July 24/06 5:52 am - Tour de Delta: Report, Stage 3 & Final GC Results

Posted by Editoress on 07/24/06
 

Tour de Delta
Courtesy Eric Dwyer

A perfect weekend of weather set the stage for a storybook finish to BC Superweek and the Tour de Delta White Spot Road Race with a Canadian legend outracing the local favourite to finish off his career in style.

Gord Fraser of Ottawa, who has more wins than any pro in North America in the last 2 decades, added his 2nd White Spot Road Race title to his resume in his final race on Canadian soil. The 37 year old, now living in Phoenix, confirmed this weekend that he's retiring at the end of this season. He said he wanted to do something special in his final trip to Delta and he delivered with a trademark fast finish that ended Cam Evan's hopes of winning in his hometown of Tswwassen.

The final day of racing began with a brisk northerly wind cooling off the spectators lining the finish area in downtown Tswwassen and adding to the energy debt load for the 117 men and 40 women fighting for the podium.

2 men, Doug Ollerenshaw and Derek McMaster, made an early breakway with the help of the side wind blowing across the flats on Highway 10 linking the start area in North Delta with the the final 10 laps of the 140 kilometer course. They had a 2 minute lead when they reached Tswwassen. 2 laps later Ollerenshaw dropped Mcmaster and made it a one man show of bravery or foolhardiness. It took only a couple of laps for the peleton to reel him although he managed to stay with the leaders in the breakaway group.

With 7 laps to go the tail end of the peleton got caught in a crash that knocked several riders out of the race and sent Fraser Hayes of Sidney, BC to hospital with facial and shoulder injuries.

2 laps from the finish line Ollerenshaw was still part of an elite 8 man breakaway group that included hometown hero Cam Evans, who literally grew up on the course and sentimental favorite Gord Fraser in his final race in Canada. They were a minute and a half in front of the pack. On the bell lap, the quick closers, Evans and Fraser were in excellent position to take the race, sitting comfortably with a couple of teammates to protect them.

“I've got to thank Doug (Ollerenshaw), “ said Fraser inm praise of his Health Net-Maxxis teammate. “He did all that work at the front for us and then still had enough to wind up 4th. That was great. And kudos to Symmetrics. They did a lot of work covering all the breaks. They had numbers and rode like pros. They gave me all I could handle.”

At the head of the home stretch Fraser and Evans had left everyone else far behind them and were all alone for the long, lonely and fast ride to the finish line. It was the old guard against the young buck, the past of Canadian cycling against the future. The vet still had enough power left in his old legs to leave the kid behind, Fraser outsprinting Evans to win the White Spot Road Race for the 2nd straight year. His winning time ws 3 hours, 25 minutes and 39 seconds. 17 seconds faster than Evans.

“As an old, spent sprinter it's not easy to stay ahead of a great young rider like Cam, “ said Fraser. “I had just enough to beat him this time but I see nothing but great things for him in the future. He is one of Canada's greatest, no question.”

Evans responded to Fraser's tribute by saying, “It's encouraging to hear that from someone like him who is one of the best in the business. This whole week has been big for me and for the team, we wanted to put on a good show for our sponsors and the fans and I think we did.”

In addition to the high praise from the Canadian legend, Evans also walks away with the trophy for the omnium winning the overall title for the best combined results in the Tour de Delta 2006. It almost made up for the disappointment in finishing 2nd in the White Spot road race for the 2nd time.

A modest Evans, always a man of few words, summed up the race in one line, “Gord was just too fast for me again.”

A lot of riders have said exactly the same thing time and again over the last 23 years of Fraser's hall of fame career. His legacy includes 3 Olympic appearances and more than 200 victories as a pro. At 37 he's still ranked number 5 in the NRC standings in the US. Number one on that list is Tour de France champion Floyd Landis.
Fraser will finish off his career this summer with the Health Net-Maxxis that is fighting with Navigators Insurance for the top team ranking in North America.

“When you win a race like this you always have second thoughts (about retiring) but it's been a long run and it's time to move on with my life. It was fitting that I ended my Canadian career here in Delta. A lot of my good friends are involved in running the race and they've done a great job. That crit in Ladner is really becoming something special with all the crowds and a 14 hundred dollar crowd prime. We need more events like this. We only had one in Canada, the Tour of Beauce in Quebec and now we've got BC Superweek. It's paramount to have more events like this. It helps develop riders in Canada, look what it's done for Cam Evans and for Symmetrics. They've done a great job and so has Italpasta out of Toronto. We're on the right track. We just have to keep it going.”

The women's event quickly turned into a 6 rider race. Symmetrics led the break trying for a 2nd straight 1-2 finish. After finishing 2nd to teammate Mandy Poitras in the Lehigh Cement criterium on Saturday night, Marni Hambleton was back in front early Sunday morning.

“I had lots of pasta, lots of water and electrolytes after the race and had a good sleep last night, “ said Hambleton. “I had fresh legs this morning and when I saw the early break I was marking number 220 (Hyland) and when I saw her go knew I had to get my butt up there with them.”

The defending BC Cup champion has a reputation as a criterium specialist but she feels at home on the roads of Delta.

“I've always loved this race, the atomosphere and the course. I like the hill heading up to the border and the long home stretch with a chance to sprint to the finish.”
Teaming with Symmetrics Leah Goldstein, Hambleton stayed in perfect position for exactly that kind of a climax . They were in the 6 woman break that included the winner of the first White Spot Road Race in 2001, Clare Hall-Patch of Victoria. The 6 stayed comfortably in front for the last 6 laps but a crash in the men's race about 70 meters from the finish line forced the women's closing sprint to narrow down to a single lane. Hambleton had the lead and zipped away to win her first BC Superweek road race. New Zealander Michelle Hyland held on to 2nd over a hard closing Stacey Spencer of Salmon Arm.
“The crash did bother us,” admitted Hambleton. “Seeing the rider down bothered me a lot but I knew I had to concentrate on the race. Leah really worked so hard for me. She led me out and and set me up for the finish line. We have such great chemistry on this team (Symmetrics). We're all about the same age and know each other so well. We're friends as well as teammates and that doesn't always happen. This entire week was fantastic. To have more than 40 women on the start line is great and it's exciting to see so many teams and so much teamwork going on in BC races. We've really taken women's cycling to a new level. I hope it stays there.”