It was the US cross country national champion's first-ever mountain bike stage race despite years of elite-level World Cup racing and two Olympic appearances. First-ever mountain bike stage race couldn't have gone better. "Mountain bike stage racing is hard," said Wells. Todd Wells ( Specialized ) won La Ruta de los Conquistadores on Saturday afternoon. To cross them, riders have to step from railroad tie to railroad tie. and it's been a stressful couple of days since I got the jersey on the first day. On the final stage, Wells got to experience La Ruta's infamous railroad trestle bridges. It's special. Sometimes on the road, you can recover and get better whereas here I felt like I got slower and slower. After picking a race billed by organizers as the toughest in the world, Wells wasn't yet ready to commit to returning. When you finish a race like this, you feel such a sense of accomplishment - whether you're the guy winning or not.
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