Kindree first on cold, wet TransRockies stage

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Stage 6 would find the riders waking to a light sprinkle of rain and dense cloudd cover. The blue skies of the previous five days disappeared overnight and by 8:30 am, the sprinkle had turned into a steady downpour. The previous night the TransRockies organizers put their team on notice that an alternate route may be required in order to keep the riders off the higher passes, out of the cold and minimize the risk of accidents on the descents. When the 9 o'clock start rolled around, the call was made to shorten the course by approximately 17km and exclude two climbs on the day: Cox Hill and Jumpingpound Ridge.

In retrospect, the decision to re-route was the correct one as the conditions worsened throughout the morning. When the athletes began to trickle across the finish line, it was obvious that the day had turned into a mud bath.

TR3 champion and TR4 Men's Open leader Neal Kindree was first across the Rafter 6 line in 2:41:59 and was thoroughly coated. After a flat on the course, TR4 40+ overall leader Jeff Neilson was relegated to fifth place on the stage with John Gould taking the win.

Kristin Walters maintained her lead in the Women's Open with a three minute and 39 second win over Ene Underwood.

In the TR7 Open Men's category, the Rocky Mountain Factory team of Colin Kerr and Greg Day overcame mechanical problems on stage 5 and claimed a stage win ahead of overall leaders Jon Firth and Stefan Widmer.

Impressively, 80+ Mixed team Eva and Marco Carrer, along with Jean Ann Berkenpass and Sandra Walter in the Women's Open field, each clocked their sixth straight stage win.

The Open Mixed continued to show strong competition between the top 3 teams with less than 10 minutes separating them on a tough day. Wendy Simms and Normon Thibault came out on top for the second day in a row and maintained their overall lead.

After a one hour and 12 minute victory on stage 5, 80+ Men's team of Pat Doyle and Craig Bartlett took a slim one minute and 41 second win and their fourth stage win.

Undoubtedly the most competitive category at this year'ss event has been the 100+ Open. The six stages have produced three different winning teams with a time gap between first and second standing at a mere five minutes and four seconds. Darrell Johnson and Tom Ebbern notched their third stage win and will look to hold onto their overall lead heading into the finish in downtown Canmore.

Full Results