Sauser and Yamamoto win Brasil Ride stage 3

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Rio de Contas hosted Brasil Ride stage 3, with its unusual format, on Tuesday. Racers competed for five laps on a 7km cross country course. Brasilian Henrique Avancini was the first individual across the finish line. But the stage was scored by averaging the times of each team's two riders and by that math, Kohei Yamamoto and Christoph Sauser won the stage.

Racers were blessed by the priest of the Diocese of Vitória da Conquista, in front of a cross of the Chapel on top of a hill that they climbed each lap. On the backside, they faced a technical downhill.

On the first lap, a lead group emerged, including Avancini, Kohei Yamamoto, Roel Paulissen, Christoph Sauser and Hugo Prado Neto. They were closely followed by Luis Leão Pinto and Tiago Ferreira.

"I belive it's a great format and provides us with a lot of action. This idea of the average time between the athletes is very interesting, so everyone can go at their own speed and create tactics, and it was perfect for me," said Sauser.

"And for the amateurs, it was great because I realized that a lot of them stood to the side and were able to follow the race as we passed."

Sauser and Yamamoto's winning time was 1:30:51.

Avancini was delighted to be the first individual across the finish line. He is partnered with Sherman Paiva.

"I'm very happy indeed," said Avancini. "For me it's a great accomplishment, maybe one of the most important I've achieved in Brazil." His team was officially third place on the day.

Portugal's Pinto and Ferreira retained the overall lead in the men's category.

In the women's category, Rebecca Rusch and Selene Yeager were the first team to cross the finish line.

"It was really cool pedaling together in this scenario. The downhill after the church is very technical, and on first lap I was kind of lost, but then we hit the line and went," said Yeager. "It was great fun pass through the city a couple of times, with the audience cheering. I felt the energy as we rode."

Italian rider Annabella Stropparo, a veteran mountain bike and cyclo-cross rider, finally had a lucky day today as she won the mixed category with her partner Piero Pelegrini. Last year, she suffered a fall during this stage.

"Today I had to face my fears," said Stropparo. "I had to run. I took a deep breath and ran there! I'm very happy." Their win narrowed the gap somewhat to Ivonne Kraft and Mateus Ferraz.

On Wednesday, racers will compete over 87.31km with 2393m of climbing. The stage will start and finish in Rio de Contas.

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