TransRockies stage two recap
The second stage of the TransRockies launched the riders from the flat 31km opening time trial into a demanding 71km mountain-bike trek from Fernie to Sparwood, in British Columbia, Canada. The open categories of the two-person team race were both again won by the previous day’s stage winners, the men’s by Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon and the women’s by Alana Heise and Trish Grajzyk.
The route began on the 30km climb of Fernie Ridge, hitting an altitude of 2100m and an epic panoramic view before descending into the valley of the Porky Blue Trail, a 1000 vertical metre descent in only 6km. The second half of the stage included no epic climbs but never truly flattened out.
Whereas the riders had individual starts in the first stage, Monday’s stage two was a mass start, with 450 riders crossing the starting line in a bunch to tackle the first climb out of the town of Fernie. The first stage was plagued with rain and mud, and the sunny weather on Monday left the riders amazed at the speed of the course, pushed along by a strong wind through the bumpy valley in the latter half of the stage.
The riders who performed in the major men’s competitions are visiting the event from Team Kona. Cory Wallace, the defending champion of the men’s TR3, an individual race which coincides with the team-based TransRockies but finished after only the first three of the seven total stages, took the stage win ahead of Adam Craig and Max Plaxton, the stage one leaders. Wallace passed the leaders during the last stretch to cross the finish line in Sparwood seconds ahead of the breakaway pack. Plaxton still stands five minutes ahead of Wallace overall, and one minute ahead of Craig. In the women’s TR3, Team Giant’s Kelli Emmett took her second win in as many stages, nearly an hour ahead of her opponents.
Wicks and Sneddon, teammates of Wallace, also took their second consecutive stage win, finished seven minutes behind the TR3 leaders. Last year’s champion pair, Marty Lazarski and Stefan Widmer, finished the stage in second place and hold the same standing overall. The stage was won by Graczyk and Alana Heise in the women’s open competition, ahead of the defending champion pair Magi and Kate Scallion, natives of the nearby Canadian town on Canmore.
The 80+ competition, which requires the combined age of the two riders to be more than 80, was taken over by the Czech defending champions Milan Spolc and Martin Horak, who closed the four-minute gap to the UK stage one winners Pete Turnbull and George Rose.
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