With a cross-country stage plan for day 6 of Brazil Ride, many bet there would be a reversal of the changes on general classification. Despite Italian Fabian Rabensteiner’s win, in 1h29min08, Henrique Avancini, fourth of the day, and Jiri Novak, second, snatched the yellow jersey from the Italians, since Michele Casgrande finished fifth, approximately two minutes after Avancini. The duo has now approximately a 20-second gap. XC stage winner in 2016, Hans Becking, completed the podium, finishing in third.
With an accumulated time of 1h31min13 on the sixth day of Brasil Ride, Henrique Avancini and Jiri Novak saw the 10 seconds gap they had behind Michele Casagrande and Fabian Rabensteiner turn into an advantage of 21 seconds, and now occupy the top of the GC. Rabensteiner and Casagrande finished the stage with a sum of 1h31min44. Now there’s just 75 km left to define the winners, during the Discovery Marathon, between Arraial d’Ajuda and Trancoso.
“I suffered a lot this morning, and did not have a good performance, but we went well as a team, resulting in being the first duo of the day”, defined Henrique Avancini. Now we have the yellow jersey, and this is the greatest objective”, said Avancini, pursuing his second win on Brasil Ride, while Novak has the objective of being the greatest winner of all times, in case he gets his third title.
Jiri Novak commented the XC dispute: “It was a nice and fast XC. In the beginning, I was leading with Hans Becking and Fabian Rabensteiner, but I had problems with my chain in the last lap, and I lost contact with them. So it was difficult to me. But I finished second and Henrique fourth, so I’m happy with the leadership”, told Novak.
Even without enough time to keep their leadership, Rabensteiner highlighted his individual result. “This win was very hard. I felt very tired this morning, my legs were heavy. But I felt good during the race. Unfortunately I made some mistakes on the opening lap, and I couldn’t escape from Jiri and Hans at that moment. From then on, I attaked and managed to escape, doing my best until the end”, analyzed Rabensteiner, present champion of Brasil Ride.
Three-times Brazilian champion wins
Raiza Goulão’s favoritism prevailed on the XC stage. The Pirenópolis (GO) atlhete has just returned from Australia, where she got the 14th place on the XCO (Olympic cross-country). Raiza not only lead the stage end to end, but was also the only women to complete four laps, meaning that the winner, Fabian Rabensteiner did not pass her.
“In 2015, during my debut in Brasil Ride, I was also the only girl to complete four laps, and once again I’m very happy. It was a fun day on the trails, since it was an individual race. The objective is completing the course tomorrow, and try to become a two-time champion”, said Raiza.
The Discovery Marathon at Brazil Ride
Always carried out on the seventh and last day of Brasil Ride, the Discovery Marathon will be a single event during the most important MTB ultramarathon in the Americas. In the XCM dispute, Arraial d’Ajuda transforms in an ocean of bicycles. From the start of the decicion stage, at 9 a.m. until the end of the day, the surroundings of the Uiki Parracho will be taken by riders from all over the world.