Carey and Sonntag maintain their overall leads

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Stage 3 took racers up the rarely used French Pass, circumnavigated Mt. Guyot, and eventually flowed over to one of the least ridden, but most thrilling sections of the Colorado Trail. Rock strewn and root filled, Ross Schnell (Trek), arguably one of the most talented technical riders in the country, described the descent as World Cup downhill worthy. Women's solo six-day leader Amanda Carey (Kenda) compared it to riding in Pisgah National Forest - technical but ridable, challenging and punishing, yet incredibly rewarding.

The top two solo women, Carey and Yolandi Du Toit (Squirt Lube) stayed wheel to wheel for the duration of the race. After yesterday's miserable stage, Carey had an 11-minute lead over Du Toit, which she maintained today. Yesterday’s second place finisher and third woman overall, Karen Jarchow (Yeti Beti), fell ill with a stomach bug and had to pull out early. She will be back in tomorrow.

Mid-race, Jen Wilson, women's overall singlespeed leader had a substantial gap on second place, and was the third woman on trail behind Carey and Du Toit.

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In the men's singlespeed race, Brady Kappius (Clif Bar) had also opened a gap on current overall leader, Macky Franklin (Oskar Blues/Reeb) by mid-race. Franklin's cleat had pulled out of his shoe near aid station one, so he spent his day descending with one foot on his pedals. Dax Massey (HoneyStinger/Trek) kept his third place standing.

With a strong solo men’s field in the six-day race, the leaders changed it up again. Twelve miles in, Matthys Beukes (Squirt Lube) and Ben Melt Swanepoel (Squirt Lube) railed a rocky, loose descent wheel-to-wheel, with overall race leader, Ben Sonntag, close behind. After a small gap behind Sonntag, Josh Tostato (Bach Builders) and Jake Wells (NoTubes) came through with Rotem Ishay (Team Jamis) and Calle Friberg close by.

Yesterday's early race leader, Nick Truitt (Yeti Pactimo Pro XC) came through a short time later with a slashed cable. The Shimano Sprinter van was on site at aid station one. Its mechanics Ryan Gaul, Jamie Bissell, and local mechanic Tim Assor had his bike fixed in under four minutes. When Ross Schnell came through with a loose brake rotor just minutes later, the guys worked like a race car pit crew to get him back on trail.

Tostado had a strong race, finishing a close fourth, after yesterday's stage filled with mechanicals. Wells is also steadily climbing back up the GC after having a devastating first stage and another flat today.

The finish line was a much different scene than yesterday, with the guys chatting about the incredible views French Pass held, boasting about riding the entire trail at 12,000 ft, and stealing bowls of post-race food for a snack in the dirt. With sunshine and warm temps, it felt more like a summer barbeque than a race finish, which is what the Breck Epic is about. Nightly racer meetings have a friendly feel with racer promoter Mike McCormack holding everyone's attention with promises of trails transforming riders in to Jedi-like machines and enthralling descriptions of some of the most awe-inspiring singletrack in the country.

The three-day Epic concluded today. In the men's open, Matt Simmons narrowly held his lead, finishing alongside second place overall man, Aaron Gulley. Holly Wade had a 45-second deficit in the women's open coming in to the stage, after a flat and coming near to hypothermia yesterday. Today, she increased her lead and took the overall. Mark Thompson held his lead on his home turf in the men's 40+ category.

Tomorrow, riders are in for their longest day, paired with the most elevation. This stage uses pieces of days one, two, and three (though all run in the opposite direction) with the addition of a couple unique trails, truly initiating riders into the diversity and scope of the Summit county trail system.

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