Finsterwald wins stage 3 and overall title at Moab Rocks

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The third and final stage of the inaugural Moab Rocks mountain bike stage race featured a crowd-pleasing 30-mile route in the "Magnificent 7" trail network north of Moab. The Mag 7 network has been recently developed around the Gemini Bridges jeep road and includes plenty of fun and flowy singletrack.

The final stage saw many familiar faces at the front. In the men's category, Russell Finsterwald (Trek Factory) took his second stage win to secure the overall title ahead of fellow U23 rider Kerry Werner (BMC Development). Yesterday's winner. Werner flatted on stage 1 to finish fifth, but used stages 2 and 3 to make up ground in the overall, taking second place in the GC ahead of Josh Tostado (Santa Cruz/Maxxis/Shimano). Tostado finished third on the day. Finsterwald also claimed the GC victory in the downhill division with a win in the stage 3 downhill.

In the women's category, Calgary's Kate Aardal (Ridley's Cycle) completed her winning streak to take the overall win by a total of 12 minutes over Moab's Heidi Rentz (Ibis-Poison Spider). Trish Grajczyk (Deadgoat Racing) took third in the stage to secure third overall. Aardal won the downhill stage to hang onto the overall downhill win.

Moab's Mark Sevenoff (Western Spirit) completed his winning streak to take the overall win in 40+ men over Erik Keniston (Single Track Bikes), who finished second in all three stages. Calgary's Pat Doyle (Deadgoat Racing) found today's course to be the most suitable of the three for his single speed finishing third on the day. However, it was Mark Logan (Cadence Brand Marketing) hanging onto third overall. Pat Doyle posted the fastest time in today's downhill, but Sevenoff retained the overall lead in the downhill GC.

Margie Smith maintained her winning streak in the 40+ women's category while Trish Mayer hung onto second overall with a third place finish on the stage. Atlanta's Jennifer Horn (Peachtree) took second on the stage and third overall. Smith claimed her second win in the downhill stage as well to win the downhill overall in 40+ women.

The 50+ men's category saw a final stage lead change as a mechanical pushed leader Mark Wallace (Pedal Pushers Golden) back to fourth on the day and second overall, allowing Alec Petro (Corner Cycle) to take the stage and overall win today. Tom Arnold (Fast Friday) took third in stage and overall results. Petro also claimed his first downhill victory to claim the overall downhill victory.

As the Moab Rocks came to a close, riders raved about the great riding, scenery, organization and social aspects of the Moab Rocks. The event wrapped up with an awards banquet at Bar M Chuckwagon across the road from the finish line.

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