It’s beginning to look a lot like the Breck ePike
Pike keeps yellow jersey as Pellaud and Bottcher DNF in Stage 4
By Shauna Farnell
Images: John Hanson, Eddie Clark
Before launching into Stage 4 on Wednesday, Breck Epic leader Matt Pike considered reeling it in a little and taking it easy.
Then, he didn’t.
The 28-year-old Longmont resident became one of very few people in the Epic’s 17-year history to sweep four straight stages. He was once again the first racer to fire across the finish line of the 42-mile Aqueduct course, which took racers out to the Keystone area, up Colorado Trail’s West Ridge, through Soda Creek, up Vomit Hill and back to Breck for a total of more than 6,400 feet of climbing.
“I had two ideas of how to approach today, either be conservative, sit back, don’t push too much or go full gas and have a bigger cushion going into tomorrow,” Pike said.
Going with plan B, he won Stage 4 in 3 hours, 24 minutes and 43 seconds.
After winning the previous three stages, Pike has indeed built himself a nice cushion, leading the GC with a total time of 12:57:13, almost 26 minutes ahead of his closest competitor, Lance Haidet (Specialized/SRAM/Velocio/Fat Tire), who took third again Wednesday and holds a GC time of 13:23:08. The leaderboard gets tight after that, with Cassius Anderson (Marin Service Course/Castelli/Enve) sitting in third with 13:23:17, Stage 4 runner-up Corey Wallace (Kona Bikes) in fourth with 13:23:31 and Macky Franklin (#BeMoreAwesome) fifth in 13:25:08.
In his non-conservative approach on Wednesday, Pike hit the jets right out of the gate, chasing Stefano Barberi (Scarborough Bicycle Accident Law/Orbea) up the pavement along with road racing great and Leadville 100 runner-up Simon Pellaud.
“We caught Stefano pretty quick, then coming into the dirt, Caleb [Bottcher] wanted to go. Simon bridged up near the top, then countered really hard,” Pike said. “I was like, should I just let him go? But I stuck with him. I didn’t want to let him go that early. He didn’t fight me for the singletrack, which was nice. I didn’t see him after that.”
Pellaud, who finally got his own bike back after it was stuck in customs for a couple of weeks, was reportedly sidelined by a mechanical and Bottcher sustained a nasty crash. Both took DNFs for Stage 4.
The Breck ePike
Meanwhile, someone has coined this year’s race “the Breck ePike” and the slogan is spreading.
“That someone is my dad,” Pike admitted a little sheepishly. “He’s the closest thing I have to a sponsor, the best support crew.”
Pike has spent much of his free time between stages supporting his coach and partner Andrea Dvorak. The three-time Breck Epic competitor and former road cyclist who has conquered every big-name concrete course in history tackled her first Mega Epic as a forerunner, beginning Monday morning and finishing Tuesday evening. Pike met her a few times enroute to help trick her bike out in lights, pass on snacks, etc.
“It’s her first experience doing something like that. It’s a big ride. So, I’ve been trying to juggle doing this and doing everything I can to help her go smoothly,” Pike said.
Keeping up GC speed
Pike was looking forward to a long nap after Wednesday’s stage. His plan for Thursday’s notoriously brutal and hike-and-bike-riddled Wheeler stage includes possibly dialing it back slightly.
“I think Stefano will go, and maybe I’ll show some restraint and not chase too hard,” he said. “Wheeler’s hard. Really hard. I’ll just get up to 12,500 feet as fast as possible tomorrow and make my way back down. But the way things are going, I’m starting to get a little more comfortable.”
Speaking of the Mega Epic, Wallace, a six-time World 24-hour Solo Champion, was dealing with one flat tire after another on Tuesday, and actually considered dropping out and starting the Mega, the field for which set off on course Wednesday morning. Instead, he pulled off a second place in Stage 4.
No Mega until he’s ‘old and slow’
“It was getting to the point that I said if I get one more flat tire, I’m just gonna swap to the Mega Epic, because I’ll be out of the GC,” the 41-year-old said. “I’m really glad to have a good one today. I’m still young enough to go for the GC in the main epic. When I get a bit old and slow down, I’ll swap over.”
Haidet, who rounded out the podium for the second day straight in Stage 4, and sits in second place in the GC, feels that despite coming from seal level, he has enough in the tank to keep fighting through the two remaining stages.
“I’m feeling better every day,” he said. “Today, I was tired at the end, but I think that’s just the fatigue setting in a little bit. I can’t quite go all out with the guys right off the first climb, but I could tell a lot of guys shouldn’t be going that hard. They’re kind of blowing up. Then I ride through them, so that’s been good.”
Thursday’s Stage 5 on Wheeler Pass clocks in at less than 25 miles, but with an extreme 5,220 feet of climbing, some of which many racers do on foot with their bikes on their backs. Racers launch from Beaver Run up the Ten Mile Range to Wheeler Pass, descending near Frisco and returning to Breck’s Peak 7 on the Peaks Trail.
Image: John Hanson
Image: John Hanson
Rider: Siri Krum
Image: John Hanson
Van Der Linden lands third straight stage win
Teen rider Siri Krum raises eyebrows with lightning-fast time in junior race
By Shauna Farnell
While most people are feeling the burn of the Breck Epic, Leah Van Der Linden (Lauf/Continental/Hunt/Ellei/Tifosi) is getting faster by the day. The 31-year-old Boulder rider notched her third straight victory in Stage 4 Wednesday. She was the first woman across the line of the 42-mile Aqueduct course in 4 hours, 9 minutes and 31 seconds.
“The legs were coming around last night,” Van Der Linden said. “Today, I made the game plan, let’s attack that first hill, because it wasn’t super steep today. It was that gradual climb into some singletrack. I just wanted to be the first one into that singletrack.”
She was.
Then came time for her downhill talent to shine. Nobody saw her again all day.
She even took a shot of Fireball at the top of Vomit Hill. Did that slow her down?
“Hell no. I needed it. I needed two. I think it made it better,” she said.
Van Der Linden proceeded to pedal the latter half of the course with a crew of Men’s Pro riders.
“We had a good group, then I got gapped off at West Ridge, just because I wanted to go my own pace. I was like, game on. One more climb and we’re home. I got this,” she said.
Although she toyed with the idea of bowing out, Lauren Stephens (Aegis Cycling Foundation) was right there in the mix again Wednesday, taking second for the third day straight. Playing it on the safer side, Stage 4 marked her first day with zero crashes. She finished almost 4 minutes behind Van Der Linden, and now trails in the GC by almost 7 minutes. Julie Momber (Bikesmith Cyclery) rounded out the podium in Stage 4 for her third day straight and is also third in the GC, sitting more than 35 minutes behind Van Der Linden.
Queen teen
Keeping up with the pros on Wednesday, (well, beating most of them), was 15-year-old Siri Krum (Donovan Racing), who blazed through Stage 4 with a time of 4:11:26, crossing the line less than two minutes behind Van Der Linden.
The young rider from Lakewood wrapped up her Stages 2-4 race in the under 18 category, saying she wanted to go out with a bang.
“I was chasing Leah on the first climb, but she’s so fast on the downhill,” Krum said. “There was no way I could catch up.”
Competing in her first Breck Epic after being encouraged by her dad, the teenager said the highlight of her race was the Skittles handup at the top of French Pass on Tuesday.
“I think I took too many,” she said. “I had a giant gummy wad in my mouth for a while. But I got all the rainbow flavors.”
Mega tales
The other superhero story of the day was Andrea Dvorak, who completed the Mega Epic on her own Tuesday evening after starting early Monday morning (the official Mega Epic field set off on course Wednesday morning).
“I’ve done a lot, but I’m always looking for new challenges,” said Dvorak, a retired road cyclist who took on nearly every big race on skinny tires, then moved to gravel and fat tire racing, including stage podiums over her three years of Breck Epic competition.
“This one was scarier than anything I’ve ever done. There’s no team car, no one around, so much unknown. You’re ultimately out there all alone,” she said. “I would say this is maybe the hardest thing I’ve ever done on two wheels.”
The official Mega Epic riders will be slogging over the finish line throughout the day and night on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Breck Epic continues with Stage 5 on Wheeler Pass Thursday, a 24.5-mile course that takes riders up the jagged tip top of the Ten Mile Range above 12,500 feet.
Image: Eddie Clark
