After a thrilling week of racing, the final seven-day BC Bike Race wrapped up with a 44-km day on Maple Mountain. Two new winners were crowned, history was made, high fives were given and more of the future of BC Bike Race was revealed.
On the men’s side, Nino Schurter withstood one more day of fending off feisty locals on unfamiliar trails, helped by a crash from Peter Disera. On the women’s side, one more big push up Maple Mountain failed to split the field, so the top three celebrated a week on bikes.
Schurter breaks a long-standing BCBR record
Nino Schurter has an endless list of records to his name. 10 world championships titles, the most World Cup wins ever, more World Cup titles, Cape Epic wins, and more. Amongst all that glitter, his win Friday at BC Bike Race still stands out. Schurter becomes the first European to win BC Bike Race. Over 20 years, many have tried. But the men’s title has never crossed the Atlantic. Even in “retirement,” the G.O.A.T. is still setting records. The local’s advantage, Schurter said, was not to be underestimated.
“It was difficult, actually. Some of these trails have lines where, if you don’t know the trail, you don’t know where the fastest line is. It was a challenge going up against the locals that know the trails when I don’t, but it was a good challenge,” Schurter said, adding BCBR isn’t the same as other stage races. “It’s different racing, it’s so much more technical riding. That’s what I’m looking for now, to do stuff like this that’s really cool. The best riding in the world!”
What brought the G.O.A.T. to B.C.?
“I always heard good stories from this race and during my career I always enjoyed the technical riding, so I thought this is a race always on my bucket list. It’s my first year of retirement from World Cup racing so I took the opportunity and it was a blast!”
Canucks push Schurter on home turf
Schurter was challenged by a trio of Canadians. Peter Disera pushed the Swiss rider to sprints all week, winning three of them. Carter Nieuwesteeg quietly held onto the lead duo for much of the week, then rolled across the line in third. Vancouver Island local Max McCulloch used his descending prowess to stay in the race all week, fending off a challenge from two Californian pros, Tobin Ortenblad and Justin Peck, to hold fourth overall and, in the process, win the Fox DH…
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