Three riders.  Two podium positions.  Seven seconds.

Alex Grant (CFR).  Brandon Draugelis (PAValleys.com).  Christian Tanguay (Team CF).

That was all the information needed to know that the final day of the inaugural Trans-Sylvania Epic would be anything but processional for the Elite Men's field.  With six days behind them and a GC that was anything but locked in save for a solid lead by Cannondale's Jeremiah Bishop, the legs and lungs of these battle weary racers would be tested a final time on the final stage of TSE.

Trusting his improving form, having already erased a double digit deficit from the start of the week to stand tied for second, Cannondale's Grant with help from team mate Bishop used the tactic of hitting 'em hard and hitting 'em early to put Tanguay, racing with an deep muscle bruise sustained the previous day, into difficulty before the race had left the TSE camp's trails.  Continuing to pile on the pressure, Grant slowly and gradually pulled away from Draugelis eventually putting more than 2 minutes into the PAValleys.com racer and locking up second place on the final podium.  Not content to allow this three way battle to be the only drama on the day, Drew Edsall (Yeti) added to the excitement by making the move with the Cannondale riders and eating into his deficit to Draugelis and Tanguay as well.  Draugelis held off the Yeti threat but Edsall was able to take the time out of Tanguay needed to vault into fourth overall due in part to a course deviation by the Frenchman from Team CF.

STAGE 7: Dramatic Final Stage Shifts Men's and Master's GC;

Women and Single Speeders Aim for Fun Factor.

Top left: GC Winner Selene Yeager (Team CF). Bottom left: GC Winner Jeremiah Bishop (Cannondale Factory Racing). Right: A rider rides through the woods on the last stage. Photos © A.E. Landes Photography

The four riders who deviated from the correct course included Master's second place Alec Petro (Team Psycho) who was making an inspired charge for the lead held by Cannondale's Garth Prosser.  So inspired was Petro that he was able to overcome both the added time from the mistake and the initial 1:30 he was behind at the start of the day and take the overall victory in the 40+ competition.  Prosser finished second while Alex Hawkins rounded out the Master's GC podium.

With GC battles locked up at the start of the day in the Women's, Single Speed, Duo and Tandem categories most riders were content with a "rolling party" final stage punctuated with adult beverage breaks and general relishing in the accomplishment of completing the week of challenging East Coast courses offered up by Trans-Sylvania.  Selene Yeager (Team CF) rolled across the line first for the women and also locked up the overall GC ahead of Karen Potter (MTBRaceNews.com) and Rebecca Rusch (Team Specialized).  The Single Speeders mixed it up with Tanya Hanham, Peter Keiller and David Cormier on the stage podium and Greg Martin taking overall victory ahead of Greg Jenne and Rich Dillon.  Marc Risdale and Kim Jones took the overall win in Duo while Rob and Sara Lichtenwalner rode home with the Tandem victory.

Every participant completing the seven Trans-Sylvania stages walked away from the final awards ceremony sporting medals that succinctly summed up the determination and dedication required by these men and women

to overcome the challenges thrown at them this week.

*Special thanks from XXC Magazine to Zack Beltran for providing TSE updates over the past week, to A.E. Landes whose amazing photos brought the action to us, and to Cyclingdirt.org for video use. Much appreciated.