Top 5 Pro Men Podium and Stage Summaries *Golden Tour Round 1*
Pro racers kicked off their day with a lift to Stage 3, where bike handling skills were put to the test on the track’s infamous rock gardens. Evan Geankoplis, who was standing at the top of the leaderboard going in to this round, was taken out of the race from the start with a destroyed wheel on this stage. Round 2 champ Matt Guntert took the stage win at 8:25.8, a solid lead on Ryan Gardner who clocked 8:32.4. Cory Sullivan took third on the stage at 8:35.6, Todd Renwick fourth at 8:40.0, and Evan Turpen fifth at 8:46.2.
After checking in at the CES Live! timing tent and refueling, it was time to take on the Stage 1 transfer climb to the top of the mountain. Guntert took another stage win and made a course record clocking 3:58.7 on this warp speed run through the trees. Myles Trainer came in second at 4:00.6. Sullivan and Ryan Gorman were neck and neck with Sullivan clocking 4:03.3 and Gorman 4:03.4. Spencer Rathkamp took fifth on the stage at 4:04.4.
At this point, Guntert was in the lead with a total time of 12:24.5, followed by Gardner at 12:38.5. Sullivan was just behind Gardner at 12:38.9, Renwick at 12:44.4 and Trainer at 12:48.9.
From the bottom of Stage 1, it was a traverse over to the top of Stage 2. Trainer slayed this stages and its ridiculously tight, rocky switchbacks fastest with a time of 4:18.5. Renwick came in second at 4:20.8 with Guntert just a hair behind at 4:21.1. Turpen was fourth at 4:22.9, and Sullivan rounded out the top five for the stage at 4:23.3.
With three stages out of five down, Guntert had a solid 16.5 second on Sullivan; Guntert with a total time of 16:45.6 and Sullivan at 17:02.2. Gardner was just behind Sullivan at 17:03.0, followed by Renwick and Turner at 17:05.2 and 17:07.4, respectively.
Another pedally transfer took the pro men to the extremely steep, loose and gnarly Stage 5, where Renwick pulled off the stage win at 6:14.6. Trainer was less than half a second behind at 6:15.0. Trainer had a full five second lead over Guntert, who — despite cracking a rim and running much of the stage with just 10psi — came in third at 6:19.6, while Sullivan and Gardner were just a fraction of a second apart, coming in fourth (6.21.6) and fifth 6:21.7 respectively.
With one more stage to go, Guntert was still in the lead by 14.6 seconds at 23:05.2, followed by Renwick at 23:19.8, Trainer at 23:22.4, Sullivan at 23:23.8, and Gardner at 23:24.7.
Catching a lift to the top of Stage 4 gave riders the chance to take a breath, soak in the incredible views, and compare stage runs with fellow racers. Sullivan pulled out all the stops for the stage win on this demanding track, finishing with a time of 5:49.3 — a whopping 10 seconds faster than second place Jack Achey who clocked 6:02.0. Trainer was just behind Achey in third at 6:03.4, Steven Godman in fourth at 6.07.6 and Turpen rounded out the top five at 6:10.2. A crash on this stage cost Guntert a couple of seconds, enough to keep him out of the top five on the stage. Gardner broke his dropper post cable on this stage, forcing him to complete the run with his seat up. He came screaming in to the stage finish … literally.
So how’d all that shake down? A day that included five stages of some of the series’ most challenging riding saw Sullivan on the top step of the pro men podium with a total time of 29:13.1. Guntert took a close second at 29:17.8. Trainer came in third at 29:25.8, Renwick fourth at 29:28.1 and Turpen fifth at 29:52.3.
Top 5 Pro Women Stage Summaries *Golden Tour Round 1*
The pro women kicked some technical butt on their first run of the day as well. Zephyr Sylvester made short work of the long, rocky stage clocking 10:23.5, over eleven seconds faster than the second fastest rider Janea Perry who came in at 10:34.8. Heidi Kanayan finished third clocking 10:49.4, while Jackie Swider came in fourth at 11:02.1 and Amanda Propst came in fifth at 11:07.6.
After the pedal to the top of Stage 1, Kanayan’s keen dash through the trees gave her the stage win with 04:46.2. Perry again came in second at 04:48.8. Swider came in a couple seconds ahead of Sylvester with a time of 04:54.0. Propst rounded out the top five stage winners at 05:01.1.
At this point, Sylvester led the Pro Women by four seconds with a time of 15:19.6, followed by Perry, Kanayan at 15:35.6, Swider at 15:56.1, and Propst at 16:08.7.
From the bottom of Stage 1, it was a traverse over to the top of the short but switchback-sweet Stage 2. Perry slayed this run with an impressive 5:12.1, nearly five seconds faster than Sylvester who came in second with 5:17.3. Kanayan was hot on Sylvester’s wheel clocking 5:18.2. Lili Heim came in fourth at 5:31.1 and Swider fifth at 5:36.6.
After three stages of racing, Perry took the lead just 1.2 seconds ahead of Sylvester, who was 16.9 seconds ahead of Kanayan at 20:53.8, followed by Swider at 21:32.7 and Propst at 21:54.2.
The pro women then faced their second transfer climb to the top of Stage 5, a run that can be intimidating to even the most skilled riders. This challenging stage saw Perry finishing first at 8:10.9 with a giant lead over the next fastest rider Sylvester who clocked 8:45.1. Propst came in third at 9:42.1, Kanayan fourth at 9:51.4 and Swider fifth at 10:15.4.
With one more stage to go, Perry held a commanding 35.4 second lead over Sylvester. Kanayan was in third at 31:36.4, followed by Propst and Swider.
A lift took the pro women up to the top of Stage 4, their final stage of the day. Perry seemed to ride stronger as the day progressed. She took her third consecutive stage win on this demanding stage with 7:22.4, several seconds ahead of second place stage finisher Sylvester who came in at 7:30.0. Kanayan came in third at 7:48.7, Heim came in fourth at 8:01.8, followed by Propst at 8:06.4. Swider crashed on the final stage taking her out of the race.
After a tight day of aggressive riding, Perry took the top step of the pro women’s podium — and the 2018 Golden Tour lead — with a total time of 36:09.0. Sylvester took second at 36:52.0, Kanayan third at 38:33.7, Propst fourth at 39:42.8 and Heim fifth at 41.07.2.
