Transrockies Challenge 2003 - First Stage

11.08.2003 - While forest fires forced organizers to re-route the first three stages of the seven-day, Transrockies Challenge through 600 km of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, the toughest mountain bike race in the world got underway as scheduled today with 158 cyclists starting the race from downtown Fernie, B.C.

The first two-person team to finish the 45 km course at the Fernie Alpine Resort was Andreas Strobel, of Germany, and Silvio Wieltschnig, from Austria, who rode almost 2,000 vertical meters in 3:06.44, including a three-minute stop to fix a flat tire.

The men's category leaders were followed closely by Andreas Hestler and Matt Decore, both of Vancouver, Canada (3:10.25) and Barrie, Ontario-based Matthew Patterson and Greg Reain (3:20.48).

The first women's team to finish was Christina Begy, from Denver,Colorado, and Louise Kobin, of San Jose, California who completed the course in 4:16.30.

The Austrian team of Martin and Simone Hornegger was the first mixed team to cross the finish line in 3:46.39.

The masters category was led by Tony Routley, 47, and Eric Crowe, 43, both of Whistler, B.C. who finished in 3:29.54. Last year's masters champions, Stanislaw Trebuna, 49, and Maciek Slodyczka, 34, finished the day in third place with a time of 4:09.37.

The most extraordinary achievement of the day belonged to amputee Brett Wolfe, 34, of Seattle, Washington who rode the course with one leg, finishing in 5:16.38 with his team mate Julene Mitchell of Santa Cruz, California.

The Transrockies continues tomorrow 130 km from the Fernie Alpine Resort to Elkford, B.C. The competition will finish in Canmore, Alberta this Saturday, Aug. 16 where winners in each category will share $20,000 in prize money.

The Transrockies Challenge is based on the successful Transalps Challenge. Both events are organized by upsolut mv. gmbh of Munich, Germany. Sponsors of the Transrockies Challenge are Travel Alberta, adidas, Flash Five, The Bike Shop,The Ride Guide.

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