Sonntag and Carey win Breck Epic overall

The sixth and final stage of the Breck Epic was a shorter one than other days, offering a respite for weary racers. Those leading the race, however, had no time to rest, as this was an all-out fight to the end. For them, shorter simply meant harder.

In the solo open men's race, it came down to the South African Squirt Lube riders against German Ben Sonntag. With a closely-knit team up front, Sonntag was at a disadvantage. On the ride up to the summit of Boreas Pass Road, a strong tailwind destroyed any chance of real drafting. Ben Melt Swanpoel and Matthys Beukes came through first, as expected.

Two minutes later, Sonntag rolled up with fifth place overall Rotem Ishay (Jamis Factory) leading him out. With a tight race behind third overall, Ishay was making up some serious time. Only a minute later, Swede Calle Friberg and Jake Wells (NoTubes) came up together. Friberg has had a rough Epic, battling a cold the entire race, but today he came out fast and strong. Wells has steadily climbed out of the hour and two minute deficit from day one.

After descending Gold Dust trail, racers came back up to the summit of Boreas Pass Road in to a huge headwind. Surprisingly, Swanepoel came up solo and Sonntag was close to four minutes back. Friberg and Ishay came through soon, with Wells not far off.

Friberg and Ishay both succumbed to unfortunate flats, as Beukes had a bit earlier. Friberg only lost a couple of minutes, finishing fifth in the stage, while Ishay finished up in 10th. Wells took advantage and moved up to third, coming in 45 seconds behind second place Sonntag, who was 3:54 behind Swanepoel. In the overall, Sonntag held on to the final leader's jersey by a mere 2:02
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In the women's solo open race, Yolandi Du Toit (Squirt Lube) was once again out front, but Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt) came in just 55 seconds later and kept her overall lead.

With the "Singlespeed Stage Race World Champ" stripes on the line, the men's singlespeed race came out fast and hard, but Macky Franklin (Oskar Blues/ Reeb) was determined to keep his five-minute lead. He summited Boreas Pass Road the first time in seventh overall and in sixth the second. Wheelie-ing through the finish, he celebrated by holding up his bag of scissors labeled "Macky's Manscaping," which will go down later tonight in the bar.

In the women's singlespeed race, the ladies took it chill and rode together, which seemed to be the theme of the stage. Amanda Wilson took the stage win, just 1.1 seconds over overall leader and new "Singlespeed Stage Race World Champ" Jen Wilson (NoTubes).

In the men's duo 80+ race, the only team with something to prove was the Kappius Singletrack duo of Mike Hogan and Thomas Dooley, who took the stage, while the other three teams treated it as a group ride.

In the women's duo, the team of Mary Davis and Rebecca Bruno closed down a 19-minute gap yesterday to bring them within three minutes of Carthy Chan and Linda Green. Today they brought it home, winning the stage by five minutes, clinching them the final leaders' jerseys.

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