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Wells Wins US Marathon Mountain Bike National Title

Oct 20, 2009
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<p>Specialized Racing's Todd Wells added another US national title to his collection on Saturday afternoon when he won the elite men's marathon mountain bike title in Bend, Oregon.</p><p>
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The American had travelled straight to Bend from the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships last weekend in Austria. Skipping a trip home gave him some extra time to recover, adjust to the nine-hour time change and scope out the 54-mile course.</p><p>
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"I was able to check out some sections each day," said Wells, who was on his 2013 Specialized S -Works Epic 29er with RockShox fork at 110psi. "I rode the final downhill a few times, so I felt like I got a good feel for the course. One of the local guys showed me around.</p><p>
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"After riding with the local guys, I was worried about the downhill. Those guys have it figured out. But at the end of a hard race, you're trying more to recover on the downhill."</p><p>
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From the start, Wells was part of a small lead group that included six or seven riders. A rainstorm overnight had helped tamp down some of the dust. Going up a big climb early on, defending national champion Adam Craig, who was racing on home turf, got a gap on Wells, who in turn had a small gap on chasers Barry Wicks and Carl Decker.</p><p>
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Wicks and Decker caught Wells on a final descent before they headed out on the second loop. The trio chased Craig. Decker had a problem, leaving just Wells and Wicks together, and they successfully reeled in Craig, turning it into a three-man contest. Wells was racing on a Specialized S-Works Fast Track front 2.0 tire at 25psi and an S-Works Renegade rear tire at 26psi. </p><p>
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"Around mile 30 or so, on a singletrack climb, Craig and I put a small gap on Wicks," said Wells. "We had about 45 seconds going into the last feed zone. We rode the entire final loop together until about 10 minutes to go until the finish. I was able to get around him and put in a bit of an acceleration. I held the gap until the line."</p><p>
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Wells, who finished 35 seconds ahead of runner-up Carl Decker, raced his SRAM 1x10 drivetrain with single 36-tooth front chainring and a Type 2 XO rear derailleur. A Grip Shifter handled rear shifting while there was a dummy shifter in place of a front shifter because there was no front derailer. He ran his Epic's rear shock at 170psi.</p><p>
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It was Wells' second national title of the season. In July, he won the US short track national championships.</p><p>
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Wells gets a short break before a few more races this season, including La Ruta de los Conquistadores and some cyclo-cross races.</p>

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