The final day of the 2013 TransRockies Challenge opened under cloudy skies after a heavy rain overnight.Stage 7, the 84th overall in the history of the TransRockies Challenge, began in Deadman’s Flats in a time trial format. The route would lead the riders 37km to the finish on Main Street in Canmore. Using the average finishing time for stages 4 and 5 to seed the athletes, the staggered start sent riders off at 20 second intervals with TR7 Men’s Open rider, Calle Friberg, starting things off.
TR7 Solo Recap:
Good luck in the early stages of the TransRockies Challenge enabled Oliver Zurbruegg to build a Men’s Open lead that held to the end. Zurbruegg would win the overall classification in 14:40:48 despite being out-rode by Cory Wallace and Calle Friberg. Friberg capped off his week with a fourth stage win in 1:38:39 and was the top rider by far however unfortunately took a wrong turn on stage 3 that took his lead and converted it to a 17 minute deficit. Despite winning the next 4 stages he was unable to regain the lost time. The improper course marking could have been protested however he chose not to. Wallace suffered from several mechanical issues.
Women’s Open leader Mical Dyck came back from a second place Stage Six placing for the Stage Seven win in 2:05:13. Her overall time of 17:22:20 would best second and third place finishers Jean Ann Berkenpas and Petra Tlamkova.
Leighton Poidevin continued his winning ways in the 40+ Men’s division going a perfect seven for seven and capturing the overall title in 16:11:23 followed by Pat Doyle and Craig Bartlett. Men’s 50+ leader, Beat Zumstein, finished off his TR7 with a fourth stage win and the overall title in a total time of 18:01:01. Pedro Vieira would finish a mere 3 minutes and 38 seconds behind with Grant Miller rounding out the top three. Fernie riders, Jesse Moog and Don Arsenault came 6th and 10th.
Jesse with family following Fernie 3rd place finish
TR7 Team Recap:
Team Louis Garneau – Quebec riders Sebestien Cadieux Duval and Marc-Andre Daigle came back from a rough Stage Six to notch their sixth stage win and secure the overall Men’s Open title in front of second place team, Riding 29, composed of Martin Moeberg Hansen and Morten Abel Jensen. Women’s Open leaders Jodie Willet and Cathryn Zeglinski, of team Northlands, won their seventh consecutive stage, and the overall, ahead of Nicola Mann and Val Thomson of Trailhead Racing.
The domination continued throughout the team competition. Open Mixed duo Daniella Storch and Lutz Baumgaertel, of team Scott – Generation, Men’s 100+ duo Mike Kloser and Michael Tobin of team Sram XX1 and 80+ Men’s team Geoff Clark and Juancito Garcia Casatti , of team JCTr, all swept the table taking seven wins in seven stages.
The last twelve years have been an amazing ride. The team at TransRockies Events is proud to have had the opportunity to bring mountain bike stage racing to North America and share the trails of Western Canada with riders from all over the world. A sincere ‘thank you’ to the thousands who have joined us and we look forward to seeing many old, and new, faces at the Fernie TR3 in 2014.
