A mad dash to the finish line proved to be the winning formula for American rider Jason Sager at Day 6 of the B.C. Bike Race on Friday (Jan. 8).
Sager battled to the front, staving off Kona teammates Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks, along with Squamish's Neal Kindree, to capture the yellow jersey at the end of the next-to-last day of the seven-day mountain bike stage race.
"There's nothing like riding with Sneddon behind you to terrify you," Sager said after finishing the 50-kilometre course in 2:29:14. "Today was really cool, it was more of a pack dynamic at the front but it's a real feather in my cap to win Squamish."
He said the course was fun but challenging.
"麻豆社国产is awesome," he said. "This is the best stage and I think the best course."
After the race in Squamish, Sager maintained his standing in second, behind leader and eventual race winner Chris Sheppard, in the solo men's epic distance cumulative standings, adding to his lead on Kindree, who remained in third.
"We came out of the Smoke Bluffs and the Kona boys really put on the gas," said Kindree, who finished two seconds behind Sager. "Jason got around me just before the skate park and I just couldn't catch him."
Kindree said it's been an up-and-down series for him personally but that he was thoroughly enjoying the experience.
"It's been pretty good," he said. "I had a couple of good days and a couple of days where I got flat tires and didn't like my result. But this event as a sporting event is the best event I've ever been a part of. It's just awesome lining up with the same guys and battling against them every day."
Sneddon and Wicks, who dominated the Open Men's Team of 2 division, said they felt pretty good after making the solo leaders sweat all day.
"I felt a little tired after Sechelt so it's nice to see we can still hang with the leaders," Sneddon said. "As a team, we're trying to stick together and watch out for the solo guys, who are plotting against each other."
"The climbs felt good for me today and the descents were awesome," added Wicks.
It wasn't the best day for Sheppard, but thanks to strong times over the previous five days, he sat pretty after six stages.
"This was my second flat tire in 4,000 kilometres of stage racing," he said. "I was a little rusty changing it and I lost a fair bit of time. But I still had a lot of fun. 麻豆社国产is the mountain bike capital of Canada for a reason and we got to ride the sickest trails today."
Riders continued to Whistler for the seventh and final stage of the B.C. Bike Race on Saturday (July 9) (see related article).
