First year racer Guilherme Couto (GRC CONSTRUTORA) earned victory at the seventh edition of Road Brasil Ride, one of the ten best gran fondo races in South America, held Sunday 8 November in Pardinho, Brasil under strict coronavirus safety protocols.

Couto was the first cyclist to cross the 100k finish line, with a time of 2:37:09. Shortly thereafter, just over a minute after the champion, Vitor Teixeira (São José Ciclismo / Bike Padrão) and Douglas Amaral (Escalera) finished, completing the Men’s top 3, with the times of 2:38:19 and 2:38:33, respectively.

Born in Pouso Alegre, Guilherme Couto made his debut this year on the Road Brasil Ride. Just over a year ago, the 26-year-old started cycling with his father to do more aerobic training. After taking a liking to the sport, he started following a cycling specific training plan.

It worked.

“As the race starts right at the foot of the mountain, in the first kilometers, I and another athlete managed to make a getaway. We  escaped together until the moment when there were about ten kilometers to the finish. I felt that he was a little tired and I attacked to guarantee the victory,” Guilherme said afterwards.

In the Women’s race, the fastest cyclist to complete 100k was Marcella Toldi (4FUN BIKE CENTER) from São Paulo. Mati, as she is known, completed the course in 2:53:19, ahead of runner-up, Cristiane Silva (High Performance Cycling) who clocked a time of 3:03:21. In third place was Erika Soares (LuluFive Team).

“I had never competed on the Road Brasil Ride and the people I spoke with warned me of the difficulty, especially by the mountain right after the start. In other words, they advised me not to push too hard at the start because I would pay the bill later,” said 36 year-old Mati who won convincingly with a ten minute margin.

Top 3 in the 70k medio fondo were Victor Fusi and Viviane Lourenço, who crossed the finish line with the times of 1:57:06 and 2:14:57. Among men, the top 3 also had cyclists Márcio Paes (1:58:22) and Marcelo Walton (2:04:39). Among the women, Maria Beatriz Moraes (2:28:39) and Gabrielle Autran (2:28:41) completed the podium.

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