Cory Wallace finishes second overall at Breck Epic

After a strong start to the week saw him battling with EF’s Lachlan Morton, Cory Wallace ended the week in a duel with two Australians. Morton was joined by Tasman Nankervis, creating a three-way battle for the lead at the six-day, high-altitude stage race in Colorado.

The Jasper, Alta. racer put in some attacks, defended against some interesting race tactics, added more podiums to those he earned in the first half of the week, and would end up second overall at the 2023 Breck Epic. The win stayed with Lachlan Morton and his extremely aero, or something, race rig.

Here’s how the race unfolded from Cory Wallace’s perspective:

2023 Breck Epic race report: Part Two

Going into the second half of Breck Epic the competition was tight with myself sitting second overall in GC, sandwiched between the two Australians, Lachlan Morton in the lead by just over seven minutes, and Tasman Nankervis sitting around 15 minutes back in third.

Stage four was a fast-rolling 42-mile stage taking in some great singletrack on the Colorado trail and a fair bit of open fire roads. The legs felt great this day, going hard off the front with just the two Australians following. We had a nice lead group of three riders going into the first feed zone, where they had feeders giving them bottles, while I stopped at the neutral service to reload on supplies. This gave them a small 20-second gap, which they capitalized on, working together, with Lachlan leading the climbs, and Tasman leading the descents. I’d chase hard behind for the next hour, just off their wheels but could never close the gap behind these two strong forces. They did nothing wrong, but it would sure be nice if all the riders were required to use the great neutral service at the feed zones, instead of having personal help, as having a race split up in a feed zone isn’t the ideal way to decide a race. Otherwise, it was a great stage rolling through the Colorado backwoods, although I’d lose just over six minutes to the leading duo.

Stage five is one of the coolest days of mountain bike racing in North America with the 25-mile stage going up and over two 12,500 ft passes high above Breckenridge in the Colorado Alpine. The riding is rugged on small goat-like trails littered with big boulders, and some steep climbs in some very thin air. The scenery is beautiful, although it’s hard to take much in while trying to focus on the technical trails. Over the top the amazing Breck Epic…