Early on in Stage Four, it was Bishop who appeared motivated to push the pace in attempt to further his overall lead on Horgan-Kobelski, but it was the later who matched the leader's relentless attacks. After more than 45 miles of racing, Horgan-Kobelski retaliated with a move that put him nearly 20 seconds ahead of Bishop on the course's descent of Dark Hollow.The new leader was unable to gauge the time back to his chaser, but Bishop was motivated by the swirling dust cloud that grew ahead of him - Horgan-Kobelski was just ahead as the two riders approached a 5-minute climb that would be followed with a rolling descent to the finish line. Bishop refined his riding position to that of a time trialist and powered toward the base of the climb, regaining contact with Horgan-Kobelski who continued his brutal effort to overtake the race lead.
Riding behind Horgan-Kobelski, Bishop appeared to gather a little rest on the downhill and briefly pulled ahead into the lead before relaxing the pace and returning to a comfortable position behind Horgan-Kobelski as the pair rode into a headwind. Horgan-Kobelski resumed a driving pace while Bishop, 6 seconds ahead in the overall classification, followed carefully as they approached the final stretch. Horgan-Kobelski lead the pair into a sprint and for the first time was able to cross the finish line first, one tenth of a second ahead of Bishop, to take the stage, while Bishop sealed his lead in the overall classification to become the first champion of the American Mountain Classic.
Full results and links to event coverage will be updated below as available:
(Some discrepancies in coverage. The AMC considers each day's event a proper "Stage," some coverage refers to the first Stage as a "prologue" and begin numbering subsequently.)
MTBRaceNews.com Stage Four (titled "Three") preliminary results here.
MTBRaceNews.com Stage Four (titled "Three") Greg Gibson report is here.
Labels: American Mountain Classic, Race Headlines
