Sauser and Yamamoto open Brasil Ride with prologue victory

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The fourth edition of Brasil Ride mountain bike stage race began on Sunday, October 20, in the city of Mucuge. Traditionally, the first of the seven days kicks off with the prologue of approximately 19 km.

Christoph Sauser and Kohei Yamamoto (Specialized Racing) won the men's category.

"This stage was very technical. I have participated in many prologues, but definitely this was one of the more technical prologues I've done," said marathon world champion Sauser.

Among the women, Rebecca Rusch and Selene Yeager (Specialized/Team CF) took top honors after beating Brazilians Daniela Genovesi and Sabrina Gobbo.

"I had pain and fun at the same time. With the fun the pain stops. I love Brazil!" said Rusch. "For me the first stage is always the hardest because the body undergoes an abrupt change, pedaling for an hour as strongly as possible. It's the anticipation of the trails, and when you finally start, you know what you have to do. It is good to have finished this first stage."

In the mixed category, current two-time champions Matthew Ferraz and Ivonne Kraft confirmed their spot as favorites.

"In the prologue, we sought a strong pace, but were conservative so as not to take any risks," said Ferraz.

Abraham Azevedo and Bart Brentjens won the masters category. "I will not talk about the stage, but I will talk about my partner," said Azevedo. " He is very strong, we got along very well together, almost maintained the same speed all the time. He's a bit faster on the long and technical climbs; if pedaling well in the technical parts without taking risks, we will go well."

"It's always more difficult for me, coming from Europe. The temperature and rain, we have no races in these conditions, but we did well and it's good to start this way," said Brentjens.

In the grand masters, Heleno Borges and Dorivaldo Abreu finished ahead of José Filho and Alfredo Montenegro from Ceará.

The second day of Brasil Ride will cover a lengthy 139km from Mucugê to Rio de Contas with 3039 meters of climbing.

Full Results for prologue and GC after the prologue