50 Men general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Russell Kappius18:33:09
2Frost Jeffery1:46:22
3Bruce Wilson2:24:18
4Mike Kane3:29:25
5Rick Metzger6:01:41
6Carl Gable7:13:18
7Stan Mayer8:08:18
8Mark Halwa9:33:09
9Lindsay Gauld10:24:04
10Michael Bowen10:44:09
11Brooks Dean11:41:49
12Stephen Ostrander12:25:58
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Solo Clydesdale general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Kreidl Ken24:00:17
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Solo 40 Women general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Tina Martinez23:22:07
2Julie Kelly0:15:32
3Laureen Coffelt0:43:40
4Julie Urlaub5:28:47
5Lori Halwa5:42:12
6Mindi Hoffmaster6:44:59
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Duo Open Men general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Blake Harlan & Bryan Alders17:14:03
2Rich Dillen & Peter Keiller8:23:31
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Duo Men 80+ general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Mike Hogan & Thomas Dooley19:22:09
2Kervin Quinones & Michael Trimble0:11:26
3Tim Brezsnyak & Michael Piker0:28:34
4Jason Morgan & Russell Henderson1:14:16
5Scott Baca & Sean Fay2:55:01
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Duo Men 100+ general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Russ Asleson & Mark Gourge22:07:34
2David Reed & John Pougiales3:26:32
3Joso Dias Da Chunha & Jorg Damas3:45:52
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Duo Women general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Carthy Chan & Linda Green29:03:22
2Mary Davis & Rebecca Bruno0:01:56
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Duo Coed general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Karen Rishel & Alan Rishel25:25:51
2John Bliss & Michele Bliss0:53:35
3Elden Nelson & Lisa Nelson2:13:23
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Team Challenge general classification after stage 5
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
11-Speed Willas Wheels21:15:22
2Got Gears Willas Wheels7:46:03

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