Pinto and Lopez stamp authority in Rio de Contas

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Stage 2 of the 2011 Brasil Ride mountain bike stage race delivered on its promise of punishment, doling out pain to all ends of the peloton. Of the 100 teams that started the 145km with 3372 meters of climbing stage from Mucuge to Rio de Contas, only 72 finished. Reasons for the rash of early exits ranged from broken bikes to broken bodies to both.

With the heat, some exceptionally rough, rocky terrain, and a ton of saddle time, it was perhaps not surprising. Save for the top open division racers, everyone here logged at least 8 hours on the bike Monday, and many pushed right up against the 12-hour time limit.

Among the survivors was the Iberian duo of Luis Pinto and Alejandro Lopez (Team Spano-Luso), who crossed the finish line in 6:32:24, just a shade less than three minutes ahead of 2010 Brasil Ride champs Robert Novatny and Kristian Hynek (Future Cycling-Sweep), who slotted second. Those two teams are also top two in the overall, separated by a similar margin.

“We were with them until the last climb, but then it came apart,” said Hynek of the day’s end game. “But there is still five days to go, so the race is not lost yet.”

Mechanicals befell two of Sunday’s top teams. Tomas Vokrouhlik and Martin Horak (BMC) had to deal with Vokrouhlik’s broken derailleur, which meant the Czech rider pedaled nearly 100km with what amounted to a single speed. Stage 1 winners Steffen Thum and Simon Gegenheimer (Ultra Sports Rose Racing) were derailed by Gegenheimer’s ongoing chainsuck drama that forced him to use the big ring most of the day.

Among the long list of full-on stage 2 casualties was the husband and wife duo of Brian and Jenny Smith (Alpine Orthopedic MTB Team-Breezer- SRAM) who after snagging the stage 1 prologue win, were forced to drop out Monday when Brian Smith came down with a nasty case of food poisoning.

That opened the door for Ivonne Kraft and Mateus Ferraz (Brasil Soul-RC Bikes), who snagged the stage 2 win and a commanding 36-minute lead in the overall standings.

“I had some cramping issues late in the day, but otherwise we had a very good day,” said Kraft. “He was stronger in the climbs, while I led in the descents. We did not know each other before this race, but we are working together very well. We don’t need to talk a lot, just look at each other and we know what is going on.”

It was a repeat in the women’s division, with Adriana Nascimento and Sabrina Gobbo (Ladies Brasil Soul-RC Bikes) taking their second stage win in a filed that includes just three teams.

Next up is stage 3’s Rio de Contas Cross Country, where riders will contest 5 laps of a 7km circuit that starts and finishes on the rough, cobblestone streets of this quaint town’s center square.