Sonntag and Woodruff win Grand Junction Off-Road

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Youngster Kuss puts up good fight

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Pua Mata topped the elite women's podium (Image credit: Devon Balet Photography)

Grand Junction's Main Street was abuzz early Sunday morning with talk of the 41 pro riders, 18 women and 23 men, that were about to battle it out for the $20,000 cash purse. The inaugural event posed an uncharted challenge for the pro riders.

Welcomed cloud cover kept the morning cool as riders pushed their limits across the challenging 40 Grand course. The field was close with Ben Sonntag (American Interbanc) and Sepp Kuss (Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory) leading the pack for a large portion and battling it out for most of the event, while Pua Mata (Cannondale/Sho-Air), Chloe Woodruff (Crankbrotherse), and Erin Huck (Tokyo Joes) went neck-in-neck for the women's win.

In the end, Sonntag came roaring across the finish line in just over three hours with 18-year-old Sepp Kuss hot on his heels just over a minute later. Mata was able to pull away and take the win for the women with a finishing time of three hours and 36 minutes and Huck hightailing it in for second place with a time of three hours and 45 minutes.

Full Results

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Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Benjamin Sonntag (Cannondale, Shimano, American Interbanc)3:04:03
2Sepp Kuss (Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory/ Specialized/ Sram)0:01:46
3Kris Sneddon (working in forestry, kona bikes)0:04:01
4Carl Decker (Giant Bicycles, SRAM, Schwalbe tires)0:04:38
5Chris Baddick (the gear movement, point6 socks, Kali protectives)0:06:42
6Brian Matter (RACC / Trek / Progold)0:08:29
7Peter Kalmes (Honeystinger/Bontrager)0:09:56
8Troy Wells (Clif bar, Stevens, SRAM)0:11:23
9Colin Cares (Kenda Felt)0:11:26
10Rotem Ishay0:14:07
11Yuki Ikeda (Topeak, Ergon, Canyon)0:15:03
12Tj Woodruff (Momentum Endurance, Arizona Cyclist, CLIF)0:16:30
13Ernie Watenpaugh (Jack Daniel's, BH Bikes)0:18:30
14Tyler Gauthier (Border Grill; Quick Stop Bike; St. Onge Insurance)0:21:55
15Zach Guy (Griggs Orthopaedics, Acli-Mate, Pearl Izumi)0:22:12
16Bryan Dillon (Griggs Orthopedics, Stans No Tubes, SRAM)0:23:46
17Josh Whitney (Evol Foods, Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, Specialized)0:24:47
18Nick Truitt (Breck Bike Guides, BMC, Shimano)0:26:55
19John Klish (LTR Sports, Feedback Sports, and Julbo Eyewear)0:29:15
20Trapper Steinle (Champion Systems, Lifeproof, Giro)0:48:01
21Jeffrey Frost (Trek / Hammer)0:53:17
22Jason Hilimire (The Gear Movement, Point 6, Mavic)1:10:41
23Samuel Morrison (The Gear Movement, Point 6, Mavic)1:17:43
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Elite women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Pua Mata (Sho-Air/Cannondale)3:36:21
2Erin Huck (Tokyo Joes, Trek, Clif)0:09:30
3Chloe Woodruff (Crankbrothers / Scott / Momentum Endurance)0:13:07
4Amy Dombroski (Ed/s Trees, Mosaic, Pro Peloton)0:14:22
5Amanda Carey (Stan/s NoTubes / Kenda / Cannondale)0:15:03
6Heidi Rentz (Ibis bikes, Vermont Bike Tours, The Cycling House)0:17:55
7Jamie Busch (Quadzilla Racing/Notubes)0:18:29
8Janae Pritchett (Griggs Orthopedics, Santa Cruz/Juliana)0:19:03
9alexis skarda0:22:41
10Deidre York (The Gear Movement, Point 6, Carborocket)0:28:23
11Nina Baum (Stan's NoTubes / Cannondale / Kenda)0:33:31
12Kelley Cullen (Honey Stinger, Bontrager and Trek Bicycles)0:38:44
13Jari Kirkland (Griggs Orthopedics, Focus bikes, and Stan's No Tubes.)0:45:14
14Lydia Tanner (Tokyo Joes, POC, Trek)0:45:19
15Heather Szabo (Tokyo Joe\s, POC Helmets, Trek Bicycles)Row 14 - Cell 2
16Christine Jeffrey (Riccitello Coaching, Extreme Endurance, 2XU)0:46:33
17Shannon Gibson (Stan's NoTubes / Cannondale / Kenda)0:51:59
18Melissa Ross (Faster Performance Center)1:10:18

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