A mad dash to the finish line proved to be the winning formula for American rider Jason Sager at day six of the B.C. Bike Race.
Sager battled to the front, staving off Kona teammates Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks, along with Squamish's Neal Kindree to capture the yellow jersey.
"There's nothing like riding with Sneddon behind you to terrify you," Sager said. "Today was really cool, it was more of a pack dynamic at the front but it's a real feather in my cap to win Squamish."
He said the course was fun but challenging.
"Squamish is awesome," he said. "This is the best stage and I think the best course."
Sager sat in second after the sixth stage in the solo men's epic distance standings, adding to his lead on Kindree, who is entrenched in third.
"We came out of the Smoke Bluffs and the Kona boys really put on the gas," said Kindree. "Jason got around me just before the skate park and I just couldn't catch him."
Kindree said it's been an up-and-down series for him personally but that he's thoroughly enjoyed the experience so far.
"It's been pretty good," he said. "I had a couple of good days and a couple of days where I got flat tires and didn't like my result. But this event as a sporting event is the best event I've ever been a part of. It's just awesome lining up with the same guys and battling against them every day."
Sneddon said he and Wicks, who have a considerable lead in the Open Men's Team of 2 division, felt pretty good after making the solo leaders sweat all day.
"I felt a little tired after Sechelt so it's nice to see we can still hang with the leaders," Sneddon said. "As a team, we're trying to stick together and watch out for the solo guys, who are plotting against each other."
"The climbs felt good for me today and the descents were awesome," added Wicks.
It wasn't the best day for solo men's epic distance cumulative leader Chris Sheppard, but thanks to strong times at the other five days, he was sitting pretty with only the Whistler stage remaining.
"This was my second flat tire in 4,000 kilometres of stage racing," he said. "I was a little rusty changing it and I lost a fair bit of time. But I still had a lot of fun. Squamish is the mountain bike capital of Canada for a reason and we got to ride the sickest trails today."
Saturday (July 9) will mark the seventh and final stage of the event, as the B.C. Bike Race wraps up in Whistler. Check back to The Chief online for updates from the race.
For more information and full results from stage six, visit www.bcbikerace.com.
