Looking to build on his recent win at the Test of Metal in Squamish, Sechelt's Kris Sneddon and his race partner Barry Wicks are back to defend their title in the fifth installment of the BC Bike Race.
The epic seven-day race starts tomorrow (Saturday) in Cumberland and wraps up in Whistler on July 9. The race will roll through the Sunshine Coast on July 6 and 7.
More than 450 participants from 23 countries are taking part this year. Over the last four years of the race, a total of 36 countries have been represented.
BC Bike Race captures the unique flavour of mountain biking in Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Squamish and Whistler. The riders travel on purpose-built single track, made by mountain bikers for mountain bikers. The route is an amalgamation of years of trail work from the local communities, and the BC Bike Race links these mature trail networks together, giving participants all the best single track available combined into one epic mountain bike adventure.
Course designer Andreas Hestler, a former cross country World Cup racer and Canadian Olympian, ensures that there is a perfect build through the week of skills, mileage and absolute pure trail enjoyment. All the trails are handpicked for the event, and each year there are new trails created just for BC Bike Race.
"I think it's looking really good for Kris and Barry," Hestler said. "We have a couple of top teams from the U.S. and Canada that I think will take a few shots at them, but you always want to pull for the local guys."
Besides Sneddon and Wicks, top European riders to watch include France's Thomas Dietsch, the two-time European marathon champion, and Italian Marzio Deho, winner of Mongolia Bike Challenge and Trans Rockies.
"We are interested to see how these guys will come up against Rocky Mountain Bikes own Canadian Chris Shepperd, who will be defending his solo title. How will the Euro's fare on the B.C. single track? Well, we will just have to find out," Hestler added.
Also watch out for Canadian Olympic skiers Manny Osbourne and Pierre Harvey, who will be in attendance with their respective teammates, and Brian Lopes, Mark Wier and Katrina Strand from the downhill world, coming to enjoy simply biking and great trails.
"This year we have created a few timed sections (mostly downhill) within the full day results. This will help participants with more skill and less engine showcase their technical ability," added Hestler.
On Wednesday, July 6, riders will be travelling from Earls Cove to Sechelt starting at 11 a.m., with the first riders arriving in Sechelt near Sechelt Elementary School at 2 p.m. The next day, riders will leave around 8 a.m. and head to Langdale for the trip across the ferry with the first wave of riders coming in to Langdale around 10:15 a.m.
