Okanagan, Similkameen riders collect seven wins at Big White BC Cup downhill
A downhill mountain biker descends a forest trail. Okanagan and Similkameen riders collected seven category wins at the Big White BC Cup on Aug. 16.
Stock photo
BIG WHITE — Okanagan and Similkameen mountain bikers collected seven category victories at the Big White BC Cup downhill Sunday, led by Keremeos rider Nathan Dyck’s win in the elite men’s race.
Dyck won the Elite (Pro) Men 19+ final in 3:16.89, beating Kyle Findlay by 1.20 seconds. Raimundo Guzman finished third in 3:41.53. Three of the four registered riders completed the final.
The North Okanagan also produced several winners, including some of the closest finishes of the Aug. 16 racing.
Coldstream’s Jackson Pliszka won Expert Men U17 in 3:13.36, edging Cohen MacKenzie by just 0.71 seconds. Zachary Grabinsky finished third in 3:17.06, 3.70 seconds behind Pliszka.
In Sport Men U19, Vernon’s Peter Falkins led a one-two regional finish. Falkins won in 3:26.16, just 0.85 seconds ahead of fellow Vernon rider Drew Solmes. Harrison Moore took third in 3:29.00.
Regional female riders added three victories.
Armstrong’s Sloan Snow won Open Women U17 in 4:30.65, with Kelowna’s Kaitlyn Teasdale second in 4:54.82.
North Okanagan rider Adele Steenhoff won Sport/Expert Women U15 in 4:16.41. Coldstream’s Isla Spedding finished second in 4:30.49, while Zoe Knight did not finish.
In Sport/Expert Women 19+, Vernon’s Taylor Palm won in 4:34.89, 8.82 seconds ahead of Chantel Westguard.
Coldstream’s Avery Spedding added another regional podium in Sport/Expert Women U17, finishing second in 4:45.65. Megan Pretorius won the category in 3:37.59.
Kelowna’s Eric Kuiack won Master Men A, the 35-to-44 category, finishing in 3:35.82. Jon Smith was second in 3:37.22.
Vernon’s Linden Tapper also reached the podium, finishing third in Expert Men U19 in 3:45.18. Dylan Stewart won the category in 3:21.85, followed by Ian Schmidt in 3:29.68.
Big White was the sixth scheduled stop on the 2026 BC Cup downhill calendar.
Cycling BC adjusted the series scoring rules Aug. 14 after poor air quality disrupted the previous round at SilverStar. Under the revised system, if seven or eight races are available this season, a rider’s best five results will count toward the overall standings. If only five or six races are available, the best four will count.
The SilverStar finals were cancelled Aug. 9 because of poor air quality. Seeding runs were used as final results for the U17 Expert, Junior Expert and Elite categories, while categories that did not have seeding runs received no result from that round.
The BC Cup continues Aug. 22 and 23 at Mount Washington with the Stevie Smith Memorial BC Cup and Canada Cup downhill.
The series then heads to the West Kootenays for its finale at RED Mountain in Rossland on Sept. 6.
The RED Mountain race is classified by Cycling BC as an AA-Provincial event. It could also play a direct role in deciding this year’s overall champions: if riders finish the series tied on points, their finishing position at the series final will serve as the tiebreaker.
Final Big White results were published through Zone4.
Eighteen Grand Forks athletes competed at the Canadian Junior Ultimate Championships in Surrey this month, with Natalie Sjoden returning home with a bronze medal as a member of Canyon Women.