Hannah Simms and Cameron Jones lead Singletrack 6 through halfway point

Over three solid days of racing, TransRockies Singletrack 6 has traversed from Fernie, B.C. to Sparwood and across the provincial border into Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass. It’s TransRockies 20th year organizing XC stage races in the Rockies, so they’re celebrating with six huge stages of racing. One thing’s remained the same: racing in the Rockies means each stage has delivered hefty elevation gain. Courses have covered well over 1,000 vertical metres each day, as well as thrilling singletrack descents.

As TransRockies’ anniversary celebration passes the halfway mark, it’s Ontario’s Hannah Simms and New Zealand’s Cameron Jones that lead the open women’s and men’s standings. It’s close racing in both categories, though, even after three days of very different racing.

Fernie local tries to fend of Kiwi challenger

The 2023 Singletrack 6 started on very familiar ground for TransRockies. Fernie, B.C. featured in the first TransRockies Classic and has reliably delivered high effort-to-reward racing many times over the years since.

In the men’s race, Fernie local Carter Nieuwesteeg started the second-half of a BC Bike Race – Singletrack 6 doubleheader with a full-on battle with New Zealand’s Cameron Jones. The Kiwi was able to pull 59 seconds out of Nieuwesteeg on home turf. The Canadian held Jones off on Stage two, limiting his losses to less then a second.

But as the race moved into Alberta, and further up in elevation, Jones put more pressure on his fatiguing rival. 10 days deep into a stretch of 13 stage starts in 15 days, Nieuwesteeg lost a little over 10 minutes on ST6 Day 6 in the Crowsnest Pass. There’s still a long way to the finish line in Canmore, though, and a fast start in stage racing doesn’t always mean a fast finish.

Behind, the race for the final podium spot is heating up. Whistler’s Justin Homewood leaped ahead of Canmore’s Raph Couturier in the standings, but only just barely. Homewood now has a 3.4 second advantage over Couturier after 6 hours and 42 minutes of racing.

Hannah Simms leads international women’s race

On the women’s side, Ontario’s Hannah Simms is, like Jones, running a perfect three-for-three record for stage victories at the Singletrack 6. In Fernie, Sparwood and now Crowsnest Pass, the Canadian has fended off challenges from Montana’s Chelsee Pummel and Australia’s Imogen Smith.

While Simms is unbeaten, she’s not unchallenged. Pummel was under two minutes back on Stage 1 in Fernie. Simms went on the move in Crowsnest Pass, though, adding seven minutes to her lead over the Montana racer. She now has a full 12 minutes to Pummel and 19:59 to Imogen Smith in third.

Stage four stays at elevation in Crowsnest Pass before 2023 Singletrack 6 moves deeper into Alberta for Stage 5 in Bragg Creek and a grand final in Canmore, Alta.

Full results for 2023 Singletrack 6 after three stages are on Zone4.