Claro Brasil Ride - Stage 6 gamer

Move the finish line to the ER
By Jason Sumner

MUCUGE, Brasil - The first running of the Claro Brasil Ride concluded with a relatively flat 98.5km loop that started and finished in Mucuge.

Top story was a late race mishap with a video moto that sent co-leader Robert Novotny crashing to the ground, and then on to a Mucuge hospital with a snapped collarbone. That momentarily left the final GC outcome in doubt, as by standard rules you need to actually cross the finish line to win a stage race.

But after a dialogue among the concerned parties and race organizers, common sense prevailed and Novotny and partner Kristian Hynek were declared overall GC winners.

In the mixed category the Swiss pair of Renata Bucher and Damian Perrin (Team Zaboo Free-Mountain) broke the stage win stranglehold of Brian and Jenny Smith, stopping their streak at five by taking the final day’s top honors. Of course the Smiths’ consolation was a runaway GC win.

There were no upsets in the women’s field, though the endgame was much closer than in previous days. Two teams came to the line together, but once again it was German Olympian Ivonne Kraft and her Portuguese partner Celina Carpinteiro taking the win, out-sprinting the Brazilian pair of Janildes Fernandes Silva and Julyana Rodrigues (Jaju).

Clean up	In Brasil, they call this a dry road	More mechanical issues.
Clean up	Done	Long road
Early in the race	Post crash discussion	Helfull pull
Saddle sores