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ߣÏÈÉú at Berry Creek Bash hands Eagle cyclist another Vail mountain bike town series win

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Sam Brown took the win at the Berry Creek Bash town series mountain bike race on Wednesday in Edwards.
Maddie Lindley/Courtesy photo

Sam Brown claimed the Berry Creek Bash men’s title on Wednesday in Edwards, but the win didn’t come together in the ideal manner.

“It was a bummer,” he said referring to leader Landon Stovall‘s third-lap wipeout. Stovall had a comfortable advantage but got tangled up with a lapped rider on the Upper Berry Creek connector with less than a mile remaining. He flipped over his handlebars in the wipeout and smashed his Garmin. Thankfully, his right shoulder took the brunt of the fall, not his left elbow — which he shattered in February.

“It’s going to be real sore,” an upbeat but disappointed Stovall said at the finish. Brown’s official winning time on the 11.1-mile course was 1 hours, 28 seconds. Josiah Middaugh (1:00:53) took the runner-up spot with Stovall (1:01:27) rounding out the pro/open podium.



“Those guys were on a different level,” Middaugh acknowledged after. “They were pretty much out of sight until the crash.”

Brown and Stovall were joined by former pro road cyclist Cristhian Ravelo on the opening climb up Power Road, with Middaugh chasing. The hot and dry evening town series race turned into a two-person affair on the second lap, with Stovall making a hard break at the top of the roughly 2-mile ascent.

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Cristhian Ravelo rides to a fourth-place finish in the men’s pro/open category at the Berry Creek Bash on Wednesday night in Edwards.
Maddie Lindley/Courtesy photo

“I just got a little room on Sam,” Stovall said. “I was like, ‘alright I’m going to try and drill it here.'”

The Bear National Team athlete said he was focused on getting some heat training in on Wednesday in preparation for the USA Cycling mountain bike national championships begining July 14 in Roanoke, Virginia. Stovall hoped to keep his power output within 10-watt range on each revolution. When he noticed his lead had grown to almost 30 seconds by the start of the third, however, he ratcheted up the tempo even more.

“I felt really good. No moments of bonking or anything,” Stovall said. “And then (I) really sent it over the top.”

“He’s getting ready for mountain bike nats and that fitness, I could see for sure,” Brown said. “And this was definitely pushing my limits as far as the short, punchy efforts go.”

Ravelo, who is, fell off the pace slightly but managed to take fourth in 1:05:16. The former CS Velo rider has been enjoying both trail running and mountain bike town series events this summer. He competed in the Vail Hill Climb last Saturday and the Boneyard Boogie in May.

 “It’s out of my comfort zone; I don’t know my limits in racing,” Ravelo said of running, which he took up once he stopped racing full-time on his bike. “Running is hard; (in biking) you can recover. But I love it. I have no pressure for results.”

Stovall, Brown, and Middaugh were all riding solo until the crash. When Brown came up to Stovall, he stopped to make sure his friend was OK.

“That was nice of him,” said Stovall, who opted to slow-roll to the finish even though Brown offered to give him back the lead going into the final descent. “So, it’s all good.”

Sam Brown poses with his pet Corgi, Rebecca, after winning the Berry Creek Bash on July 9, 2025.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily

Brown — who finished runner-up to Stovall at the town series opener in May but won the Davos Dash last month and was fourth at Bighorn Gravel — was greeted at the finish by his girlfriend, Elise and the couple’s Corgi, Rebecca. The 25-year-old is hopping into Ned Gravel this Saturday and the FoCo Fondo 118-mile event the following weekend. Meanwhile, Middaugh has also been getting into gravel, too, taking fourth at The Hundo in Bailey and coming in 13th at Bighorn Gravel despite dealing with an early mechanical and a mid-race flat.

“It was just a long, solo battle,” he said of the fourth-annual 85-mile event out of Gypsum. “Which was OK — I could pace myself — but it’s just a bummer not to be racing.” The 15-time XTERRA national champion’s next big event is XTERRA Worlds in Italy in September.

“It seems like a long ways away, but when you look at the calendar — I think we’re like 11 weeks out,” the 46-year-old said. “So, better get in shape.”

Ingrid Stensvaag rips through some singletrack during the Berry Creek Bash on Thursday in Edwards. Stensvaag won the women’s pro/open division.
Maddie Lindley/Courtesy photo

The women’s pro race had significantly less drama, as Ingrid Stensvaag claimed a 10-minute win on her home course.

“I work down there at the Edwards facility, so I do this all the time after work,” the Vail Health employee said before adding that the trails contained a bit more moon dust than normal. “It’s pretty surfy but luckily I do know most of the corners and where it’s easy to wash out.”

Stensvaag finished in 1:19:27 as Amelia Durst (1:29.19) and Tam Donelson (1:33:27) battled for the final two podium spots. After finishing over the holiday, Stensvaag is getting ready for the Silver Rush 50 in Leadville on Sunday. Last year, she and co-worker Haley Dumke went 1-2 in the Cloud City.

“I love climbing at altitude and it’s a beautiful course,” she said. “I’m just going to go and give it all that I have that day and see what happens.”

Her main focus this summer, however, is the Breck Epic.

“So, I’m just trying to get a lot of 4 and 5-hour efforts,” she said. “My legs were feeling OK tonight. My mentality is just show up and give everything I have for the day.”

Even though Stovall didn’t get the result he was hoping for on Wednesday, he’s hoping to make amends in the U23 cross-country race in Virginia. His biggest competition might come from fellow Bear National Team athlete, . The Breckenridge biker edged Stovall at the SoHo Bike Festival two weeks ago.

“So, that was a pretty good little rivalry battle,” Stovall said. “I’m fighting for the win next week for sure. I think I have it in me.”

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