Sgt. Dave Vunic and Cody Canning captured the overall team title at the gruelling mountain bike stage race, which ran across Vancouver Island from May 23 to 29.<\/p>\n
Riding under the Team Rocky Mountain banner, the duo navigated stages featuring up to 47.6 kilometres of riding and 1261 metres of elevation gain in Cumberland, Campbell River, Parksville, Duncan and Nanaimo, finishing as the fastest duo in the field.<\/p>\n
Both men had tackled the demanding race in previous years as solo competitors, but they decided to join forces this time around. \u201cI came up with the idea and was like, hey, I\u2019m a team guy. Let\u2019s team up. Let\u2019s see if we can win this thing,\u201d Vunic explained. \u201cIt ended up working fairly well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team format requires partners to ride the entire course together and cross every finish line side by side, adding an entirely different dynamic to the multi-day grind.<\/p>\n
\u201cCody and I actually had a really good seven days. We didn\u2019t have any mechanicals, like flat tires or broken chains. We didn\u2019t have any crashes, and our levels were basically the same. It was pretty flawless, which is quite unlikely,\u201d Vunic said.<\/p>\n
![\"West](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/42481950_web1_260604-GNG-RCMPBiker-Dave_2.jpg\")
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West Shore RCMP Sgt. Dave Vunic navigates a technical section during the 2026 BC Bike Race. (Photo courtesy of BC Bike Race)<\/p>\n
The event \u2013 sprawled out across several divisions \u2013 attracted several hundred riders from around the world, including competitors from Australia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Denmark. Among them was Swiss superstar Nino Schurter, the 10-time world champion and 2016 Olympic gold medallist who claimed the solo open men title.<\/p>\n
\u201cCody and I were riding with him at some points, which was just mind-boggling,\u201d Vunic said. \u201cHe\u2019s like the Michael Jordan of mountain biking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vunic spent months preparing for the event, balancing 12 to 15 hours of weekly training with his policing duties and family life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found personally the most difficult part was the nutrition,\u201d the West Shore officer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day you\u2019re basically doing almost a marathon-type ride. You really have to force food down your mouth because the last thing you want to do after a hard effort is to eat food.\u201d<\/p>\n
Going into the final stage at Maple Mountain with a comfortable lead, the tension began to set in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really stressed out the night before,\u201d Vunic said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last stage is quite an aggressive stage. A lot of rock faces, a lot of things can go wrong with equipment. We kind of came in with a plan just to be at an 80 or 85 per cent effort and not take unnecessary risks because if you break something, the race is over.\u201d<\/p>\n
That strategy paid off for Vunic and Canning, finishing the final stage in 1:38:22, eight minutes ahead of the closest competitors.<\/p>\n