TransRockies Bike Race
The Finish in Canmore
Paul Done/Transrockies / 15.08.2010
Though riders were pushed to their limits during stage 6 of the 2010 TransRockies, there was still one test to pass before they would be able to celebrate their successful finish with family, supporters and friends. Stage 7 covered 46km from Rafter Six Ranch to Canmore with a route that ran along the TransCanada Trail and up onto the newly rebuilt trails of the Canmore Nordic Centre,before dropping down into the town centre for the final turns of the pedals down Main Street to the finish line.
After a couple of epic days in the high mountains, the weather turned fair for Stage 7 and riders were treated to Canmore and the Rockies at their most beautiful and benign. With soft white clouds in the sky and sun dappling the peaks, it was hard to believe that just the day before, racers had been pushed to the limits of their endurance on a day which forced even the strongest riders to think purely in terms of survival.
There were few shakeups in the standings on Stage 7 and the short run into Canmore confirmed that the teams who sat atop the standings were truly the best in their divisions in 2010.
Having retaken the lead In the marquee Open Men’s division after a Stage 4 mechanical meltdown, the Kona duo of Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon were in no mood to take any chances and stormed to another win with a super quick 2:27 finishing time to confirm their 2010 overall win by over 40 minutes over the 2009 Champions Stefan Widmer and Marty Lazarski of Rocky Mountain Factory Team who placed second on the day and second overall. “I’ve done a lot of stage races and that was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,� said Sneddon. “Even the last stage was tougher than we expected—really fun, but tough. We’re glad for the win and looking forward to celebrating with a few beers tonight.�
Sneddon has been selected to race as part of the Canadian National Team at the 2010 World Mountain Bike Championships to be held in three weeks at Mont St. Anne, Quebec while Barry Wicks will start his preparations for the Fall cyclocross season where he’s a consistent a top contender in the U.S. Pro series.
Third place overall was still up in the air with three teams battling for the title. Probably the fastest team out of the three was the Colorado-based Honey Stinger pair of Dax Massey and Nate Bird who had been plagued with mechanicals throughout the event, starting with a broken front wheel on stage one and including multiple flats, broken chains and even a broken pedal on Stage 6.
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