Wallace takes long-sought Wheeler win; Pike maintains solid race lead
Flat tires and head-on collisions thwart Pellaud and Haidet in Stage 6
By Shauna Farnell
Images: Eddie Clark
Above: Niki Pardoe
If Breck Epic racers had to name a single most grueling stage of the race, most would agree that Stage 5, Wheeler Pass, is the standout.
Competing in his sixth Epic, Cory Wallace (Kona Bikes) has always wanted to take this one. On Thursday, he made it happen.
The 41-year-old Canadian, who is a perennial podium finisher at the Epic as well as a six-time World 24-Hour Solo World Champion, was the first racer across the line of the 24.5-mile, high-elevation, hike-a-bike stage, finishing in 2 hours, 51 minutes and 49 seconds.
“I’ve always wanted to win this stage and I thought this is my chance today,” Wallace said. “This is the hardest course, for sure. It looks easy on the map, but you do the whole ridgeline, then you’re coming off a 20-minute descent and your legs are just Jello. Then you get the Peaks Trail coming back. It’s a struggle.”
It was race leader Matt Pike and Swiss road and gravel sensation Simon Pellaud (Tudor Pro Cycling) who set the pace out of the gate on Thursday. Wallace waited to make his move.
“On the hike-a-bike, I passed Matt. I could see Lance [Haidet] coming. He paced himself as well. Every time I looked back, he was right there. I knew the descent was going to be fast. We passed Simon on the descent. He had a flat tire. Lance passed and had a minute gap going into the Peaks trail. I dug pretty deep to catch him. It was a good back and forth all day,” Wallace said.
Flats and collisions
That minute gap that Haidet (Specialized/SRAM/Velocio/Fat tire) established on the descent was somewhat curtailed when the cyclocross national champion from San Luis Obispo came head-to-head with a recreational biker on the Peaks Trail.
“I head a little head-on collision and gave myself a dead leg,” Haidet said. “We hit each other, but I think we were both more surprised than hurt. Other than my leg, which absorbed thr brunt of the impact via his stem. Luckily, we were both OK. Cory passed me while I was messing with my leg that wasn’t working. But he was mobbing. He would have probably caught me anyway.”
Haidet, 27, still managed to chase Wallace across the line to finish second, 29 seconds back with a time of 2:52:18. The two are even more neck-and-neck as runner-up to Pike in the GC. Wallace leads by a mere seven seconds.
Pellaud, 32, who came into his first Epic fresh off a second place in Saturday’s Leadville 100, succumbed to failed brakes on Wednesday and took himself out of the GC.
Fighting hard up Wheeler, he had a significant lead on the field until a three-hole puncture in his back tire on the descent stopped him in his tracks for a few minutes, but he still came back to round out the podium in 2:57:40.
“I lost at least three, four minutes there,” Pellaud said. “They told me I was like three minutes back, so I just took it easy to the line. People here don’t believe me when I say I’m not really racing, that I was mostly here to get that technical part and learn to manage mountain biking. But tomorrow, I will try to go for the stage.”
Pike plays it safe for fourth
Pike still has almost a 19-minute cushion in the overall standings with a time of 15:56:40. Wallace is next with 16:15:19 and Haidet is hot on his heels in 16:15:26. Fourth place Macky Franklin’s (#BeMoreAwesome) 16:35:50 and fifth Cassius Anderson’s (Marin Service Course/Castelli/Enve) 16:36:55 are also possibly still in striking distance of the podium.
“Cory passed me before the first summit. Then you traverse across into a short switch-backing line. That’s where Lance went by. I wanted to stay out of that battle because they are fighting for second. It’s hard letting guys go, but I also wanted them to have their race,” said Pike, who, after sweeping the first four stages of the Epic, finished fourth on Wheeler with a time of 2:59:28. “I made it as far as I wanted in front of them and figured I could hold on from there. I wanted to do like 3 hours and figured that would keep it close enough.”
Despite his lead, Pike is the first to acknowledge that it’s still anybody’s race. Afterall, he was the only racer ahead of Epic leader Howard Grotts in last year’s final stage. Grotts sustained a horrific crash a half mile from the finish and the stage was neutralized, meaning Pike didn’t get credit for his Stage win.
“If you’re pushing, mistakes happen. We’ve seen tons and tons of crashes out here across the whole field. It’s very much a part of the sport,” Pike said.
Nonetheless, the 28-year-old Longmont resident does plan to push it to the finish on Friday. After skipping the bacon and Fireball handups throughout the week, he’s also looking forward to a beer.
“We’ll see about tomorrow. I think Simon and those guys will light it up again. It’s a fun stage to go as hard as you can,” he said. “It’s short, it’s straightforward, and there’s beer at the top. If anybody gets there and doesn’t put a foot down, I’m raising hell.”
Friday’s Stage 6 Gold Dust takes racers up and over Boreas Pass and back, for just over 31 miles and 3,660 feet of climbing.
Cory Wallace makiung his move on top of Wheeler
Image: Eddie Clark
Lance Haidet
Image: John Hanson
Nate Vacura preparing to drop into Miner’s Creek
Image: Eddie Clark
Simon Pellaud. Practicing mountain biking. Pretty fast learner.
Image: Eddie Clark
Macky Franklin. Quietly having yet another amazing week of BEING AWESOME. And fast.
Image: Eddie Clark
Van der Linden slogs, then slashes descent for fourth win in a row on Wheeler
Stephens trails by 14 minutes in GC with eight riders in tight race for third
By Shauna Farnell
Van der Linden. Always smiling.
Image: Eddie Clark
In the midst of her most crowning mountain biking achievement to date, Leah Van der Linden (Lauf/Continental/Hunt/Ellei/Tifosi) laid it all out again on Wheeler Pass Thursday. Slogging on two wheels and then on foot straight up the scree above tree line, it wasn’t easy.
“I felt like absolute poop at mile 6 at the top. Everyone was like, wow, you look cracked,” she said. “That was ridiculous. I’ve never walked so much with my bike before. I kind of laid my stomach on my saddle and snail-paced the whole way up.”
Then, the sweeping views at 12,500 feet gave the 31-year-old Boulder rider the inspiration and second wind she needed to power through for her fourth-straight Epic stage win.
“It’s absolutely gorgeous up there,” she said. “I took in the sights. I was looking at Baldy. I saw Copper. You could practically see Leadville. It was incredible. I didn’t drink a lot on the way up the first climb and I think that screwed me. At the top, I put my bladder in my mouth and drank for like three miles straight. That pretty much revived me. Then it was game on the whole way down.”
‘One more day’
Crediting her downhill ski racing background for her fearlessness when descending on two wheels, Van der Linden whizzed by a string of racers, including her closest rival Lauren Stephens (Aegis Cycling Foundation) on the descent.
She powered through the final Peaks Trail climb to finish the brutal, 24.5-mile course in 3 hours, 45 minutes and 59 seconds. Now leading Stephens by more than 14 minutes in the GC with a time of 19:32:06 to Stephens’ 19:46:31, Van der Linden is not about to start celebrating.
“One more day,” she said. “It’s going to be a hard day, although it’s short. It’s not as much descending and technical climbing. It’s just a matter of keeping it clean. I have to come up with a game plan to stick in it for the climb and hang on.”
Van der Linden’s father was cheering her on at the finish Thursday. When asked if he is the one who taught her how to ride a bike, he said, “Not like that. Maybe down the driveway …”
Four stage wins in, Van der Linden is at least congratulating herself for what she’s achieved thus far.
“Oh my god, this is amazing,” she said. “I’m so glad I did it. I won’t do Leadville before I do it next year. It’s a challenge. I’m proud of my efforts.”
Stephens still in it
Also glad she stuck with the race after considering bowing out, Stephens holds strong in second for the GC, but ended up sixth on Thursday. It was Stella Hobbs (MAAP/Zwift/Wahoo) who powered through for another stage podium in second with a time of 3:49:58. Syd Schulz (#BeMoreAwesome) took third in 3:51:06, Julie Momber (Bikesmith Cyclery) fourth in 3:52:15 and Chelsea Pummel (Bangtail Bike and Ski) fifth in 3:52:52. It was a tight pack, as Stephens clocked in at 3:53:27, still well in the running for a race win, 14:25 behind Van der Linden and happy that she went two days without a crash after a couple days of bumps, bruises and at least one bloody knee.
“I had some dabs and some stopping on the descent, also some running when I didn’t feel comfortable,” she said. “Leah caught me just as we started the descent off Wheeler. I just kind of got out of her way.”
Coming into the final stage Friday, the 31-mile Gold Dust course up and over Boreas Pass and back for 3,660 feet of climbing, Stephens said her plan is to “race my bike again.”
“Maybe I’ll get close tomorrow. Maybe I can win the stage.”
Neck and neck into final
The fight for the third podium spot in the GC is a tight one, with Momber, Schulz, Ingrid Stensvaag, Hobbs, Pummel, Amity Rockwell (POC) and Erin Kelly (Panache Nation) all within a minute and a half coming into Stage 6.
Syd Schulz
Image: Eddie Clark
Stella Hobbs
Image: Eddie Clark
Julie Momber
Image: Eddie Clark
Usha Khanal
Image: Eddie Clark
Amity Rockwell
Image: Eddie Clark
Chelsea Pummel
Image: Eddie Clark
