July 10/10 10:22 am - Tour de Delta - Prologue: report, photos and full results

Posted by Editoress on 07/10/10
 

Brown defends, Chaddock surprises at the Tour de Delta Prologue

Photos by Greg Descantes

If the overjoyed look on Ben Chaddock’s face didn’t already convey the significance of Friday night’s victory at the Tour de Delta’s Prologue, the caller at the other end of the cell phone that was handed to him after a series of post-race interviews must have.

“Mom?” said a surprised Chaddock. “I guess I’m aerodynamic. This is unbelievable.”

Knocking off current Canadian Time Trial Champion Svein Tuft is worth of a call from the parents anytime. But that goes double when you are 25 years old, in just your third year of competitive cycling, and only six weeks into a stint with your new pro team.

Chaddock has quickly repaid the faith shown by the Rubicon-ORBEA pro cycling team, flying around the 3.2-kilometer MK Delta Prologue course in three minutes and 46.52 seconds, less than half a second faster than the 3:47 turned in by Tuft, who is at BC Superweek on a break from his Garmin-Transitions Pro Tour team in Europe.

“This is very exciting,” said Chaddock, a Richmond native who recently graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. “I don’t have a lot of words. I just wanted to go as fast as I could and when I can across the line I couldn’t believe my time.”

Ryan Anderson of Kelly Benefits Pro Cycling, who won the Tour de Delta overall last year, was third after completing the leg-shaking, lung-burning course in 3:48.36.

Laura Brown defended last year’s title in the women’s race, finishing in four minutes and 18 seconds, less than two seconds off her winning pace the year before despite a head wind after the final corner that slowed the riders. It was part of a podium sweep for her Okanagan-based Total Restorations Cycling team, with Jasmin Glaesser in second at 4:23, Sarah Stewart third at 4:25 and Leah Guloien in fourth place at 4:26.

Brown, who has a bronze medal from the 2009 Pan American Championships Team Pursuit and has represented Canada on the road, time trial and track, won last year’s MK Delta Prologue for Local Ride Racing. She was a close second the year before, but said her experience didn’t make it any easier this time around. If anything, she felt pressure.

“It was nervous at the start,” Brown, a 23-year-old Calgary native, said of defending, adding it didn’t make the all-out race any easier. “I had an idea what a good ride felt like from last year, but by the time I got to that final corner it was all a blur anyway.”

If Brown’s finish made sense given history, Chaddock’s was a surprise given the field.

With a group that included Olympian Zach Bell (Kelly Benefits), current Canadian Road Race and defending Delta Prologue Champion Will Routley (Jelly Belly), a long list of top pros from US teams, and Tuft and his Garmin-Transitions teammate Christian Meier, few expected to see Chaddock spraying the crowd with champagne atop the podium.

If you ask Tuft, though, that’s what BC Superweek is all about, pointing to a similar out-of-nowhere performance by Bell at the Tour de Delta hillclimb years ago

“I was happy with my ride,” said Tuft, whose attempt to break his own 2008 record of 3:44.16 was made tougher by a headwind on the uphill home stretch. “But its good to see young talent coming up and taking it to the older guys. I heard he’s just starting out, so it’s about guys like coming out and smashing it and realizing it’s possible. Maybe in the Road Race (Sunday) and the Criterium (Saturday) it will take a while to develop, but he showed he has the engine to be right up there. He just has to hone that. It’s going to take time but when you do that you’ve proven you have the engine and the skills.”

Chaddock actually honed his engine in alpine skiing, racing all the way to a provincial and NorAm level alongside friends like Robbie Dixon and Manual Osborne-Paradis, who both now race on Canada’s national downhill team. He switched to cycling at Whitman College, and helped led the team to a pair of NCAA Division 2 Road Race Omnium Championships. He’s worked hard the last three-plus years to improve his distance performances, but says the skiing background is perfect for shorter distances like Friday night, even if the last gruelling stretch was straight uphill instead of the other way.

“Physiology I’m matched up for 3-4 minute effort, but that last stretch was pretty tough,” said Chaddock, who will wear the Tour de Delta leader jersey when the Brenco Criterium starts Saturday – with a Canadian Criterium Championship on the line to boot.

“When I wake up tomorrow I probably won’t believe I’m in this jersey but to be called up to the front for the start will mean a lot,” he said. “Rubicon-ORBEA brought some really strong guys to this race and the plan was to ride for me tomorrow in the crit.”

The Tour de Delta continues with the Canadian Criterium Championship on the line a the Brenco Criterium on Saturday night, and finishes Sunday morning with the White Spot Road Race. BC Superweek then wraps up with the 31st Tour de White Rock next weekend, July 16-18, a challenging three-event weekend that starts with the Homelife Realty Hillclimb Friday night and Maximum Collision Criterium Saturday, before wrapping up with the scenic and storied Peace Arch News Road Race on Sunday.

Tour de Delta press release