Only 55 seconds separate BC Bike's top men's teams

Beneath endless blue skies, the almost 370 racers queued up for the start of their Sunshine Coast - Part II adventure - otherwise known as stage five.

Home-field advantage proved valuable for the Kona team of Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon on the singletrack-intensive course. While DCM Chrome's Brandon Stewart and Max Knox had an early lead on the field, the technical singletrack skills that are second nature to Sneddon and Wicks outshone the South Africans' pure hill climbing strength.

As seen throughout the week, Kris Sneddon & Barry Wicks and Seams McGrath & Chris Sheppard (Jamis / Santa Cruz) rode a hair's breadth apart for the better part of the course. The finish times of 2:37:47 (Kona) and 2:37:49 (Jamis/Santa Cruz) - reflected exactly how hard-fought this battle is for top spot in the men's duo category. With two more days to go, the competition is tight - merely 53 seconds separate the yellow jersey-wearing Jamis / Santa Cruz from Team Kona.

In the solo men's category, the experience of seasoned racer Ruedi Schnyder (Schnyder) earned him his second consecutive stage win with a time of 2:41:57. Schnyder crossed the line 15 seconds ahead of Colin Kerr, current yellow jersey wearer. RMB - Different Bikes' Kevin Calhoun came in third at 2:50:51.

Kerr was a big fan of stage 5. "Yesterday was hard, I think it was mentally taxing just being up under the powerlines all day (with no shade) and then you have today (almost all climbs were shaded). The singletrack is great and then the 10km flight in to the finish. It feels easy you know that it's an effortless roll the finish."

The women's duo category has shaken out consistently for the top three each day. Catharine Pendrel and Katerina Nash (Luna Chix) hold a commanding lead over Rocky Mountain's Alison Sydor and Lea Davison and Lisa Ludwig and Dawn Anderson (Oak Bay Bikes).

Megan Rose wears the yellow jersey in the solo women's category. She won the stage in 3:50.

There was little change in the overall standings for the rest of the group.

Two more days of racing remain with stage six set for Squamish.

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Solo men classification after stage 5
1Colin Kerr14:53:58
2Ruedi Schnyder0:23:18
3Tony Hogg0:36:23
4Kevin Calhoun1:12:17
5Leighton Poidevin1:47:38
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Solo women classification after stage 5
1Megan Rose19:55:27
2Tori Fahey4:59:45
3Claire Garcia-Webb5:40:19
4Kati Csak6:28:58
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Solo men 40+ classification after stage 5
1Roger Bartels16:09:56
2Mark Sevenoff0:34:44
3Ted Russo0:39:45
4Gary Thacker2:08:12
5Trevor Bushnell2:20:58
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Solo women 40+ classification after stage 5
1Lisa McBain23:35:31
2Sarah Heine6:24:52
3Lori Halwa7:18:57
4Alice Caroline Voigts8:55:47
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Duo men classification after stage 5
1Seamus McGrath & Chris Sheppard (Jamis / Santa Cruz)11:18:53
2Barry Wicks & Kris Sneddon (Kona)0:00:55
3Brandon Stewart & Max Knox (DCM Chrome)0:29:44
4Chris Eatough & Jeff Schalk (Trek Racing Cooperative0:39:05
5Matt Shriver & Benjamin Sontag (MonaVie / Cannondale)0:53:36
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Duo women classification after stage 5
1Katerina Nash & Catharine Pendrel (Luna)16:25:18
2Alison Sydor & Lea Davison (Rocky Mountain)0:39:47
3Lisa Ludwig & Dawn Anderson (Oak Bay Bikes)2:33:39
4Mireille Montminy & France Lacroix (Lambert Girls Just Wanna Have fun)5:35:38
5Carolyn Van Vurst & Shelly Allen (Blonde leading Blonde)7:19:19
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Mixed duo classification after stage 5
1Ryan Trebon & Georgia Gould13:09:05
2Jeff Neilson & Mical Dyck0:47:10
3Sandra Walter & Steven Devantier1:19:41
4Sue Butler & Bryan Alders1:21:32
5Steve Martins & Kate Aardal1:47:02
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Veteran 80+ duo classification after stage 5
1Normon Thibault & Peter Stevenson13:36:09
2Geoff Clark & Pat Doyle0:22:07
3Matt Ohran & Tim Butler0:52:39
4Dale Plant & Joe Brown0:56:41
5Ian Parker & Bill Slater1:19:51
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Veteran 100+ duo classification after stage 5
1Francois Amyot & Daniel Auclair15:33:13
2Jamie Emery & Robin Willard0:57:17
3Gilles Moreau & Isabelle Cantin1:44:07
4Ivor McMahen & Scott Gordon2:14:26
5John Janisse & Mark Janisse2:38:35

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