June 30, 2011 (Vancouver, BC) – BC Bike Race (BCBR) is on the cusp of rolling out the fifth edition of its seven-day mountain bike stage race, heralded ‘The Ultimate Singletrack Experience’. And if the impending crack of the starter’s pistol isn’t enough excitement for racers, BCBR is ready to dish up the dirt on a hot little race week secret: chip-timed segments of premium singletrack!
Two Rocky Mountain “Love the Ride” timed sections will appear on a number of days during the week, allowing organizers to accurately identify the fastest singletracker of the bunch. The timed 2-8km sections of trail add a brand new dimension to the 2011 race: Who’s fastest for the day AND Who’s fastest in the hotspots.
“With a number of DH celebrities racing, including Brian Lopes of Team Oakley/Ibis, Mark Weir and Jason Moeschler of Team WTB/Cannodale, and Katrina Strand of Team Dakine, we thought this would be a great way to highlight a different set of skills,” said BCBR Marketing Director Andreas Hestler. “While we expect a battle royal at the front for the overall title, the chip-timed sections will be a whole different animal!”
The battle for top spot promises to be royal indeed, with the European Invasion on its way. Team Bulls rider Thomas Dietsch, and Team Olympia rider Marzio Deho–both fresh off the Marathon World Championships–will try to unseat reigning BCBR Champion and Team Rocky Mountain Bikes rider Chris Sheppard. Looking to take advantage of the ensuing battle, Team Jamis’ Jason Sager and Blake Harland, along with Team Kona’s Cory Wallace, will surely bide their time to claim a stage win, or two.
In the teams of two category, Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks of Team Kona return to defend their title against other notably strong challengers such as Team Nativo/Devinci ‘s Marty Lazarski and Ricki Federaui, and Team Clif Bar’s Brady Koppius and Mitch Hoke.
Highlights from the rest of the field include Canadian Olympic skier Manny Osbourne Paradis partnered with Harbour Air’s own Greg McDougall. “I’m really excited to be doing BCBR with such a talented athlete. Manny is rehabbing a knee injury sustained in the World Cup downhill circuit last winter, which probably won’t make him any easier to keep up with! I’ve known Manny since he was a little kid and we started mountain biking together when the sport was just getting going,” shared McDougall. “This is the fourth year that I’ve participated in the race and it’s an awesome experience that just keeps getting better and better!”
Another notable is Canadian Olympian and Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame inductee Pierre Harvey, participating in his first BC Bike Race.
BC Bike Race runs from July 2-9, 2011 and hosts more than 450 participants from around the world. The full complement of racers can be seen in the official Registered Racers List newly-released on the BCBR website HERE.