Sager edges Sheppard on stage two

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Described as an intense cross country race by the protagonists, today’s second stage of the BC Bike Race turned into a five-rider affair between Jamis captain Jason Sager, Rocky Mountain’s Chris Sheppard, Thomas Dietsch of the Bulls team and the Kona duo of Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks. All of those in attendance at the front had a point to make today.

Sager claimed yesterday that he thought Sheppard would win the overall while he would spend the rest of the week chasing Dietsch to claim second in GC by the end, Sheppard is gunning for his second straight solo title, Dietsch wants to conquer the terrain and after coming up empty-handed last year, the Kona duo wants to cross the line first overall at least once this year.

As the bunch was let loose on the initial paved climb, the Frenchman Dietsch tried several attacks to get away but Sager timed it perfectly and countered as they hit the singletrack and took an early lead with Canadian Chris Sheppard in tow followed by Dietsch and farther back the Kona boys. According to Sager, he and Sheppard worked very well together through the slimy roots and rocks that littered the middle singletrack section to open up a gap on the chasers.

The day was exceptionally fast with many riders trickling in well under three hours while the front runners raced for just over two hours. "We raced all out the whole way," said Sager. "Today was rough and burly; hard and slow."

When Sager and Sheppard hit the last section of trail, a smooth flowy ripper, they both agreed that they grew complacent with their lead and allowed the Kona team, which passed Dietsch in the singletrack, to catch up to the pair on the 2km paved stretch through town to the finish line. With the banner coming into view, Sager attacked and held on for the win with a one second advantage over Sheppard and two seconds over Kona.

The surprise of the day was Dietsch who came through about a minute in arrears behind Sager. Afterward Dietsch said he had a great day and was adjusting to the terrain rapidly. In GC standings, Sheppard opened his lead to 4:20min over Dietsch while Sager jumped into third overall, seven minutes behind Dietsch.

In the open men’s team category Kona opened up their lead to nearly 15 minutes over the Nativo/Devinci squad of Marty Larski and Ricky Federau. A shining second place effort today by the Rocky Mountain Bicycles Factory Team 1 of Greg Day and Colin Kerr put them in third overall just 20 seconds behind Nativo/Devinci.

In the women’s duo category there were no changes as Shparkle Horsh And The Hyper Monkey consisting of Simone McCallum and Claire Garcia-Webb from Australia won again, giving them a 24-minute lead over the second place Dirt Sistas team of Heide Saunders and Robyn Pickering. The Brazilian team of Luli Cox and Adriana Boccia sit nearly two hours back in third overall.

The solo women’s contest is shaping up to be one of the closest of the week with American Wendy Lyall winning today and holding a one minute and 26-second lead in the overall ahead of Canadian Jennifer Schulz. Hannah Thorn from New Zealand rolled across the line today in second and sits 1:09 behind Thorn in the GC.

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