Kris Sneddon is no longer a bridesmaid.
After finishing third in 2009 and second in 2010, the Sechelt native finally got over the hump and captured the 2011 version of the legendary race.
"This is the biggest local race in Canada and it's a very prestigious race to win," he said. "Overall I'm feeling great, the course was good but I really had to push hard to keep ahead of Neal [Kindree} and Chris [Sheppard]."
Sneddon had to fight his way to first from forth during the race, passing Kindree, Sheppard and Max Plaxton in the process.
"Max blew a tube and I caught Neal just after the Water Tower," he said. "Then about half way through Ring Creek I passed Sheppard."
But he knew it wouldn't be an easy task holding off the local favourite.
"I really had to push hard just to keep my distance from Neal," he said. "He knows these trails better than any of us and knows when to attack but I managed to hold him off."
Sneddon put together a time of 2:32:10.6 for the race, beating out second place Sheppard by 69 seconds. Kindree placed third, with a time of 2:36:59.1.
"I missed this race a bunch of times because of Canada Cups," Sneddon said. "But if it fits on the schedule I always like to come."
The Elite Women's division was dominated, once again by Catharine Pendrel. She's established a dynasty at the event, winning for the third straight year and for the fourth time out of the last five years. This year she also established the course record for female riders.
"I found a good group of guys to keep pace with early on and it seemed to work for me," she said.
Pendrel smashed her time from 2010 by five minutes, blazing through the course in 2:45:45.4. She led from tape to tape and admitted that she has a high comfort level at the event.
"Every year you see the same people competing and just all the people cheering on the course makes it a fun event," she said. "I seem to always have good races here, it's good for my form and it's really awesome to come home and race."
The Kamloops resident will now return to the World Cup circuit, where she sits second in the Union Cycliste Internationale rankings.
Brackendale's Brandi Heisterman placed second, improving on her fifth place finish at last year's race with a time of 2:59:35.5. Maple Ridge resident Jean Ann Berkenpas placed third, with a time of 3:03:07.5
Check back to The Chief online for photo galleries and more details from the race.
