Trans Rockies: Stage 3

Yesterday was stage 3 for Trev and Charlie at the Trans Rockies Challenge. Fresh off their 7th place from the day before our tenacious twosome rolled to the start looking to cause some discomfort for their rivals.

Stage 3:
The longest stage of the race so far set in the picturesque Kootenay River Valley. While this is the home of 'the beer out here' racers did not have to contend with a surly sasquatch or goofy park rangers. Instead they were treated to 90km of trails, climbs, mud, and river crossings in some oppressive heat. Featuring two climbs in and out of the valley this stage offered some shakeups in the overall standings. Team United Cycle continues to dominate the open men category while the Rocky Mountain EA sports team had a rough day falling from second to fourth as team La Ruta handily moved into second. On the day, Trev and Charlie remain steadfast and consistent logging another day in the office and finishing a remarkable 5th on the stage a mere 18 minutes behind the leaders and spitting distance behind 3rd and 4th. As the race drags on the extensive conditioning team Scheffer Andrew have done will likely prove to be the key as they continue their march to Fernie. Rocky Mountain EA sports, unfortunately, have shown how quickly the tides can change in this grueling race losing 29 minutes on the day. Don't count those boys out but they have their work cut out for them

The GC picture after Stage 3:
There were some shakeups in the open men category with the RockyMountain EA sports boys tumbling out of the top 3. Scheffer Andrew moves up to a 7th over all but note the time gaps. Trev and Charlie are spitting distance from 5th and 6th, commando-crawling distance from 4th and one ill timed mechanical from the podium (or a Trev and Charlie super watt surge). Keep on it boys, you're kicking ass.

Open Men

1 Tim Heemskerk (Can) / Roddi Lega (Can) United Cycle Team                                      9.16.22
2 Federico Ramirez (CRc) / Ivan Amador (CRc) La Ruta                                              21.22
3 Steve Gaffney (Can) / Brian Cooke (Can) Opus                                                    34.42
4 Matt Green (Can) / Hadley Matt (Can) Rocky Mountain / EAsports                                  39.07
5 Henning Dybendal (Nor) / Kristian Torgersen (Nor) Norefjell CK                                  48.30
6 Danilo Mathez (Swi) / Pierre Berberat (Swi) Frenetic-Volvo                                      54.11
7 Trev Williams (Can) / Charlie Cooper (Can) Scheffer Andrew Ltd.                                 55.35
8 Angus Jennings (NZl) / Nick Ross (NZl) 100% New Zealand                                         58.39
9 Kelly Servinski (Can) / Hazen Simson (Can) Big Guy little guy                                   58.49
10 Ryan Leech (USA) / Chip Kogelmann (USA) VisitPA.com                                          1.01.28

Moving ahead, the race grinds on with even longer stages ahead. The weather is nothing short of scorching with the heat starting to take it's toll on the athletes, dehydration and heat exhaustion have forced some athletes to retire the race early. Expect more shakeups as the race continues, the relentless pace and machine break down will start becoming more frequent as we get further into the contest.
*Source: cycling news (pics and results)