Sauser and Yamamoto win stage 4 of Brasil Ride

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Wednesday's stage 4 marked the half-way point of the Brasil Ride. Heat and a longer than expected stage took its toll on some racers, but Christoph Sauser and Kohei Yamamoto powered to a stage victory as did their Specialized teammates Rebecca Rusch and Selene Yeager in the women's category.

Temperatures were almost 40 degrees Celsius in the city of Rio de Contas.  At the start, organizers announced the stage would be 83km long, a few kilometers longer than expected, but the stage winners' GPS devices had recorded 103km by the end.

Hans Becking and Jiri Novak (Superior Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team) rode to second place on the stage. They also moved into the lead of the overall classification.

It was an unlucky day for the previous race leaders. Luis Leão Pinto (ESTEVE) damaged his rear derailleur and could not complete the stage.

Vitor Gamito (Gold Nutrition) also broke his handlebars in the fourth kilometre of the race. "They broke before entering the singletrack. In 2011, the first place team broke their bikes and we became champions. This year it is our turn,' said Paulo Freitas, who will continue to race on his own.

"I'm physically fine, but not psychologically," said Gamito, who was leading the masters' category.

Bart Brentjens and Abraão Azevedo (Superior Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team), took the lead of the masters category.

"It was a very long stage, hard and I hurt myself. I felt a lot of pain in my ribs, and the singletrack was difficult. I fell two days ago, but could follow my teammate Bart, but I was suffering," said Azevedo.

Brazilians Henrique Avancini and Sherman Paiva (Caloi) maintained their good results, finishing fourth place and continuing to lead the American category.

Among the women, Rusch and Yeager were the first team to finish the race again. They were their usual cheerful selves.

"It was a beautiful stage, with very hard trails, technical singletrack, but very good, and the people in the villages were super friendly. The kids were cheering, the wind was refreshing, it was great!" said Rusch.

Crossing the finish line hand in hand, mixed duo Annabella Stropparo and Piero Pelegrini (Team Hersh Amici di Annabella) won the stage and took over the category's lead.

"We started slowly and we were going to Piero not having cramps, and finish the stage, we won " said Stropparo.

In the grand masters, Guarinis Heleno Caetano Borges and Dorivaldo Corrêa de Abreu (Ice Racing Team 2 - Aguiar Tranportes) maintained leadership. "Today was tough. Everything hurt. It was a very competitive race today, but it wouldn't be the Brasil Ride if it was easy," said Heleno.

Thursday's stage 5 will be another long stage of 94km with 2228m of climbing. It starts and finishes in Rio de Contas.

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