Koerber wins opening stage in Pisgah

Sam Koerber won the opening stage of his hometown race on Tuesday afternoon, finishing in a time of 3:11:59. Adam Craig, who flatted on Black Mountain was second, ahead of Jeremiah Bishop in third.

Local boy Koerber took the lead early in the stage and maintained, with Craig close behind and Bishop another few minutes back. Koerber made his move to shake Craig on Black Mountain and was successful after the latter flatted.

Craig continued to add CO2 to make it to the bottom without allowing Bishop to catch up. At Pressley Gap, just before the final descent on Black Mountain, there was a seven-minute gap between Craig and Bishop, who worked hard to close it to just two minutes by the finish.

In the women's race, Xterra star Melanie McQuaid had a good lead all along and maintained that until the finish.

Returning elite men's 40+ champ Andy Johnston didn't seem too threatened by Gerry Pflug's gears as he finished a solid 10 minutes ahead.

Overall, people were stoked coming off of the Queen Stage, and spirits were high at Happy Hour after the awards.

Full Results for stage 1 and general classification after stage 1