BCBR Day 6: Final podium battles play out in Three Blind Mice epic

Late attacks on the last and longest day of six-day stage race

Terry McKall October 9, 2021

The final day of 2021 BC Bike Race was also the longest stage and with the most elevation gain – 1,340m spread out over 40 km – challenging racers with 28km of technical singletrack in Naramata’s Three Blind Mice network. In another twist to the week, BC Bike Race brought back the Red Bull Downtime feature for one final stage. The race within a race added a bit of extra spice to the day’s last descent.

An earlier start time made a big difference in temperature as riders starter off from a frost-covered park in downtown Penticton. Temperatures warmed quickly, with warm summer weather (and cold beverages) greeting racers at the final finish line.

BC Bike Race 2021 — Arseneault on the move and loving Penticton singletrack. Photo: Dave Silver

Leaders face one last challenge for BCBR overall

At the front of the race, race leader’s Andrew L’Esperance and Laurie Arseneault were under pressure once more. With a long day in the tire-slicing rocks of Three Blind Mice, anything could happen. Several riders, including Felix Burke, Geoff Kabush and Haley Smith, were intent on making something work in their favour.

Haley Smith focused on moving forward in the field. Photo: Dave Silver

Arseneault (Canyon MTB Racing) took to her usual fast start ahead of Haley Smith (Norco Factory Team) and Katelyn Button (Coast Physiotherapy). This time, Smith fought back. The Norco rider used the long descents to close in on the race leader twice. Both times, a small mistake allowed Arseneault to open the gap again. The time at the finish, 2:19:28 to 2:20:00 still gives Arseneault the win, but by the closest margin yet.

Arseneult takes the win, and the BCBR overall. Haley Smith takes second, and the same place in GC. Kateyln Button continued her strong week with another third, but with Emma Maaranen (KS Kenda Women’s Team) close behind in fourth.

“I had an amazing experience, we raced in a few different areas, there was different types of terrain, different challenges, making it a really fun race,” said Maaranen, who travelled from Oregon for the race. “Penticton has been amazing. I love stage racing, this one is iconic, was always on the bucket list and there’s a good reason it’s iconic and on the bucket list.”

Geoff Kabush takes one last swing at BCBR. Photo: Dave Silver

In the men’s race, Geoff Kabush (Yeti, Maxxis, Fox, Shimano) started Friday one spot off of the overall podium. Back on the same trails saw him lose 15 minutes on Day 1, the veteran was aiming to put pressure on the leaders in hopes of forcing one of them into making a similarly costly mistake.

Kabush forced the pace on the opening climb, a long and technical route up to near Naramata’s summit. Andrew L’Esperance (Norco Factory Team) and Felix Burke (Rocky Mountian) followed with Carter Nieuwesteeg (Santa Cruz – 7Mesh) dangling off the back of the lead trio, fighting to maintain his third overall.

Over the top of the climb, it was L’Esperance and Burke taking over the initiative. Burke, the 2019 BC Bike Race winner, tried to fight for the stage win, but couldn’t get past the hard-charging World Cup racer. L’Esperance takes the victory by five seconds over Burke. Geoff Kabush followed one minute later in third. Carter Nieuwesteeg’s day-long chase paid off, with the Santa Cruz rider limiting his losses to Kabush to just 65 seconds. That was more than enough to keep Nieuwesteeg on the overall podium in third place.

Red Bull Downtime

For the last day of 2021 BC Bike Race, and the week’s biggest visit to the Three Blind Mice network, organizers revived the popular Red Bull Downtime feature. The race within a race is one last chance for riders that are more focused on the downs than sprinting the climbs, a timed downhill section within the larger stage. It doesn’t impact overall results, but is solid bragging rights for the winner.

Turns out, the fast climbers are also pretty good on the descents. Felix Burke led out Andrew L’Esperance and Geoff Kabush in the men’s race. Katelyn Button earned herself a win, edging out laurie Arseneault in the downtime section by one second, with Haley Smith crossing the timing beam third.

Dan Hamhuis, former NHL defenceman and Olympic Gold medallist, was ripping up the descents all week. While most of the top-15 raced in spandex, Hamhuis kept pace riding flat pedals and baggies no matter how steep the stage. Downtime was his time to shine and, with a clear course ahead, he sent it to ninth, just a handful of seconds behind the top riders. The retired hockey player raced to 14th overall in the Men’s Solo race, too.

“It was a great week out here in Penticton, BC Bike Race has been on the bucket list for a lot of years,” said Hamhuis after the race. “I Finally had a chance to do it, loved the competition, loved the new trails, the terrain, just being part of the BC Bike Race community is a lot of fun!”

An epic week and a new home

Six big days of mountain biking in B.C. is a challenge just to finish, never mind race. As riders gathered in the finish line for awards and liquid rewards, everyone had their own stories to tell from BCBR’s first foray into the Okanagan.

“It was an amazing week in Canadian wine country, loved every single minute of it,” said Eric Tourville, the multiple time Canadian XCO national champion won his category, and enjoyed the ride along the way. “I made new friends, re-joined with old friends, loved the trails, loved the racing.”

After a long day on course, the final racers crossed the line to huge applause. Photo: Dave Silver

Awards and rewards at the Rocky Mountain beer gardens. Photo: Dave Silver

Disco Luchador Jose Sandoval travelled all the way from Mexico for his second BC Bike Race.

Everyone's stoked on completing a big week in the mountains. Photo: Dave Silver

BCBR's cutom category winner trophys. Photo: Dave Silver

Everyone that completes the week gets a BCBR finisher's buckle. Photo: Dave Silver

Hats off to another epic week of racing bikes. Photo: Dave Silver

Well after awards finished, racers were still crossing the line. After 7.5 hours on course, an epic day by any measure, the final finishers of 2021 BC Bike Race arrived to massive cheers and applause from their fellow racers. The classic Canadian stage race may be in a new venue but, after a year hiatus, its community spirit and stoke on “The Ultimate Singletrack Experience” is as strong as ever.