BC Bike Race launched into its 20th edition in dramatic fashion on Saturday, with a three way sprint for the men’s win. Nino Schurter up against two Canadians: Peter Disera and Carter Nieuwesteeg.
Cumberland delivers the drama on Day 1
When the greatest cross country racer of all time shows up on the start line, you kind of assume what the conclusion will be. But racing is racing, and anything can happen. Also, jet lag sucks. While the men’s field whittled down considerably over the course of a long, often rough opening climb, Nino Schurter still had a group of five riders around him at the top. On the way up, Nino looked to be letting, or encouraging, some of the riders to take a turn on the front. Several did, other’s thought better of it. It was Fernie, B.C.’s Carter Nieuwesteeg that took the initiative to lead into Poacher’s Trap and Ultimatum, a series of brand new trails included in this year’s race.
“I think we were all trying to pace it. Nino was trying to suss us out. We all kinda knew what we were getting into with him,” Nieuwesteeg recounted. “I knew if I had any shot of getting to the finish line near him, so I sprinted the group for the singletrack. But yeah, I had Nino on my wheel. That’s kind of a crazy thing to say. We got to the climb trail and I could barely breathe, he rolls up beside me and calmly says, ‘Hey, the trails are really nice today,’ hey?”
A little reality check from the G.O.A.T., but the race was still on. Nieuwesteeg continued to lead to the top of the next climb. Schurter continued to enjoy a local’s tour on unfamiliar trails.
“The first climb was quite hard, I could feel the journey coming over here but it was a good first wake up call and some super cool trails,” said Schurter of his day’s tactics, adding that he arrived in Canada just days ahead of the start. “I wanted to see a bit, I don’t know most of the guys. My goal is to have fun out on the trails and it’s good to follow someone that knows the trails.”
It wasn’t just Nieuwesteeg and Schurter on the front. Peter Disera, a past BC Bike Race champion, Olympian and now a Vancouver Island local, was using his experience at the race to his advantage. While Disera would be distanced on the climbs, he’d rejoin the front two again on the descents.
“I just paced myself at…
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