Sheppard, McGrath take BC Bike Race; Trebon, Gould top mixed category

Word leaking out from the final day of the seven-stage BC Bike Race in Canada says Bend resident Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz/Shimano/WTB/Fox) and his teammate Seamus McGrath (Jamis Factory Team) hung onto the overall lead that the Canadian pair took on the first day.

Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon, the race's 2008 overall winners, put up a good fight, winning consecutive stages on the fourth and fifth days and slowly whittling into the leaders tenuous gap. But Sheppard (pictured at the Cascade Chainbreaker) and McGrath blew the race open during Friday's Stage Six, capitalizing on a Wicks/Sneddon flat to put close to seven minutes into the Kona riders, who finished third on the day.

Meanwhile, Bend's Ryan Trebon (Kona) and teammate Georgia Gould (Luna) looked to have an insurmountable lead in the mixed category heading into today's final stage. Portland's Sue Butler, riding in the mixed category with Monavie-Cannondale teammate Bryan Alders, was in third, nearly 30 minutes down on the second-placed team. Tim Butler, riding on the veterans 80+ category with Matt Ohran, was in third overall.

RESULTS
(After Stage Six)

Duo men team classification
1. Seamus McGrath / Chris Sheppard (Jamis/Santa Cruz) 16:40:45
2. Barry Wicks / Kris Sneddon (Kona) +07:40
3. Brandon Stewart / Max Knox (DCM Chrome) +44:16
Open mixed team classification
1. Ryan Trebon / Georgia Gould (Kona/Luna) 19:24:36
2. Jeff Neilson / Mical Dyck +1:14:45
3. Sue Butler / Bryan Alders (Monavie-Cannondale) +1:44:21
Veteran duo 80+ classification
1. Normon Thibault / Peter Stevenson 20:09:37
2. Geoff Clark / Pat Doyle +34:41
3. Tim Butler / Matt Ohran +56:10