BC Bike Race kicked off its 18th year in grand fashion by returning to Victoria, B.C., the place where it all began, for the first time since 2007. The first three days of racing have suited such an occasion, with deep fields in the men’s and women’s races holding no punches and constantly trading leads.
Maghalie Rochette leads BCBR return
On the women’s side, multi-time Olympian and World Cup winner, and defending BCBR champion, Katerina Nash started hot. Nash won a short Prologue on the old-school trails of Victoria’s Hartland trail network. Last year’s runner up, Evelyn Dong, followed close behind.
On Day 2, though, it was Maghalie Rochette joining forces with Dong to put the pressure on Nash. The first full day of racing also led to the first change in the overall lead. Dong, runner-up in last year’s BCBR, led through a classic mix of Victoria tech and South Island Mountain Bike Society’s (SIMBS) more recent work to take the stage win and the leader’s jersey. Rochette, though, moved up the standings into second.
On Day 3, Cowichan Valley served up a big double header. Two mountains, Tzouhalem and Maple, were connected by a brief neutralized transition. That led to some interesting race tactics in both fields. Rochette earned an advantage even before the field launched up Tzouhalem, using her cyclocross chops to distance the rest of the women through a farmer’s field BCBR used to access the mountain from the start finish area.
It’s kind of funny, I got away on the farm field,” Rochette recounted after the finish. “I spend a whole lot of time riding in farm fields in Belgium, and that’s where I got away.”
When the race neutralized at the bottom of Tzouhalem, the Canadian allowed the women’s field to regather before they crossed the timing mat to start up the day’s second challenge: Maple Mountain.
“I really questioned myself on the neutral part. But it felt right to wait for the women and start together, so that’s what I did.”
Rochette again found herself riding with Evelyn Dong for the majority of the ascent, very technical descent, and…
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