Local Stu Dickson emerged on top of the podium at the Revelstoke stop of the BC Enduro Series this weekend.
Dickson’s time of 28:40 was good enough to bear out Remi Gauvin by 16 seconds in the pro men’s category. Max Leyen and Evan Guthrie tied for third.
“I’m a little sore for sure but good,” said Dickson following the race. “I definitely don’t want to lose at home and there’s a ton of fast guys here so you have to put the hammer down.”
Leonie Picton won the women’s race in a time of 36:35 — 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Laura Battista. Christina Chappetta finished in third place in a time of 37:47.
(Click here for complete results)
The race saw more than 300 mountain bikers compete on five downhill stages over the course of two days. To make things interesting, the enduro format requires them to pedal to the top of each stage; on Sunday, this made for about 40 kilometres of riding and 2,000 vertical metres of climbing and descending on Boulder Mountain.
The race started Saturday with a stage on Crowbar, a trail on Mount Mackenzie. Because the trail is unsanctioned, racers weren’t allowed to pre-ride the stage. Dickson used his local advantage to win the stage by 13 seconds.
On Sunday, the action shifted to Boulder Mountain, where Dickson won the first stage down Rednecks Revenge and Man Quads, then finished second on stages two and three and third on stage four. He and Gauvin were dead even through the final three stages but Dickson’s two stage wins gave him the overall title. He pulled off the win despite a big crash on the final stage that sent him over the handlebars and into the cut block on Bike Club.
“The course was awesome this year,” said Dickson. “They did a really good job of picking the gnarly big descents, mixed in with the faster, flowier stuff.”
Check out photos from the race in the gallery below: