It's going to be a battle to the finish for Team Kona - Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks - as they try to repeat their BC Bike Race championship.
Stage four of the seven-stage event rolled through Sechelt on Wednesday, July 1, with hometown boy Sneddon and Wicks trailing Team Jamis/Santa Cruz - Seamus McGrath and Chris Sheppard - by a mere 73 seconds.
Kona made up 15 to 20 seconds of that lead by winning the stage, the second year in a row Sneddon and Wicks have won the Canada Day, Sechelt stage.
Sneddon said it was an awesome feeling winning in his hometown for the second year in a row.
"It's my hometown - you want to put in a good showing and I think we did," Sneddon said. "We've been battling Seamus and Chris all the way. They're good friends of ours and top competitors. Right now they have the upper hand overall, but we're probably a little over a minute behind them, which is really nothing in a race like this."
Day five on Thursday saw the riders tackle the Rat Race course, a single-track odyssey through Roberts Creek and Elphinstone to the Langdale ferry terminal.
Sneddon said not losing your composure would be a key thing to remaining in the hunt during stage five.
"Thursday is a long day - there is lots of climbing," he said. "We're going to get up high on Mount Elphinstone and the altitude kicks you in the head. Having some local knowledge, much like today, certainly helps. It's always nice knowing what's around the corner, where the next aid station is, what time of climb it is, so you can prepare a bit."
He said both teams are gunning for the title and he expects a horse race for the remaining three days.
"Both teams are really competitive. We want to repeat. We're here to have fun, but we want to win," he said.
Following Thursday's stage, riders were bused to Squamish for stage six, which gets underway on Friday morning.
The course is a 68-km loop on the Test of Metal course. Friday night will be spent in Squamish with all the riders bused to Whistler on Saturday for the seventh and final stage in Whistler's Creekside.
BC Bike Race media manager Dave Howells said he expects the two top teams will battle right to the finish.
"Being it's Canada Day and these guys are Canadian, they know how to ride Canadian single-track," said Howells. "Not that the other riders don't. All the riders have a high level of skill in this event, but we happen to be looking at four athletes who I think excel in that area, and that's what the difference is between those two teams and the rest of the field."
BC Bike Race is now in its third year. Howells said the event keeps growing in popularity and is quickly becoming a world-class event.
"BC Bike race is special because we truly are the ultimate single-track experience," he said. "For a mountain biker who enjoys mountain biking, there is not a better race in the world. We are the most fun and I think we are the best mountain bike race in the world right now."
