Leaders Novotny, Hynek collide with video moto in final two kilometres

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Not surprisingly the inaugural Claro Brasil Ride concluded with drama aplenty on Friday, when what's left of this decimated pro and amateur peloton get battered by rain during a relatively flat 98.5km loop that started and finished in Mucuge.

The lead story was a late race mishap with a video moto, that sent co-leader Robert Novotny crashing to the ground, and then on to a Mucuge hospital with a snapped collarbone. That momentarily left the final GC outcome in doubt, as by the letter of the law you need to cross the finish line in all stages to win a stage race.

But after a conversation the concerned parties, common sense prevailed and Novotny and partner Kristian Hynek were declared overall winners.

"Given the circumstances and the fact that the riders were only 2km from the finish line, we decided that this would not be the proper way to lose a race," said race director Mario Roma. "All the top teams agreed with this decision."

According to several eyewitnesses, the video moto swerved erratically, and Novotny was forced to follow suit, losing his balance in the process. At least two other riders in the lead group also went down.

After waiting for an ambulance to arrive for Novotny, the remaining riders coasted to the line with the Brazilian duo of Gilberto Gois and Ricardo Pscheidt (Jamis) taking an uncontested stage win.

"The whole day was basically a truce because of the conditions, so there was never any pressure. We even waited when the Czech team was having a problem with their wheel," said Christof Bischof (Swiss Machine), who along with teammate Martin Gujan ended up second overall in GC, 17:44 behind Hynek and Novotny.

In the mixed category, the Swiss pair of Renata Bucher and Damian Perrin (Team Zaboo Free-Mountain) broke the stage win stranglehold of Brian and Jenny Smith, stopping their streak at five by taking the final day's top honors. Of course the Smiths' consolation was a runaway GC win.

There were no upsets in the women's field, though the endgame was much closer than in previous days. Two teams came to the line together, but once again it was German Olympian Ivonne Kraft and her Portuguese partner Celina Carpinteiro taking the win, out-sprinting the Brazilian pair of Janildes Fernandes Silva and Julyana Rodrigues (Jaju).

Perhaps the biggest story of all, though, was the rain and what it did to the otherwise straightforward, relatively flat dirt road course. Overnight precipitation that continued through late afternoon left portions of the roads traveled completely underwater, leaving riders no choice but to hammer into these temporary rivers, hoping they could maintain momentum.

Best case scenario you plod your way through. Worst case you topple over and literally take a swim. Most of the course wasn't this bad, but near continuous stretches of road covered in mud, wet sand, water - or all three - continued to wreck havoc on drivetrains, brake pads and any other moving part.

And that may well be the legacy of this first year race. Sign up in 2011 if you love epic singletrack, amazing scenery, suffering and adventure - and don't mind destroying your bike in the process.

Stage 6 Results

Final general classification