Well, it took four days of racing, but Nino Schurter finally avoided a sprint finish at BC Bike Race. The legendary Swiss racer attacked the steep pitches of Hammerfest’s iconic, if lesser known trails. Peter Disera has had an answer for the 10-time world champion all week. Could he answer the G.O.A.T.’s questions one more time?
On the women’s side, the multi-time BCBR champion Katerina Nash revelled in newer terrain for BCBR to take back time on current leader, Ruth Holcomb, earning a stage win but not quite the overall lead.
Schurter takes a swing at Hammerfest
Hammerfest hit racers with a series of punchy climbs before and after one main, occasionally very steep, climb to to network’s summit. After some initial efforts to reign in Schurter’s pace, the Swiss racer had free track in front of him and went on the move. Peter Disera limited the legendary cross country racer’s gains to 20 or so seconds oat the top but, unlike other days, couldn’t reign Schurter in on the descents.
“I did what I could but I didn’t get lucky like I did yesterday in terms of closing the gap on the descents. Every little punchy rise after that main downhill, he was standing and hitting it so hard,” Disera said after the race. “I held that 30 second gap for like 40 minutes. Eventually he squeezed out a little more.”
After Day 4 racing, Schurter earns a 48.7-second lead over Disera, the week’s first real separation in the men’s field this week at BC Bike Race.
“We knew this was going to happen eventually. Now it has, so I can relax, which is nice,” Disera said. Even after a rough day at the office, the Canadian was stoked on a day spent touring Parkfest’s finest singletrack. “Hammerfest is sick. I mentioned it to Dre [Hestler] last year that this place is super underrated. Feedback so far is that this place is super sweet.”
Ethan Pauly
Not far back from the battle for yellow, local Vancouver Island road and gravel racer Ethan Paully’s been mixing it up with the leader’s on the climbs all week. While everyone’s been hard pressed to hold Nino’s wheel on the descents, Pauly’s holding an impressive eighth overall after attacking Hammerfest’s steep climbs to finish seventh on the day.
“It’s been fun using my road fitness on the climbs. The descents have been savage,” Pauly said of his first BC Bike Race experience. “I’ve noticed right away that through the week my skills have been improving a ton.”
“One big thing for me is not hitting the descents out of breath. Now, when I hit the top I hold back just a little bit. I think that’s a basic skill everyone knows except for me,” Pauly added with a laugh. “That’s been huge.”
Katerina Nash makes a bid for the crown
Hammerfest delivered a serious blow to the women’s standings, with Katerina Nash breaking the race up on the extended climb and eating into Ruth Holcomb’s lead.
“She just flew up that climb and I couldn’t keep up,” Holcomb said after the stage.” I really enjoyed the lower trails today, the fresh cut sections and the timed DH were so good. The climb, I’ll be honest, I didn’t love. But we got to the top and it was a good ride down.“
For Nash, it’s the first BCBR stage win after the 2025 year of dominance from Sandra Walter.
“I’m excited to take the stage win, I don’t think I’ve won a BC Bike Race stage in a couple of years. The group is strong and pretty close this year which makes it super exciting,” Nash said. The unofficial queen of BC Bike Race was thriving in the new location. “I didn’t know what was coming, which was nice. I didn’t have that memory, remembering dying up any of these hills from past years, so it was all fresh.”
A day earlier, it was the Santa Cruz racer opening up time on the field in Cumberland. The back and forth is making for thrilling viewing for the fans.
“Yeah, I got some time yesterday, she definitely pulled back some time today. There’s a lot of time left, so I’m just taking it day by day. It’s just been really fun racing with her. She rips and she’s someone I’ve looked up to for a long time.”
On Wednesday, BC Bike Race hits Mount Tzouhalem in the Cowichan Valley. A shorter day on paper, there’s some steep climbs and serious tech in with the Tzou’s rider-favourite flow.