Sauser and Yamamoto win Brasil Ride stage 6

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With almost 400km in the legs, racers completed the sixth stage of the Brasil Ride in extreme temperatures, above 45 degrees Celsius. Friday's stage was the longest, at 143km, from Rio de Contas to Mucugê. Christoph Sauser and Kohei Yamamoto (Specialized Racing) won the men's stage while Rebecca Rusch and Selene Yeager (Specialized Racing/Team CF) won the women's stage.

Shortly before the first aid station 30km into the race, Brazilian rider and race leader Henrique Avancini (Caloi Racing Team) got a barbed wire wrapped around his wheel and was ejected over the handlebars. His partner Sherman Paiva also hit the ground, crashing into him.

"The problem we had today was absurd. A piece of wire that was part of a fence was in the middle of the road, and it got caught in my wheel. I took a fall," said Avancini. " Sherman fell on top of me, and we lost about seven to eight minutes in getting the wire unstuck."

Avancini hurt his elbow, took a hard blow to the chest and had trouble breathing afterward. Despite the bruises and the time spent to free his bike, the duo conntinued in the race, closely followed by the Brazilian Abraão Azevedo and Dutchman Bart Brentjens (Superior Brentjens Mountainbike Racing Team).

Sauser and Yamamoto (Specialized Racing Team) were first through aid station #1 in the city of Abaíra. They were followed closely by Spanish duo Ismael Ventura and Ramon Sagues (ESMTB.Com). Only two minutes later, Belgians Roel Paulissem and Johann Pallhuber (RH-Racing.it) and Germans Christian Kreuchler and Christopher Maletz (Fuji Bikes/Texpa Simplon) followed. Eight minutes later, the wounded Avancini and Sherman came through.

Sauser and Yamamot made a wrong turn and dropped back four places, but later regained the front and broke away gain. The Spanish team had problems with a flat tire and Sauser and Yamamoto got away. Sauser and Yamamoto won the the stage in 5:27:58.

Germans Christian Kreuchler and Christopher Maletz - the surprise of the day - were second in the stage at 5:35:51. Along with them, Ventura and Segues finished out the podium.

"We are very happy to get second placed, considering who is in first place. That's a victory to us and shows the power of our rapport," said Maletz.

Avancini and de Paiva (Caloi Racing Team) were fourth on the day at 10 minutes, but still kept their overall lead.

In the women's race, Selene Yeager and Rebecca Rusch (Specialized Racing Team) took another stage win in a time of 7:22:37. They rode across the line with the Pedal Urbano Team of Marcelo Sampaio and Gustavo Astolphi. Astolphi had tears on his face and sat down to catch his breath. Rusch congratulated him and offered him her leader's jersey from the stage as a gift.

"We rode together for a long time, taking turns at the front in the wind, and helping each other, I'm very happy to live this experience. We are a family. We all race the Brasil Ride, and returning to Mucugê fells like coming home," said Rusch.

Brentjens and Azevedo kept the masters leaders' jerseys after finishing the stage in a time of 5:38:55. Annabella Stropparo and Piero Pellegrini (Team Hersch Amicco di Annabella Di) won the mixed stage in a time of 6:54:45 and kept their overall lead.

Heleno Caetano Borges and Dorivaldo Corrêa de Abreu (Ice Racing Team) finished in 7:19:36 and continued to lead the grand masters.

The white jerseys of the top American team stayed with Silvinho Vieira and Junio Silvio (Team Cemil).

Saturday's final stage will be a marathon over 69.8km and with 900m of climbing. One section repeats the prologue course.

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