Pinto and Ferreira win Brasil Ride stage 2

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The queen stage shook up the men's standings at the Brasil Ride on Monday. Portuguese riders Luis Leão Pinto and Tiago Ferreira won the stage and took over the lead from Kohei Yamamoto and Christoph Sauser.

Racers faced approximately 140km of singletrack, rocks and mud as well as 3096m of climbing from Mucugê to Rio de Contas. They crossed the Chapada Diamantina.

"We felt bummed yesterday, but today we got up, and we are here to fight. We will give our best until the end," said Pinto. "The Brasil Ride has just begun. Let's go full gas!"

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Pinto's teammate Ferreira had technical problems yesterday, but today, the two opened a gap of four minutes ahead of the next best team of Ismael Ventura and Ramon Sagues.

Yamamoto and Sauser, who won the prologue by over three minutes and were the first leaders of the race, finished ninth today, about 30 minutes behind the stage winners. Yamamoto cramped badly, forcing the pair to stop for an extended period while he tried to put himself back together.

"It was the longest race of my life," said Sauser. "In the beginning, we were super fast and maintained an average speed of over 35kph. Everything was fine, but then the final climb was very long and hard."

Roel Paulissen agreed, "The final climb was incredibly hard. We regularly do climbs, we also train climbs with similar mileage (10km), but it was very difficult to control the body."

Among the women, American riders Selene Yeager and Rebecca Rusch (Specialized/Team CF) confirmed their spots as favorites with another stage win. They also extended their advantage over Daniela Genovesi Sabrina Gobbo (RC Bikes/Brasil Ride).

"The Vietnam section was very nice, very good! I loved riding this trail!", said Rusch. "Selene was very strong, she was killing it in Vietnam. I was dying, it was too hot, and I was shouting waiiiiiit, but it was a beautiful stage, forest, mountains, great fun."

In the mixed category, Ivonne Kraft and Mateus Ferraz (Niner/Pedal.com) won again. "It was a long day, cold, very cold! I need a hot bath just now!" said the German rider Ivonne Kraft, who is participating in the race for the fourth time.

The final climb was known as "Vietnam", a rocky singletrack section through dense forest. It's 10km long and often humid and stuffy and it got its nickname from riders who passed through it during the race's inaugural edition.

"I thought it would be worse. Last time was very difficult, but today was not so bad," said Vitor Gamito, renowned road cyclist of the Vietnam section. He and Paulo Freitas won the masters category and took over the lead from Bart Brentjens and Abraham Azevedo.

Brazilians Henrique Avancini and Sherman Paiva (Caloi) are currently the best American team. They had excellent results in this second stage, remaining in fifth place, 15 minutes behind the leaders. After the prologue, they were concerned about today's long and hard stage, but they showed that they are in great shape .

"It was a different race, as was discussed yesterday. It was a very long race, we started easy because the end was hard. We had a flat tire, but resolved it quickly, and we are satisfied with the white jerseys," said Paiva.

In the grand masters category, Heleno Borges and Dorivaldo de Abreu (Ice Racing Team 2 - Aguiar Transportes) lead, took their second consecutive stage win.

Stage 3 preview

The third stage will feature a five-lap cross country race around a 7km circuit on the outskirts of Rio de Contas. Each lap has 915m of climbing.

Full Results