Two Colorado riders ruled the day at this year’s Breckenridge 100, with Josh Tostado (Bach Builders) winning the men’s race and Jari Kirkland (Alpine Orthopedic) taking the victory in the women’s race.

The Breckenridge 100 was the fourth stop on the NUE circuit this season, and offered up one of the toughest courses in the series to the competitors. Following a cloverleaf format, racers completed three loops and over 13,000 feet off climbing. The grinding climbs, altitude, and highly technical descents were sure to test racer’s legs, lungs, and motivation over the course of the day.          

One man who never seemed phased though was Josh Tostado. Tostado has never lost in the Breckenridge 100—this year he extended his winning streak to six. He was expected to be challenged by NUE strongman Jeff Schalk (Trek Racing Co-Op), but the duel never materialized. Schalk suffered two flats on the race’s first descent down Wheeler Pass and had to run over two miles to get his bike fixed and ride-able. He came through nearly 18 minutes down after the first 30-mile loop. Though Schalk was able to recover and ride himself into third by the end of the race, he was never a factor for the win. Up front, Tostado was cruising. He came through loop one with an eight-minute lead over second place rider Joey Thompson.           

Tostado flatted on the second, and hardest, loop, but was able to fix it quickly enough to maintain his lead. He still had over six minutes on Thompson heading into the third 34-mile loop, where he stretched his lead back to eight minutes by the finish. "I feel really lucky,” he said of his sixth straight win. "It’s just such a great course. There are times when you’re really hurting, but then you forget about it as soon as you hit an awesome descent,” Tostado said, speaking of the swooping singletrack of Wheeler Pass, the Colorado Trail, and Gold Dust Trial covered in the race.           

The women’s race was a similarly one-sided affair, with Jari Kirkland leading from start to finish. Eszter Horanyi (Walt Works/Fuentes) did manage to keep it close for a while, coming through after the first loop two minutes behind Kirkland. However, on the decisive second loop Kirkland extended her lead and never looked back, eventually winning by over 25 minutes en route to a top 20 overall finish. Consistent NUE podium finisher Cheryl Sorenson (Team CF) rode steadily to take third.

In the singlespeed race it was another local, Mark Thompson, taking the win. Thompson rode a furious first lap, coming through in the top 10 overall, before settling in and winning by a comfortable margin. Michael Melley was second while Gerry Pflug, the 2009 series champion, took third. Alison Wilson took the win in the women’s singlespeed race.

Results