Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Svein Tuft just finished first at the 2026 BC Epic 1000 event in British Columbia in 2 days, 2 hours, 11 minutes, shaving just under an hour from his previous record, set in 2024. Learn more about his impressive ride here…
Over 70 riders gathered in Merritt, British Columbia, on Saturday for the 2026 BC Epic 1000. This year marks the 10th annual grand depart, following a roughly 1,040-kilometer route between Merritt and Fernie along old decommissioned rail grades, gravel roads, and a touch of pavement. While it doesn’t attract riders from all over the world like the Tour Divide, a few seriously talented riders always line up and put on a show for the dot watchers at home.
Two years ago, ex-pro road racer Svein Tuft settled in at the front end of the race and finished with a record-setting time of just 2 days and 3 hours. He beat Tom Hainisch’s 2019 record by a whopping 16 hours and Rob Britton’s 2022 ITT time by six hours, becoming the first BC Epic 1000 rider to reach the Kootenay Lake Ferry on day two.
It was a similar story this year, as Svein took first place and held on to it all the way to Fernie. Looking at Trackleaders, it appears Svein only stopped briefly for resupply points, but he didn’t stop for any meaningful amount of sleep or rest during his entire ride beyond a quick break at the Kootenay Lake ferry terminal around kilometer 775. Svein was just a few minutes late for the 2 p.m. ferry from Balfour, and had he made it, he likely would have been set up for a sub-48-hour finish.
Svein’s years of professional riding and training have paid off, and he’s clearly not ready to slow down. He finished this morning in 2 days, 2 hours, 11 minutes, followed surprisingly closely by 24-year-old Brennan King, who is currently about 50 kilometers from the finish. According to Brennan’s Instagram, he’s an aspiring pro cyclist, and we hope to see more of him in this space.
Congrats to Svein, Brennan, and everyone else still out tackling the route. Head over to our event page to track them live.
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