September 17/07 9:28 am - Times Colonist Cycling Festival

Posted by Editoress on 09/17/07
 

Times Colonist Cycling Festival September 16th, Victoria BC

It was a rainy, but successful homecoming for Olympic mountain bike medalist Alison Sydor (Rocky Mountain-Haywood) as she won the 16th annual 100.3 The Q Bastion Square Grand Prix pro women's race by a mere second over Victoria's Steph Roorda.

It took Sydor 53 minutes and 12 seconds to cover the 45-lap course, pacing herself throughout the race for the photo finish win.

Victoria's Jamie Sparling (La-Z-Boy Cycling) led a strong field in the men's pro race. His winning time of 1:09:19 was 29 seconds ahead of Rob Britton who finished in 1:09:48. Sparling led for 45 laps out of the 60 lap race. Tyler Trace was third in 1:10:04 in an exciting sprint finish.

The Grand Prix was the third race of the Times Colonist Cycling Festival, presented by Saunders Subaru.

In the Bear Mountain Hill Climb, presented by Cardinal Law on Friday, Victoria's Marcel Aarden won the grueling 3K climb finishing in 7:47, ahead of Steve Baird (7:57) and Trevor Connor (7:58). Megan Rathwell was the first woman up the hill, finishing in 9:59, ahead of Amy Herlinveaux (10:18) and Sheryl Preston (10:25). This inaugural event attracted 90 competitors.

The top three finishers in the Saturday's Cops for Cancer Oak Bay Criterium were Jamie Sparling, Chris Worsfold and Tyler Trace in the Group A race; while Brad Smith, Andrew McCarney and Graham Cocksedge were the top three in the Group B race. All proceeds of this event went directly to the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock raising about $5,500 for the campaign.