Stage 1 of the Mongolia Bike Challenge was a 120-kilometer loop from the Genghis Khan Statue in Tuv Province with 3,000 meters of climbing. The heat of the Mongolian sun combined with the seemingly endless short steep climbing sections challenged the pros and age-groupers alike.
Defending champion Cory Wallace continues his dominance in Mongolia regaining the pink jersey which has held since stage 1 of 2012. He did so in impressive fashion, leaving a talented group of riders at the 90km mark solo-ing to a seven-minute victory over his nearest competitors Mark Frendo, a former Australian U23 cross country champion, and Antonio Ortiz (Selle SMP) of Spain.
In the elite women's field, 2013 Cape Epic Winner Catherine Williamson (Bizhub-Energas) of the UK put in an strong first stage giving her a commanding lead of 30 minutes on her nearest rivals American Sonya Looney (Topeak Ergon) and Erin Greene (Endura NZ) of New Zealand.
Stage 2 will take racers 125km to the Khan Khentii area on the bank of the Tuul River via the Zamt Hills to Jalman Camp.
Click here to watch a video from today's stage.
Full Stage 1 Results and general classification after stage 1
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cory Wallace (Khan) | 4:57:20 |
| 2 | Antonio Ortiz Barranco (Khan) | 0:08:36 |
| 3 | Mark Frendo (Khan) | 0:08:50 |
| 4 | Pau Zamora (Khan) | 0:10:12 |
| 5 | Kyosuke Takei (Khan) | 0:14:03 |
| 6 | Jason Sager (Khan) | 0:18:00 |
| 7 | Mike Blewitt (Khan) | 0:25:25 |
| 8 | Matt Page (Khan) | 0:28:32 |
| 9 | Joao Marinho (Khan) | 0:28:56 |
| 10 | Maral-erdene Batmunkh (Khan) | 0:35:43 |
| 11 | Catherine Williamson (Women) | 0:35:58 |
| 12 | Thomas Turner (Khan) | 0:40:23 |
| 13 | Nathan Versey (Sportman) | 0:40:57 |
| 14 | Peter Watson (Khan) | |
| 15 | Vandendaele Thomas (Sportman) | 0:46:52 |
| 16 | Marcel Zamora (Khan) | 0:47:33 |
| 17 | Altanzul Altansukh (Khan) | 0:48:10 |
| 18 | Todd Nowack (Khan) | 0:51:10 |
| 19 | Tom Smets (Master1) | 0:53:38 |
| 20 | Yung-Yi Fan (Khan) | 0:54:05 |
| 21 | Hao Hu (Khan) | 0:59:42 |
| 22 | Timothy Goulding (Master2) | 1:10:39 |
| 23 | Sonya Looney (Women) | 1:12:12 |
| 24 | Munkhtulga Erdenesuren (Khan) | 1:12:49 |
| 25 | Matthew Moroney (Master1) | 1:14:50 |
| 26 | Erin Greene (Women) | 1:15:44 |
| 27 | John Woodrow (Master1) | 1:15:46 |
| 28 | Robert Bleeker (Veterans) | 1:16:00 |
| 29 | Erich Wegscheider (Khan) | 1:17:10 |
| 30 | Daris Benz (Sportman) | 1:20:56 |
| 31 | Sebastien Dunne (Sportman) | 1:28:15 |
| 32 | Ulziibaatar Jamsran (Khan) | 1:28:42 |
| 33 | Razif Saleh (Khan) | 1:30:25 |
| 34 | Stephen Ushy (Khan) | 1:34:22 |
| 35 | Mijid Batmunkh (Veterans) | 1:38:02 |
| 36 | Lee Rodgers (Khan) | 1:38:33 |
| 37 | Ivan Vella (Master1) | 1:39:14 |
| 38 | Jessica Douglas (Women) | 1:39:18 |
| 39 | Rutger Van Herpen (Sportman) | 1:41:04 |
| 40 | Leon Van Den Schoor (Veterans) | 1:44:21 |
| 41 | Erik Bakke (Master1) | 1:44:25 |
| 42 | Matt Ewonous (Master1) | 1:45:56 |
| 43 | David Schlenker (Sportman) | 1:45:59 |
| 44 | David Beattie (Sportman) | 1:55:17 |
| 45 | Joan Cortes (Master1) | 1:57:29 |
| 46 | Cameron Darragh (Master1) | 1:59:20 |
| 47 | Stephen Hammer (Master1) | |
| 48 | Fabio Negretto (Master1) | 2:02:33 |
| 49 | Peter McUtchen (Master1) | 2:04:26 |
| 50 | Giuliana Massarotto (Women) | 2:04:56 |
| 51 | Munkhchuluun Tsogtoo (Sportman) | 2:05:55 |
| 52 | Daniel Shepansky (Veterans) | 2:06:12 |
| 53 | Ignasi Riera (Master2) | 2:08:24 |
| 54 | Altansukh Naranbaatar (Sportman) | 2:09:17 |
| 55 | Rob Wijnbergen (Master2) | 2:11:40 |
| 56 | James White (Veterans) | 2:13:35 |
| 57 | Jennifer Schulz (Women) | 2:21:21 |
| 58 | Wei-Hsin Lin (Khan) | 2:21:44 |
| 59 | John (Jack) Funk (Veterans) | 2:21:48 |
| 60 | Justin Carey (Master2) | 2:33:27 |
| 61 | Sjoerd Tilstra (Master1) | 2:36:15 |
| 62 | Batmunkh Batsaikhan (Sportman) | 2:38:58 |
| 63 | Daniel Carruthers (Master1) | 2:48:15 |
| 64 | Nuo Zhang (Sportman) | |
| 65 | Robert Scott Biddinger (Master2) | 2:51:07 |
| 66 | Bethany Thompson (Women) | 2:53:32 |
| 67 | Daniel Jesus (Master1) | 2:58:15 |
| 68 | Cas Brentjens (Master1) | 3:01:57 |
| 69 | Caterina Capdevila Barredo (Women) | 3:06:58 |
| 70 | Carles Puig (Master2) | |
| 71 | Francisco Bataller (Master1) | |
| 72 | Carles Alberto Font Ucle (Master1) | 3:10:12 |
| 73 | Ricardo Garcia Reis (Sportman) | |
| 74 | Batbayar Ikhamjanjin (Master2) | 3:14:35 |
| 75 | Jason Mayne (Master1) | 3:33:41 |
| 76 | Bob Faulkner (Veterans) | 3:35:42 |
| 77 | Richard Dustan (Veterans) | |
| 78 | Andre Deplechin (Veterans) | 3:38:24 |
| 79 | Richard Tustin (Veterans) | 3:40:54 |
| 80 | Irina Kukueva (Women) | 3:48:30 |
| 81 | Valery Evgrafov (Master2) | |
| 82 | Marina Polita (Women) | 4:01:23 |
| 83 | Carim Zogbi (Master1) | 4:08:48 |
| 84 | Giuseppe/Milena Salerno/Bettocchi (Tandem) | 4:20:29 |
| 85 | John Da Costa (Master2) | 4:35:02 |
| 86 | Jenny Anderson (Women) | 4:53:39 |
| 87 | Ming Hay Lee (Master1) | 7:19:58 |
| 88 | Robyn Orchard (Master2) | |
| 89 | George Paterson (Veterans) |
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