Mitch Hoke of Colorado Springs won the men's pro cross country race at the Cheyenne Mountain Explosion.

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Start/finsh line Cheyenne Mountain Explosion
XC Cat 3
XC Cat 2 Gallery 1
XC Cat 2 Gallery 2
XC Cat 1
XC Pro Race

VIDEO
Start of pro men's race
On the course in the men's pro race
Cat 1 Women's race start with Kennon Roeber off the front
On the course with the pro women

Mitch Hoke was a good mountain bike racer a year ago.
What a difference a year makes. Hoke may be on the verge of being great.
He held off a tough field on a tricky course Sunday at Cheyenne Mountain State Park to win the Cheyenne Mountain Explosion men's pro cross country race.
On the last of four laps, Hoke, a Colorado College senior who rides for Tokyo Joe's, looked behind him.
He saw Brady Kappius (Clif Bar), Kalan Beisel (YETI SRAM), and Russ Finsterwald (SUbaru/Trek). They weren't in any mood to allow Hoke to get away without a fight.
"They kept coming back," Hoke said. "I thought I might be done on that final lap. I'd look back and there would be somebody there. Then I'd look again and there wasn't anybody."
But Kappius dropped off with a mechanical problem, and neither Beisel nor Finsterwald had the juice to catch Hoke on the final climb.
Wearing a muddy grin formed from miles of trail dust, Hoke popped a nice wheelie a he rolled toward the finish line, while his fan club (left) celebrated.
"This is my first win in a Mountain States Cup cross country race," Hoke said. "It's a big deal. I'm psyched."
Beisel placed second, Kappius battled back to take third place and Finsterwald finished fourth.
Finsterwald, who graduated from Coronado High School and is now a freshman at Colorado University, is nearly recovered from a shoudler injury that has slowed him down. He said he did along ride on Saturday and ran out of gas on the hills and technical sections of Cheyenne Mountain State Park. He finished fourth on Sunday.
"I'm definitely getting better," he said. "But I had a big day yesterday and by the end (of Sunday's race) I was just holding on."
All the top riders have raced and trained together for years. Beisel, who doesn't waste a chance to crack a joke had a few words for Hoke.
"Yeah, we just let you win," he said. He later added: "It's not so bad to lose when your friends beat you."
In the women's pro race, Emmett (right) hammered the field to complete the weekend sweep. She said he used the race to prepare for bigger events later in the season.
"I'm here to get some hard efforts in," she said.
The defending national champ in the Super D, Emmett has a skill set that equates to speed. Many of the pro men's racers saw it first hand as she passed them. She said that part of racing never gets old.
"Oh yeah, that's fun," she said. "I wish I could have passed more."
She'll race at the Sea Otter Classic next week in Monterey, Calif.
Sage Wilderman (Specialized/Rocky Mountain) was second, followed by Caitlyn Vestal (Honey Stinger/Trek).

Pro Women Cross Country
1  27   156146   Kelli Emmett         Giant Mountain Bike  2:10:28 
2  18   199903   Sage Wilderman       Specialized/Rocky Mt 2:12:31       2:03.17 
3  14   168652   Caitlyn Vestal       Honey Stinger/Trek O 2:16:06       5:38.71 
4  25   194901   Erin Huck            Tokyo Joes           2:24:12      13:44.61 
5  26   210228   Jill Behlen          Tokyo Joes           2:30:31      20:03.33 
6  43   FRA198701Caroline Mani        SRAM                 2:31:45      21:17.10 
7  31   234957   Sarah Rawley         Yeti Beti            2:33:17      22:48.90 
   21   246803   Amy Dombroski        crankbrothers race c DNF
Pro Men Cross Country

1  15   203760   Mitchell Hoke        Tokyo Joes           1:50:05 
2  30   244363   Kalan Beisel         YETI-SRAM            1:50:49         44.74 
3  17   132490   Braden Kappius       Clif Bar             1:51:17       1:12.34 
4  20   228336   Russell Finsterwald  Subaru/Trek          1:52:18       2:13.58 
5  45   161831   Tim Allen            Niner-Ergon          1:53:33       3:28.28 
6  8    284764   Skyler Trujillo      Niner Bikes          1:54:37       4:32.20 
7  40   210855   Colin Osborn         Honey Stinger/Trek   1:54:54       4:48.98 
8  28   15853    Jay Henry            Tokyo Joes          1:55:14       5:09.62 
9  44   199904   Kelly Magelky        Trek / Bontrager / A 1:57:14       7:09.64 
10 19   241806   Shad Schreiner       High Gear/Trek       1:57:38       7:33.52 
11 34   145481   Daniel Matheny       Mafia Racing         1:57:45       7:40.06 
12 5    23198    Michael McCalla      Magura               1:58:25       8:20.15 
13 37   JPN199007Keisuke Goda         Specialized          1:58:42       8:37.63 
14 32   216528   Colin Cares          Kenda/Felt           1:59:50       9:45.24 
15 36   193522   Jason Siegle         SDG/ FELT            2:00:26      10:21.71 
16 39   208016   Benjamin Portilla    Honey Stinger/ Trek  2:01:33      11:28.53 
17 33   17932    Doug Johnson         Bandwagon Racing     2:01:35      11:30.70 
18 7    264816   Lucas Perez          ROTOR Bike Component 2:01:47      11:42.27 
19 16   260538   Graham Aldredge                           2:01:59      11:54.71 
20 24   217452   Joe Schneider        3D Racing            2:02:00      11:55.41 
21 10   246497   Jordan Williford     Epic Endurance Cycli 2:02:12      12:06.97 
22 9    327230   Travis MacY          Team Merrell Adventu 2:03:00      12:54.97 
23 23   43908    Jason Young          Feedback Sports      2:03:54      13:48.89 
24 22   39400    Len Zanni            Honey Stinger/ Trek  2:05:19      15:14.34 
25 42   229172   Chris Hurst          Stans No Tubes/AXA/C 2:06:32      16:27.75

26 41   246700   Peter ODonnell      GT Bicycles          2:08:36      18:31.18 
27 12   211236   Jason Holbrook       Yeti/Jett Pro XC Tea 2:09:02      18:57.29 
   6    92714    Kip Biese            Big Wheels Racing/Ol DNS 
   29   208187   Yuki Ikeda           Topeak-Ergon         DNS 
   11   116610   Campbell Levy        Yeti/Jett Pro XC Tea DNF 
   13   37334    Ernie Watenpaugh     Peloton Cycles/Speci DNF 
   35   161597   Cameron Chambers     Speacialized Stump J DNF 
   38   JPN198601Ken Onodera          Specialized          DNF

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