The La Parva Ski Resort once again welcomed all the riders who gathered at the top of the mountain, to almost 3500m where the special stage “Valle Amarillo” would open the race. Stage 1 had some changes with respect to the previous years which took to the riders directly to the infamous anti grip.
The rest of the stage was followed the classic yellow valley trail, the same as previous editions where the riders went down with good pace and fluidity. At the end of the course, there are sections of 30 switchbacks that brought out the best of all riders even after more than 8 minutes of stage. First place in this stage was the Chilean national Champ from 2013 Pedro Ferreira with a time of 8: 09.30 followed by the compatriot Miliciades Jaque who was only 8 hundredths of a second slower with a time of 8: 09.38, followed very closely by Yoann Barelli.
Casey Brown took a solid first place with a time of 10: 01.21 and managed to take more than 6 seconds to the 2016 champion Tracy Moseley who came in second with 10: 08.36.
The second stage was the classic German Refuge, a track that never disappoints and is very good. This track is characterized by different zones, one very rhythmic and fast where you can pump and jump.
This second stage was led by the French 2016 champion Francois Bailly-Maitre with 13:19.50 that put more than 7 seconds to Miliciades Jaque with 13:27.08. Third came the French Jerome Clementz with a time of 13: 33.50. The women’s category was ruled by Tracy Moseley with a time of 15:31.17 that managed to take a major advantage over Casey Brown who had a time of 16:18.09. In third place came the Chilean Florencia Espiñeira with a time of 16:50.22.
The famous Parvazo was the next challenge for the riders, who faced this special stage that stands out for being very hard and physical. This track makes for very tired hands for even the fittest! In this stage Pedro Ferreira won with a time of 9:05.55 followed by Yoann Barelli 9:05.62 and on third place the Cannondale rider Marco Osborne 9:06.58.
Results among the women stayed with Tracy who got a solid first place with 10: 59.03 followed by Casey Brown with 11: 12.16 and third place Emily Slaco with 11: 51.69.
After getting back in a pickup up to turn 32 the riders closed the day with the fourth special Cabritas, a natural stage that owes its name to it is a place where the goats are taken to graze. The trail is loose and steep where the switchbacks are the only way down. A long track that brought happy faces back to camp to check their results for the day!
The fourth special ended with Scotland’s Mark Scott leading with a time of 10:16.73 followed by Francois Bailly-Maitre with 10:20.14 and third place the Chilean Pedro Burns with 10:20.76. Tracy remained in the first place with a time of 12:27.72 followed by Casey Brown with 12:55.15 and thirdly 13:57.22.
