Breck Epic Mountain Bike Race Report

Cannondale Factory Racing (CFR) made their mark on the Top 10 overall Solo Men category with Ben Thompson taking 4th place and James Williams coming in 6th after 5 days of racing above 9500ft in Breckenridge, CO.

Situated at 9500ft, the scenic mountain town of Breckenridge, Colorado played host to the inaugural Breck Epic MTB Stage Race July 5-10. The surrounding mountains rise on all sides providing endless options of amazing singletrack, old mining doubletracks and incredible vistas. James Williams, Garth Prosser and I all started on Sunday with a 6 mile uphill time trial into the threatening afternoon storm clouds.

Stage 2 led the field up into the backcountry splitting the field on the steep, loose climbs up over 11,000ft. The amount and quality of singletrack, especially the Colorado Trail, quickly made you forget all the climbing and pasted a happy grin on the riders faces. One of the best rides I've done in a long time! Plus a podium finish never hurts.

Stages 3 and 4 proved promotor Mike McCormack wasn't kidding around when he named it "the EPIC". By taking racers up through wildflower studded high-alpine tundra and over rugged, windblown 12,000+ ft mountain passes, Mike was able to highlight the "best of the best" of Breckenridge's amazing trail network. Both courses provided a great mix of Jeep track, incredible singletrack, long, long descents and a couple "equalizers" of hike-a-bike to keep the contenders jockeying and racing hard throughout. After two 4+ hour days in the saddle the general classification had shaken up a bit and narrowed in the Top 5 considerably.


On Stage 5, despite the sea of tired legs and bodies at the start, as soon as the neutral police car pulled off, it felt like an XC race start with the leaders giving it their all on the last chance for GC shakeup. The course treated racers to steady, fast middle ring climbing punctuated by long, ripping singletrack descents. All in all a great way to end a fun week of racing on some of the best singletrack I've ever ridden.


Mike McCormack and his crew really went the extra mile in putting together a well organized, professionally run event. I know they worked hard with the Forest Service to ensure the best trail experience for all user groups, the courses were all well marked, and the food was really tasty. Nice work guys!

For the latest results, race video and information check out the Breck Epic website

View Ben Thompson's Garmin data from each stage at: http://benthompson.motionbased.com

Photos courtesy of Liam Dolan