Trek Factory Racing Team win Brasil Ride prologue

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The Brasil Ride 2014 kicked off with a prologue. The first 20km of a total of 600km had tight trails, rocks and sandy sessions in a very technical circuit around the town. Trek Factory Racing team finished with the best time of the day – 51 minutes and 47 seconds.

“Today is just the first day, we have the whole stage race ahead, and the idea today was to keep a good time, however we knew that there were very fast teams, like last year champions Avancini and Shermann that for us are a reference," said Ricardo Pscheidt from Trek Factory Racing.

“I believe this was one of the races I felt better. It was pure cross-country, very technical, very complete with physical demand. This is my specialty and I felt well for this race”, added  Pscheidt's teammate Sérgio Mantecón, considered one of the best Olympic cross-country riders in the World.

Caloi Elite Team riders Henrique Avancini and Shermann Trezza also started strong. “The start was strong and we wanted to do the best prologue as possible to take the yellow jersey (leader Jersey) in the first day. We really gone to the limit and I believe we ended doing some mistakes, so Shermann crashed and we lost a lot of time. The plan for the first day was to finish as best as possible From now on we are going keep a “paced” race, Sherman usually feels better day-by-day so I think that we have a lot of track ahead," said Avancini.

The women’s category Brasil Ride 2014 promises the biggest competition in history as the best Brazilian cyclists race against international elite riders in Bahia terrain.

“Racing in Brasil can be an advantage for us. Having to travel faraway, with different food and culture in other countries can affect us in race. Also, in Brasil we are close to friends, family, boyfriend and they can be an extra motivation, and having Brasil Ride classified in S2 level by UCI makes the race even more important to whom is looking for the Olympic Games," said Isabella Lacerda, Brazilian XCO Champ.

“Brasil Ride is fundamental in the fight for a place in the Olympic Games, it will be 80 points in UCI Ranking. Besides scoring the nation, individual points are very important as between May 2014 and May 2016 the accumulated points will define who’s going to be chosen to represent Brazil in the Olympic Games. Having international athletes increases the level of the competition, and it promotes an improvement in the Brazilian development," added Isabella that competes with Érika Gramiscelli – five-time Brazilian champion that raced Brasil Ride in 2010.

It was the North American women's team from Topeak Ergon that did well during the first day of the mountain bike stage race event. “Brasil Ride have changed my life since my first participation back in 2010," said Sonya Looney that is racing for the third time in Chapada Diamantina – Bahia. “It was magnificent," said Nina Baum – Team Topeak Ergon, the fastest women of the day that finished with 55 minutes and 40 seconds (non-official time).

The Latin America biggest challenge on mountain bikes offers a unique opportunity for pro and amateur riders, with seven days of racing in the heart of the Country, with a lot of pedaling, self-knowledge and contact if nature. There will be a total of nine “leader's jerseys” fighting for the tittle, divided in Men, Women, Mix, Master (40 plus), Grand Master (50 plus), America Men, America Women, Corporative and Nelore, that stars for cyclists weighting over 90kg.

The second day is going to be 147km from Mucugê to Rio de Contas and a total of 3,355 metres of elevation gain.

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