Beukes takes a stage win on the Keystone Loop

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Day four and the Queen stage is upon the racers with climbs up both Heinous and Vomit hills. Although the names are shudder-inspiring, they are accurate. This is the longest stage with the greatest elevation change, and once through the finish line, the bulk of the race is done.

Matthys Beukes (Squirt Lube) finally captured his first stage win, bringing him up to the third spot in the GC. Beukes came out fast from the gate and never let up. Teammate Ben Melt Swanepoel hung on to second place for the first portion, but Ben Sonntag, ever the consistent rider, has finished each stage in second place and wasn't going to let this be any different. He found his speed and passed Swanepoel to retain his overall lead by 13 and a half minutes. Josh Tostado (Bach Builders), finishing the stage in fourth, looked smooth and fast all day.

In the women's race, overall race leader Amanda Carey (Kenda) spent most of the day nearly a minute in front of overall second place rider Yolandi Du Toit (Squirt Lube). However, on the last steep, loose, rocky climb, Du Toit pulled away from Carey to finish the day about a minute in front. Du Toit let the tiniest smile escape after she crossed the finish. Carey retains her overall lead.

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The real standout though, was in the men's singleseed competition, where Macky Franklin (Oskar Blues/Reeb) came out smokin' and never let up. In his first singlespeed stage race (which started off with his third ever singlespeed ride in stage one), he finished in fourth overall, almost exactly two minutes ahead of Tostado. After yesterday's cleat debacle, he was primed for a hard effort today. If it weren't for a crash late in the stage, he had a chance at coming in third overall.

In the women's singlespeed competition, Jen Wilson continued her dominating streak, holding on to third behind Carey and Du Toit. She's done some impressive riding this week.

Solo 40+ overall leader, Jeff Cospolich, sprinted the finish with more left in his legs than should be after the hardest stage yet.

Russ Kappius continued his dominance in the solo 50+ race, less than half an hour behind his son, who is the current singlespeed race leader.

In the duo men's 80+ race, Kervin Quinones and Michael Trimble decided today was the day to put in the hard effort, and it landed them a significant win over current overall leaders, Mike Hogan and Thomas Dooley.

Tomorrow's stage 5, the first one to venture to the west side of the valley, traverses Breckenridge Ski Resort, before heading south to the Wheeler trail. Once on the Wheeler trail, racers turn back to the north and over the saddle between Peaks 8 and 9. Dropping off the backside of the ski resort, the trail then heads towards Copper Mountain. After a reprieve on the bike path, it's back to the grind on the Peak's Trail, where fast, technical riders will find their place. One of the most scenic stages, stage five is guaranteed to stir up the solo open GC's once again.

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