Neal Kindree claims second stage win

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Amid confusion about today's ride length, the fifth stage of the BC Bike Race saw a repeat win by local rider Neal Kindree with Rocky Mountain's Chris Sheppard finishing second and retaining his overall GC lead.

Originally flagged at 38km in the race bible, it was announced at the start that due to a swollen river crossing the stage would be shortened to 30km. Unfortunately for a few riders, the actual distance was longer than even originally planned at 44km with a challenging singletrack climb coming at the end.

One victim was Jamis captain Jason Sager. "I didn't bring any food because I thought it was a 30km day," he explained. "At about 29km, it was Sheppard, Bulls rider Thomas Dietsch, Neal Kindree, Italian Marizo Deho of Team Olympia and I. It flattened out so Shep and I ramped it up but then we hit another climb."

As Sager's tank went empty, he lost contact with Sheppard, Deho and Dietsch as well as Kindree who passed by the fading rider. From here, it was a mad dash to the finish with Kindree and Sheppard leading the charge followed by Deho and Dietsch, who was today aboard a full suspension bike for the first time.

"For today it wasn't a great advantage but it was a lot more fun," said the Frenchman. "Now I can try to follow the lead group on the downhills all the time. It felt a little soft on the climbs, so I need to change some suspension settings."

As the leaders exited the serpentine singletrack and bombed down a one-kilometer descent filled with babyhead rocks at top speed, it was Kindree and his local trail knowledge with an advantage over Sheppard.  Kindree took his second stage win while Deho came to the line in third. Sager was eventually picked up by the Kona duo of Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon on the final downhill section to claim fifth.

"I call Kona the front group broom wagon," joked Sager. "You blow out of the lead group and they swoop you up. I joined them for the final 3km."

As for the GC standings, Sheppard increased his lead to 17:11 over Sager and for his work today, Kindree now sits a mere 11 seconds behind Sager in third.

In women's solo action, Jennifer Schulz won again to extend her hold on the GC with two stages left.

In the men's duo category, Team Kona with Wicks and Sneddon padded its lead with another win as did the women's team of Simone McCallum and Claire Garcia-Webb (Shparkle Horsh And The Hyper Monkey) to all but secure an overall victory.

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