Wicks leads Kona sweep of stage 4 in Mongolia
Wallace comfortable in overall lead
Barry Wicks won stage 4 of the Mongolia Bike Challenge while Cory Wallace retained his overall race lead. Day four is when stage racing starts to take its toll on riders and to become a true test of willpower as the character of the individuals in the race gets put on the line. The overwhelming majority of riders in this year's race are tough as nails and they are built from strong foundations. With little negative energy around camp, everyone seems to be up for the challenge.
Stage 4 kicked off with a series of rolling green hills, which put a lot of riders in the hurt lockers early on. This climaxed with a KOM at 40km where Pau Zamora (Team Buff) put in a solid effort but fell short to the Kona guys.
After the KOM, racers hit a typical high speed Mongolian descent with boulders and ditches. Kris Sneddon (Kona) fell victim to the first flat in the lead group this year as he missiled down the hill and sliced a hole in his tire. Barry Wicks (Kona) stayed back to help him and Cory Wallace stayed up with Pau, Carter Hovey (Team MBC p/b Orbea-SMP) and Tuguldur Tuulkhangai (Mongolian National Team) as they charged across an open valley and then through some huge boulder fields. They put in a solid effort to lose the Kona duo behind but they came up short as Wicks and Sneddon powered back up to the group in just under 15km after losing four minutes in the tire change.
The scenery changed every hour for the first four hours of the race today with green hills, sand, boulder fields and then out onto the desolate plains. The last 30km were hot and a little rough. There were giant puddles of water which seemed as out of place as a NBA player on hockey skates. Puddles and piping hot dry desolate landscapes just don't seem to mesh. It must have monsooned like it was Costa Rica here the night before. The puddles were like landmines as the lead five zigged, zagged and bunny hopped all over the place in an attempt to keep from having to wash their bikes this evening. They failed and are now practicing zigging and zagging as well as bunny hopping techniques around camp so they can win this battle next time.
As the racers neared the finish line, Hovey tried to break away for the win but was chased down by Zamora. The Kona trio would have loved to see a Hovey victory today but apparently the Spaniard wasn't about to let this happen. In retaliation for Zamora chasing down Hovey, Kona riders had a little extra motivation to take a sweep on the podium for the stage.
"Having been here last year I am stoked for the days to come as we head into the spectacular valleys of the Mongolian mountains," said Wallace. "First off, we have some solid mileage to cover. Tomorrow we will ride 140 km, eventually connecting onto last year's course at km 100. From there we will ride through a little settlement and then onto the finish line on the edge of some green hills. Last year at this finish line, a bunch of local Mongolians came out with fermented Yak milk and aged sheep cheese to offer to the riders. It was really nice of them but it is sketchy to ingest this type of food during a long stage race as the effects on a riders gastric system can be nuclear. We may employ some interesting tactics tomorrow at the finish line to prevent any nuclear reactions from occurring."
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Barry Wicks (USA) | 4:19:20 |
2 | Kris Sneddon (Can) | 0:00:01 |
3 | Cory Wallace (Can) | 0:00:02 |
4 | Pau Zamora Perez (Spa) | 0:00:03 |
5 | Carter Hovey (Can) | 0:00:08 |
6 | Peter Paelinck (Bel) | 0:07:40 |
7 | Tuguldur Tuulkhangai (Mon) | 0:11:52 |
8 | Marcel Hagener (NZl) | 0:15:29 |
9 | Altansukh Altanzul (Mon) | 0:24:03 |
10 | David Rovira Roqueta (Spa) | 0:24:04 |
11 | Sumya Baterdene (Mon) | 0:24:05 |
12 | Mohamad Razif Bin Mohamad Salleh (Mal) | 0:24:07 |
13 | Francesc Juliá Pascual (Spa) | 0:24:12 |
14 | Delgerbayar Sonomtseren (Mon) | 0:24:30 |
15 | Batmunkh Batsaikhan (Mon) | 0:32:57 |
16 | Davide Ghedini (Ita) | 0:43:50 |
17 | Marcel Farres Dasquens (Spa) | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
18 | Lorenzo Milesi (Swi) | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Thomas Wettemann (Ger) | 0:48:38 |
20 | Fabio Elmer (Ger) | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Uwe Geiger (Ger) | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Ivan Cabañas Gonzalez (Spa) | 0:50:37 |
23 | Aloyse Albert Schartz (Lux) | 0:50:41 |
24 | Ulziibaatar Jamsran (Mon) | 0:50:53 |
25 | Solongo Tserenlham (Mon) | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
26 | Ray Giddins (Aus) | 0:51:39 |
27 | Elisabeth Adamson (Aus) | 0:52:04 |
28 | Edmund Tan (Sin) | 0:53:27 |
29 | Robert Bleeker (Aus) | 0:53:29 |
30 | Batmunkh Mijid (Mon) | 0:53:30 |
31 | Liesbeth Hessens (Bel) | 0:53:32 |
32 | Steven Pauwels (Bel) | 0:53:34 |
33 | Jep Gonzalez Farres (Spa) | 1:03:50 |
34 | Jennifer Crake (Can) | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
35 | Greg Mckennis (USA) | 1:15:11 |
36 | Marcos Barrio Robles (Spa) | 1:16:26 |
37 | Angel Lopez Santos (Spa) | 1:16:27 |
38 | Nuo Zhang (Chn) | 1:19:01 |
39 | Alex Ramsey (Aus) | 1:22:14 |
40 | Thomas Borst (Ger) | 1:24:34 |
41 | Otgontuya Batbaatar (Mon) | 1:26:18 |
42 | Batbayar Lkham-yanjin (Mon) | 1:26:53 |
43 | Johan Walraven (Ned) | 1:34:56 |
44 | Iwona Szmyd (Pol) | 1:40:36 |
45 | Jack Anderson (USA) | 1:42:17 |
46 | Max Richner (Swi) | 1:43:26 |
47 | Thierry Lilian Claude Carayol (Fra) | 2:15:37 |
48 | Jesus Martin Del Nogal (Spa) | 2:25:35 |
49 | Birgit Richner (Swi) | 2:30:38 |
50 | Kristof Nootens (Bel) | 3:13:51 |
51 | Wouter Rijnaerts (Ned) | 3:28:06 |
52 | Frances Galache Rejón (Spa) | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
53 | Jos Van Dijk (Ned) | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
54 | Marcel Besemer (Ned) | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Cory Wallace (Can) | 16:17:58 |
2 | Barry Wicks (USA) | 0:01:50 |
3 | Kris Sneddon (Can) | 0:02:03 |
4 | Pau Zamora Perez (Spa) | 0:06:26 |
5 | Carter Hovey (Can) | 0:36:21 |
6 | Tuguldur Tuulkhangai (Mon) | 0:39:56 |
7 | Peter Paelinck (Bel) | 0:59:52 |
8 | Marcel Hagener (NZl) | 1:03:01 |
9 | David Rovira Roqueta (Spa) | 1:23:15 |
10 | Francesc Juliá Pascual (Spa) | 1:27:41 |
11 | Mohamad Razif Bin Mohamad Salleh (Mal) | 1:47:35 |
12 | Altansukh Altanzul (Mon) | 2:22:20 |
13 | Sumya Baterdene (Mon) | 2:51:46 |
14 | Davide Ghedini (Ita) | 2:53:25 |
15 | Marcel Farres Dasquens (Spa) | 2:58:49 |
16 | Lorenzo Milesi (Swi) | 3:00:17 |
17 | Delgerbayar Sonomtseren (Mon) | 3:14:39 |
18 | Batmunkh Batsaikhan (Mon) | 3:26:10 |
19 | Ray Giddins (Aus) | 3:30:10 |
20 | Thomas Wettemann (Ger) | 3:32:26 |
21 | Fabio Elmer (Ger) | 3:40:51 |
22 | Steven Pauwels (Bel) | 3:49:44 |
23 | Elisabeth Adamson (Aus) | 3:57:07 |
24 | Liesbeth Hessens (Bel) | 4:00:47 |
25 | Uwe Geiger (Ger) | 4:03:40 |
26 | Batmunkh Mijid (Mon) | 4:07:16 |
27 | Jennifer Crake (Can) | 4:18:06 |
28 | Jep Gonzalez Farres (Spa) | 4:33:55 |
29 | Ulziibaatar Jamsran (Mon) | 4:39:44 |
30 | Alex Ramsey (Aus) | 4:44:47 |
31 | Greg Mckennis (USA) | 4:47:17 |
32 | Robert Bleeker (Aus) | 4:50:00 |
33 | Ivan Cabañas Gonzalez (Spa) | 5:05:24 |
34 | Aloyse Albert Schartz (Lux) | 5:15:44 |
35 | Thomas Borst (Ger) | 5:19:27 |
36 | Solongo Tserenlham (Mon) | 5:36:27 |
37 | Jack Anderson (USA) | 5:48:09 |
38 | Max Richner (Swi) | 6:13:35 |
39 | Batbayar Lkham-yanjin (Mon) | 6:17:30 |
40 | Iwona Szmyd (Pol) | 6:19:16 |
41 | Marcos Barrio Robles (Spa) | 6:29:05 |
42 | Nuo Zhang (Chn) | 6:42:35 |
43 | Angel Lopez Santos (Spa) | 7:01:10 |
44 | Johan Walraven (Ned) | 7:10:21 |
45 | Otgontuya Batbaatar (Mon) | 7:22:29 |
46 | Jesus Martin Del Nogal (Spa) | 7:23:56 |
47 | Edmund Tan (Sin) | 7:33:28 |
48 | Thierry Lilian Claude Carayol (Fra) | 8:58:08 |
49 | Birgit Richner (Swi) | 9:17:13 |
50 | Jos Van Dijk (Ned) | 10:44:56 |
51 | Kristof Nootens (Bel) | 10:50:30 |
52 | Wouter Rijnaerts (Ned) | 10:53:50 |
53 | Frances Galache Rejón (Spa) | 11:20:24 |
54 | Marcel Besemer (Ned) | 14:00:17 |
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