Matt Kelly

GC-leader Jerome Chiotti (FRA, GT) managed to stay far enough in front of Kashi Leuchs (NZL, SoBe/Headshok) to retain the red leader's jersey, but neither he nor Roland Green (CAN, GT) could reel in the youngster Kelly. The teenager, whose previous best finish was 8th in NORBA's Red Wing event, simply rode away from his competitors to finish the climb in 1:15.

Behind Kelly, Roland Green finished second, just six seconds from the win. Jerome Chiotti (FRA, GT), who has won the hill climb the past two years, finished third, 20 seconds off the mark. Behind Chiotti, Leuchs came across 4th, but gave up another two minutes to Chiotti in the overall.

These same four riders had powered up the mountain together, starting in downtown Steamboat Springs at 9:00 a.m. and finishing at an elevation of 10,500 feet. Roland Green actually led for most of the stage, picking up two King of the Hill checkpoints in the process. Behind him, '96 World Champion Chiotti paced his teammate, with Leuchs and Kelly close behind.

"It's hard for me this year, very different than the last two years. It's harder to ride with a group like we did today... Mentally it was very, very hard" —Jerome Chiotti

"Ever since we crossed the finish line yesterday, it's basically been us four," said Kelly after winning stage two. Asked where he finally made his move, he said "I saw the "1km to go" banner and knew that's where I had to go."

"At one point I came off my bike because I slid out my wheel on a really steep section. But I slowly caught back on and got around Jerome at the end. This hill climb is kind of my specialty, so I was looking forward to it even before that. It's incredible for me."

Green and company couldn't believe their eyes as Kelly rode away from them. "We tried to chase," said Green "but I was out of gas, so I just rode as hard as I could to the finish."

Chiotti concurred, explaining that this year is a much bigger challenge for him. "It's hard for me this year, very different than the last two years. It's harder to ride with a group like we did today... Mentally it was very, very hard."

The women started their climb one hour after the men, and finished fifteen minutes slower than the men's winner. First up the hill was Alison Dunlap (USA, GT), who only yesterday reportedly said it was over - as the Olympic-hopeful prepares for the world cup finals in Belgium next weekend. So was yesterday's statement just false modesty?

"Oh, I won't say it's over, but I don't want to go out and kill myself to win this," she smiled at the top of Mt. Werner. "I was definitely going as hard as I could today, but it's only an hour and a half. I was able to set my own tempo and not fight with anyone else, so that's not as tiring as chasing."

"It was a great stage," she offered, adding "it's so beautiful up here, and we don't get to do this very often in mountain biking, so I like that."

Jimena Florit-Juarez

Jimena Florit-Juarez (ARG, Polo Sport) finished third behind a powerful Ruthie Matthes (USA, Trek Volkswagen), staying just close enough to her to retain the leader's jersey. While Matthes was just over a minute behind Dunlap, Juarez was another minute back, all three of the top women riding alone.

"I'm glad I rode alone, I didn't want to focus on anyone but Ruthie," said Jimena. "That was my race today."

Juarez knew only that she needed to maintain contact with Matthes, or lose the leader's jersey. "I heard one time split of one minute and thought "oh no!" I was counting the time bonuses, thinking 'if I do this I'll get this,' then thought 'no, I just need to hurry!'

Going into Saturday's tough cross-country stage, Juarez needs to stay in front of Matthes; Dunlap needs to win by several minutes if she hopes to take the overall. The men's racing is also tight, with Jerome just two minutes ahead of the powerful Leuchs, and Roland Green another minute and a half behind that.

—Ari Cheren, on top of the world for MountainZone.com