Bishop and Sornson win Trans-Sylvania Epic

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Jeremiah Bishop (Sho-Air/Cannondale) and Cheryl Sornson (Rare Disease Cycling) celebrated victory in the Trans-Sylvania Epic mountain bike stage race on Saturday near State College, Pennsylvania. Bishop and Selene Yeager (Rare Disease Cycling) won their respective final men's and women's stages, a 26-mile cross country-like race through the Bald Eagle State Forest.

Men

Some years, the final stage is more of a parade, but not always. This year, under 25 rider Cole Oberman (Rare Disease Cycling) started with a bang.

"I got the hole shot - everyone else was taking it easy off the start unbeknownst to me," he said. "It was total cross country pace from the start today which felt terrible at first and then felt better as the race went on. I think everyone wanted to get it over with it. For the first three-quarters of the race, we traded pulls at the front."

Bishop wasn't feeling too fresh during the first half of the race. "Those guys hit it hard and put me in the red. I was in suffer mode for half the day and almost getting dropped," he said.

Around the checkpoint, about two-thirds of the way though, Nick Waite (ProTested Gear) and Oberman put in some digs. Bishop was feeling the effects and jumped into the singletrack first after the aid station with the intention of slowing things down a bit.

But then Bishop started to feel good.

"I put in a good counterattack after Nick Waite's attack on some singletrack and knew I would stand a chance of extending the gap I was getting. I couldn't believe my legs came around as well as they did at the end of the week," said Bishop, who went on to solo to the stage victory.

Behind him, Oberman and Ben Sonntag (NoTubes) raced for the second spot.

"After the feed zone, Jeremiah went off the front," said Oberman. "I attempted to bridge before the last section of singletrack. Ben Sonntag was the only one who followed. We had a raging battle going on for second and third place. He got me by about 30 seconds after coming around me on the road and heading toward the finish line going around the lake."

Sonntag finished second on the stage ahead of Oberman in third.

"I rounded out my week with podiums. It was good to go out of this race with a trouble-free stage," said Sonntag. "I ran into mechanical issues almost every day which kind of destroyed my GC ambitions. Podium today was good - it's not a stage win, but I'm content. Going strong at the end of this race gives me confidence going into the next Pro XCT races. Some races you luck out, some races somebody else does."

Bishop was delighted to win his fourth Trans-Sylvania Epic - every one he has entered so far.

"It feels fantastic to win and finally have the stress off the week. With such a high quality field, one flat or broken chain could have cost me the week," said Bishop. "It was an awesome week and I proved I was the strongest by winning the final stage. This week couldn't have gone much better."

Waite finished second in the GC while Spencer Paxson (Kona) moved up into third after his teammate Kris Sneddon had to drop out due to a stomach bug.

Women

Heading into the final stage, two women were still racing for the final podium spot. Selene Yeager led Mary McConneloug which meant no party pace for the ladies, either.

"This often a parade day for us women, and this is the first year I've raced this stage," said Yeager. "I woke up this morning thinking I didn't know how to race this stage. I was the only person who had anything to lose today. I was third in the GC and just minutes in front of Mary McConneloug. Cheryl and Vicki pretty much had their spots locked."

Yeager lined up figuring she'd follow McConneloug, but off the line, she felt good and figured she'd just go, which would give her some cushion if she flatted.

Race leader Sornson was also able to get a good start and the two Rare Disease Cycling teammates ended up together off the front for the duration of the stage.

"Selene was on a mission and going for it. She was definitely riding faster than I wanted to ride, so I just tried to keep pace with her and stay out of her way so I wouldn't mess up her day," said Sornson. "We ended up being together - it was nice. I kept thinking they'd roll up on us, but they didn't. I was surprised."

Both riders said they hadn't planned their strategies.

"I got the ceremonial stage win and she got the GC. It was a great day," said Yeager, who defended her third place in the GC.

Sornson was happy with second on the day and the overall win.

"It feels good to win the overall, but it hasn't sunk in yet. I didn't expect it, so it's exceeded my expectations. It was a good way to spend a week," said Sornson, who also won the race the only other time she did it - in 2012.

Vicki Barclay (NoTubes Women's Elite Team) finished third on the day and second overall, ahead of Yeager in third.

"I knew Cheryl would help Selene as much as possible so I chased them all day," said Barclay. "I didn't want to lose much time to Selene - it was a bit nerve-wracking. I was worried about having a mechanical - that's everybody's fear on the last stage. I just put my head down and tried to get it over with."

Second place is Barclay's best Trans-Sylvania Epic finish yet.

Under 25 men and women

Payson McElveen (Richard's Rainwater) was feeling the effects of the rest of the week and was not as much of a factor among the elite men.

"I had my first day where I kind of broke physically and mentally a bit," said McElveen "It was ok - it wasn't catastrophic, but I was faking it all day."

"I even had a hamstring cramp on the start line - I think I was paying for yesterday. I left 100% out there yesterday while I think maybe the other guys were at 98%. It was a bit of a lesson. I'll keep that in mind assuming I do this again next year."

McElveen was pleased with his overall success. "It feels good to win the U25 category - to have a goal and achieve it when the competition was so good all week. I feel fortunate to come out on top against Cole Oberman and Cam Dodge."

Emily Shields (Project Dirt/BMC) won the under 25 women's stage and the overall.

"I tried to start out hard like the past few days, but I was just really tired and had to push through it. It was a long 26 miles," she said after finishing and winning her first stage race.

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