Torres escapes the chaos for first US Pro XCT win

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In the elite men's race, nearly 70 men rolled up to the line to do battle in the heat of the day at the 1:45 pm start. Unseasonably warm weather meant that the six-lap affair would also be a battle of the elements.

Mexico's Ignacio Torres (Turbo team) grabbed the bull by the horns and led the first lap. Torres' teammate Emmanuel Valencia chased him while Cannondale's Alex Grant, Sho-Air/Specialized's Brendon Davids and Kenda/Felt's Colin Cares were not much further behind.

Davids was the first to make a mistake. A dropped chain late into lap one put the young rider back outside the top 10.

Meanwhile, Torres began to extend his lead pushing a furious pace.

On lap three, riders were spread out everywhere as the hot weather and technical course took its toll. In the meantime, Davids clawed his way back into eighth, passing Subaru-Trek's Russell Finsterwald and others as he joined the tail end of a five-man group including Menso Dejong, Grant, Ryan Woodall. But that would soon change as Davids went down in the back section, crashing and flatting his front tire.

Meanwhile Torres quietly extended his lead and looked comfortable with one to go, oblivious to the chaos behind. Cares put in a strong ride with a hard chasing Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain Factory).

In the end, Torres cruised to a 20-second victory, taking the first US Pro XCT win of his career. Cares was second, followed by Gagne, Valencia and the young Kerry Werner of the BMC development team. Werner was the top U23 racer of the day.

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