Pinto and Ferreira continue winning ways in Brasil

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A day after extreme heat and sunny weather, the fifth stage of Brasil Ride 2012 started under cloudy skies, much to the delight of racers, who were to cover 128km between Rio de Contas and Mucugê.

"Our strategy is to keep riding in the bunch to facilitate the race pace," said Mateus Ferraz from RC Bikes / Brasil Soul, shortly before the start. Then, he and his partner Ivonne Kraft rode to their fifth consecutive stage victory in the mixed category.

The front peloton set a strong pace from the beginning. The group consisted of six teams: Lapierre Cycles (Portugal); Superior Milka MTB Team (Netherlands); Specialized Brazil / Adventure Tripp (Japan & Brazil); LM / Shimano (Brazil); Trust Bikes / Bikes JC (Brazil), and BMC Savo Racing (Czech Republic).

The stage was decided on the last uphill, with about 5km to go, on the "plateu" as it is called, the "Gerais" of the Chapada Diamantina. Moreover, the perfect weather favored a very fast stage. Early on the ascent, the Portuguese race leaders Luis Leão Pinto and Tiago Ferreira imposed their own pace to extend their lead on their opponents.

"We are trying to manage the advantage that we got in the second stage. We got a comfortable difference, but in mountain biking, anything can happen. We try pedaling in our comfort zone and attacking on the climbs and so we managed to open the gap to our main adversaries," said  Pinto, who finished the stage with 4:41:55. He is completing his preparation for the marathon world championships in Ornans, France, next weekend

"We tried to attack several times, but we were neutralized," said Dutchman Bart Brentjens (Superior Milka MTB Team).

"Today I saw the power of the Olympic champion. He accelerated like I had never seen before on the dirt road. And we tried to stay just on the his wheel," said Gilberto Gois (Trust Bikes / JC Bikes), current Brazilian marathon national champion. He and his teammate made an effort to remain among the leaders until finish line, to take second place overall and increase the advantage in the Brazilian classification.

Car driver Christian Fittipaldi (Fittipaldi Scott) said, "It was a fast stage, but there's nothing easy. Every stage is completely different. Riding 130km is always challenging."

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