Kris Sneddon is no longer a bridesmaid.
After finishing third in 2009 and second in 2010, the Sechelt native finally got over the hump and captured the 2011 Test of Metal mountain bike race in Squamish Saturday, June 18.
"This is the biggest local race in Canada, and it's a very prestigious race to win," he said. "Overall I'm feeling great. The course was good, but I really had to push hard to keep ahead of Neal [Kindree} and Chris [Sheppard]."
Sneddon had to fight his way to first from fourth during the race, passing Kindree, Sheppard and Max Plaxton in the process.
"Max blew a tube and I caught Neal just after the Water Tower," Sneddon said.
"Then about halfway through Ring Creek I passed Sheppard."
But he knew it wouldn't be an easy task holding off the local favourite.
"I really had to push hard just to keep my distance from Neal," he said. "He knows these trails better than any of us and knows when to attack, but I managed to hold him off."
Sneddon put together a time of 2:32:10.6 for the race, beating out second place Sheppard by 69 seconds. Kindree placed third, with a time of 2:36:59.1.
"I missed this race a bunch of times because of Canada Cups," Sneddon said. "But if it fits on the schedule, I always like to come."
Gibsons Ruedi Schnyder finished 13th overall in a time of 2:42:23, Glen Illingsworth of Gibsons was 135th in a time of 3:24:03, David Marquis of Sechelt was 326th in a time of 3:51:29 and Mark Henderson of Roberts Creek finished in 783rd position with a time of 5:35:39.
Check out full results at www.testofmetal.com.
