Posted by Editoress on 07/12/12
Hanson, Rowney win at Rebirth of Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix
Photos by Greg Descantes
When Svein Tuft took off to start the final lap of the 2012 Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix on Wednesday, many envisioned a three-peat of the Canadian strongman’s two breakaway Criterium wins already at BC Superweek.
Ken Hanson and the Optum Pro Cycling squad had other ideas.
After slowly reeling in Tuft, an eight-time Canadian Time Trial Champion, on the back stretch, the six-deep Optum team overtook him after coming out of the final corner and down the homestretch, setting Hanson up perfectly for a bunch sprint victory over Vancouver’s Ryan Anderson and Australian Tommy Nankervis.
“Svein had us under pressure all day but luckily we had numbers and played our cards,” said Hanson. “We had to use our guys early to catch Svein and then Alex Candelario gave me the perfect leadout. The guys did a really good job for me.”
Hanson promised to pay them back out of a $15,000 first place payout ?– the highest for a Criterium in North America.
Spending could start soon because locally based teammate Sebastian Salas, who turned a strong performance at last year’s BC Superweek into a contract this year and then paid Optum back by winning King of the Mountain at the Tour of California, is getting married the next day.
“We all share it as a team so it's not all going into my pocket,” said Hanson, a 30-year-old from California. “We’re having a bachelor party for a teammate getting married on Saturday so I don’t know if we’ll have anything after tonight.”
There was plenty of reason to celebrate on Wednesday.
Backed by a five-year, $1-million commitment from tech company Global Relay, the historic Gastown Grand Prix returned for the first time since 2008, and was welcomed back warmly by a crowd estimated at 35,000. The buzz built as the men did 50-laps of a 1.2-kilometre circuit in downtown Vancouver, racing over the same cobblestones as cycling greats Lance Armstrong, Alex Stieda and Canadian Olympians like Brian Walton.
After 60 fast-paced kilometres that included several crashes; after one hour, 16 minutes and 20.86 seconds, it all came down to the last few hundred meters. Hanson pumped his fists as he surged across the line.
“We came with a couple different cards to play and were confident if it came to a sprint. We had the numbers and the speed and we’ve had success this year doing lead outs,” Hanson said. “But Svein [who rides the World Tour for Orica-GreenEDGE] is a guy you can never count out and when he went at the end we kept cool and brought him back slowly and timed everything perfectly.”
Too perfectly for Anderson, who races for Steve Bauer’s Team SpiderTech. After winning a criterium at the Tour de Delta Saturday in front of family and friends, Anderson couldn’t get around Hanson to pull off another hometown win.
“They did a great job,” Anderson said of Optum. “They took control and rode great for him and Ken was great finishing for them. Try again next year.”
In addition to holding off Nankervis, who rides for the Competitive Cycling team run by three-time Olympian and two-time Gastown winner Gord Fraser, to take $5,000 for second, Anderson was excited to know there would be a next year – four in fact – for the popular downtown race.
“I’ve done the biggest Crits in the US and this is just as big,” Anderson said.
Women's Race
Those sentiments were echoed by Australian Loren Rowney, who took home the $8,000 first place cheque – also the biggest for a North American women’s criterium – after winning a bunch sprint ahead of American veterans Laura Van Gilder of Mellow Mushroom, and Nicky Wangsgard of Primal MapMyRide.
Rowney, who normally races with Canadian Olympic great Clara Hughes on the Specialized Lululemon team, beat out Van Gilder by a bike length after completing 30 laps in 53 minutes, 25.13 seconds. Despite the biggest prize of her career, Rowney seemed even more impressed with the rest of the race.
“The atmosphere, just to see the public out here like this is great,” said Rowney, comparing it to a “criterum version” of big UCI races in Philadelphia. “In terms of atmosphere this is one of the greatest events I’ve done with the public and just the excitement and how well run it is. … With women’s races being taken away with sponsorship falling through it’s great to see a sponsor stepping up for us.”
Van Gilder was just as excited about the race, but not about how it ended.
After watching Steph Roorda, an alternate on Canada’s Olympic Track Team, ride an early solo break to an easy victory at the UBC Grand Prix a night earlier, the top riders kept things together in Gastown, setting up a thrilling final stretch.“It was going to be a sprint finish all way, the dynamic was perfect,” said Van Gilder, a 47-year-old from Pennsylvania considered to be the winning-est women’s professional cyclist ever with well over 300 victories. “When you re racing for s prize list like that I think everybody think they had a shot.”
Rowney made her shot count despite racing without help – 10 of 13 teammates, including Hughes, are bust preparing for the Olympics. But after UBC, she could count on others – like the teammate of Van Gilder and Wangsgard – to chase.
“After what happened last night with Steph off the front and everyone looking at each other, at me, Laura, and thinking ‘ why don’t you chase it’ and it blew out,” said Rowney. “I’m pretty sure people didn't want that to happen tonight.”
Van Gilder agreed – about the race breakdown and the race itself.
“When people put on events like this, you come to them,” she said.
Report by Kevin Woodley
Video Highlights
Results, Vancouver BC, July 11th
Women, 30 laps |
|
1 Loren Rowney (Aus) Specialized lululemon | 0:53:25.13 |
2 Laura Van Gilder (USA) Mellow Mushroom | |
3 Nicky Wangsgard (USA) Primal/MapMyRide p/b BH Bicycles | |
4 Jenny Lehmann (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | |
5 Stephanie Roorda (Can) Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods | |
6 Lisa Howard (Can) Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods | |
7 Joanie Caron (Can) Colavita-espnW Pro Cycling | |
8 Gina Haatz (Ger) Independent rider | |
9 Stephanie Ossenbrink (Can) Independent rider | |
10 Jessica Daugharty Sterner (USA) Team Rep | |
11 Jamie Gilgen (Can) Kallisto/Wheels of Oakville | |
12 Erika Broekema (Ned) NWVG | |
13 Carrie Cartmill (Can) Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery | all s.t. |
14 Kristen LaSasso (USA) Mellow Mushroom | 0:53:30.51 |
15 Tamiko Butler (Ant) Russ Hay's/Accent Inns | |
16 Kate Finegan (Aus) Independent rider | |
17 Rhae Shaw (Can) Exergy TWENTY12 | |
18 Shoshauna Laxson (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | |
19 Dana Walton (USA) Team Alliance Environmental | |
20 Jennifer McMahon (Can) Glotman Simpson Cycling | |
21 Megan Rathwell (Can) Russ Hay's/Accent Inns | |
22 Moriah Jo MacGregor (Can) Colavita-espnW Pro cycling | |
23 Kristine Brynjolfson (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | |
24 Jessica Cutler (USA) Primal/MapMyRide p/b BH Bicycles | |
25 Krista Rawlings (Can) Independent rider | |
26 Ann Yew (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | |
27 Naomi Cooper (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | all s.t. |
28 Jean Ann Berkenpas (Can) Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods | 0:54:25.94 |
DNF Erin Redl (Can) Glotman Simpson Cycling | |
DNF Sara King (Can) Gregg's Specialized/Trek | |
DNF Katie Lotterhos (Can) Glotman Simpson Cycling | |
DNF Kelly Jones (Can) Steed Cycles | |
DNF Melanie von Stetten (Can) Local Ride/Dr. Vie Superfoods | |
DNF Norrene Godfrey (USA) Project London 2012 p/b Land Rover Select CPO | |
DNS Florence Laplante-Lamarche (Can) Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery | |
DNS Rachel Canning (Can) Local Ride | |
DNS Sarah Coney (Can) Local Ride/ Dr. Vie | |
DNS Leah Guloien (Can) Colavita ESPN-W | |
Men, 50 laps |
|
1 Ken Hanson (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies | 1:16:20.86 |
2 Ryan Anderson (Can) SpiderTech powered by C10 | |
3 Tommy Nankervis (Aus) Competitive Cyclist | |
4 Ben Chaddock (Can) Team Exergy Pro Cycling | |
5 Florenz Knauer (Ger) Team Baier Lanshut | |
6 Jacob Schwingboth (Can) Glotman Simpson Cycling | |
7 Conor Mullervy (USA) Team Exergy Pro Cycling | |
8 Kris Dahl (Can) Team H&R BLOCK | |
9 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-GreenEDGE | |
10 Alex Candelario (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies | all s.t. |
11 Roman van Uden (NZl) PureBlack Racing | 1:16:24.20 |
12 Dana Williams (USA) Team Mike's Bikes | |
13 Zachary Davies (USA) Team Exergy Pro Cycling | |
14 Dominik Roels (Ger) Team HED p/b Staps | |
15 Daniel Bichlmann (Ger) Team Baier Lanshut | |
16 Federico Marchiori (Ita) Cyber Team Breganze | |
17 Andrew Goessing (USA) Team Mike's Bikes | |
18 Tyler Trace (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | |
19 Philip Mooney (USA) Jamis/Sutter Home Cycling Team | all s.t. |
20 James Williamson (NZl) PureBlack Racing | 1:16:28.75 |
21 Anton Varabei (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee/La Bicicletta | 1:16:29.73 |
22 Hendrik Werner (Ger) Team HED p/b Staps | 1:16:37.87 |
23 Chris Gruber (Can) Champion System p/b Stans NoTubes | 1:16:38.75 |
24 Manuel Fehlmann (Can) Independent rider | |
25 David Fleischhauer (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling | |
26 Gabe Varela (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling | |
27 Tim Abercrombie (Can) Garneau Evolution | all s.t. |
28 Louis Crosby (NZl) PureBlack Racing | 1:16:40.85 |
29 Jeff Werner (Can) Garneau Evolution | 1:16:44.86 |
30 Eric Riggs (USA) Team Mike's Bikes | 1:16:46.43 |
31 Noah Bloom (Can) Garneau Evolution | 1:16:47.53 |
32 Tom Soladay (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies | s.t. |
33 Sebastian Salas (Can) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies | 1:16:50.28 |
34 Greg Christian (USA) Garneau Evolution | s.t. |
35 Chris Wingfield (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling | 1:16:51.93 |
36 Alexander Cataford (Can) Glotman Simpson Cycling | 1:16:56.43 |
37 Nigel Ellsay (Can) Velo Club Cycliste Morteau-Montbenoit FRANCE | |
38 Mike Sidic (Can) Team H&R BLOCK | both s.t. |
39 Jackie Simes (USA) Jamis/Sutter Home Cycling Team | 1:16:59.34 |
40 Lang Reynolds (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling | 1:17:00.56 |
41 Nic Hamilton (Can) Jelly belly presented by Kenda | |
42 Kevin Mullervy (USA) Team Exergy Pro Cycling | 1:17:01.98 |
43 David Gonda (Can) Rideokanagan.com | 1:17:07.65 |
44 Justin Kerr (NZl) Team H&R BLOCK | |
45 Jesse Reams (Can) Hagens Berman Cycling | both s.t. |
46 Dustin Andrews (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | 1:17:09.46 |
47 John Piasta (USA) Team Mike's Bikes | 1:17:10.42 |
48 Rob Britton (Can) Team H&R BLOCK | 1:17:13.81 |
49 Will Routley (Can) SpiderTech powered by C10 | |
50 Evan Mundy (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee/La Bicicletta | |
51 Tom Radermacher (Ger) Team HED p/b Staps | |
52 Christian Meier (Can) Orica-GreenEDGE | |
53 Matthias Bertling (Ger) Independent rider | |
54 Stefan Fussstetter (Ger) Team Baier Lanshut | all s.t. |
55 Jonathan Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | 1:17:18.29 |
56 Cody O'Reilly (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies | 1:17:19.61 |
57 Chris Worsfold (Can) Speed Theory | 1:17:21.95 |
58 Kevin Noiles (Can) cyclocrossracing.com | 1:17:27.05 |
59 Marsh Cooper (Can) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies | 1:17:33.26 |
60 Ian Crane (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling | 1:17:34.51 |
61 Ian Burnett (USA) Competitive Cyclist | 1:17:40.25 |
62 Michael van den Ham (Can) Rideokanagan.com | 1:17:43.18 |
63 Colin Gibson (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling | 1:17:56.57 |
64 Joseph Cooper (NZl) PureBlack Racing | 1:17:59.32 |
DNF Hilton Clarke (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF Scott Zwizanski (USA) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies | |
DNF Quinn Keogh (USA) Team Exergy Pro Cycling | |
DNF James McCoy (NZl) PureBlack Racing | |
DNF Danny Heeley (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling | |
DNF Dan Bechtold (USA) Hagens Berman Cycling | |
DNF Cody Canning (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | |
DNF Bradley Clifford (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | |
DNF Adam De Vos (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | |
DNF Dan Skinner (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | |
DNF Bailey McKnight (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | |
DNF Colter Young (Can) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes | |
DNF James LaBerge (USA) Team Mike's Bikes | |
DNF Kyle Buckosky (Can) Garneau Evolution | |
DNF Erik Mulder (Can) Garneau Evolution | |
DNF Mike Rothengatter (Can) Garneau Evolution | |
DNF Aaron Schooler (Can) Team H&R BLOCK | |
DNF Laurent Dallaire (Can) Team H&R BLOCK | |
DNF Andrew Pinfold (Can) Team H&R BLOCK | |
DNF Dylan Harris (Can) Rideokanagan.com | |
DNF Bart Ludbrook (NZl) Glotman Simpson Cycling | |
DNF Ted Matson (Can) Glotman Simpson Cycling | |
DNF Cid Martinez (Can) Russ Hay's/Accent Inns | |
DNF Steven Grandy (Can) Russ Hay's/Accent Inns | |
DNF Jamie Riggs (Can) Jet Fuel Coffee/La Bicicletta | |
DNF Maurice Worsfold (Can) Speed Theory | |
DNF Mackenzie Garvin (Can) Cyclemiesters Bowcycle | |
DNF Brett Boniface (Can) FVRCC | |
DNF Christopher Uberti (USA) Panther pb Competitive Cyclist | |
DNF Mark McConnell (Can) Synergy Racing | |
DNF Shawn Rosenthal (USA) Independent rider | |
DNF Rory McAdams (USA) Independent rider | |
DNF Jeffrey Sparling (Can) Independent rider | |
DNF Marvin Guzman (Can) Rideokanagan.com | |
DNF Michael Wegner (Can) Independent rider | |
DNF Dylan Cunningham (Can) Russ Hays/Accent Inns | |
DNS Taylor Gunman (NZl) PureBlack Racing | |
DNS Andreas Fliessgarten (Ger) Team Baier Lanshut | |
DNS Garrett McLeod (Can) Team H&R BLOCK | |
DNS Mark Rainer (Can) Glotman Simpson Cycling | |
DNS Dave Johnson (Can) Speed Theory | |
DNS Neal Kindree (Can) Specialized / EMD Serono | |
DQ Michael Olheiser (USA) Competitive Cyclist | |
DQ Clayton Meisner (Can) Rideokanagan.com | |
DQ Emile de Rosnay (Can) Russ Hay's/Accent Inns | |
DQ Aaron Levin (USA) Aaron Levin | |
DQ Andrew Martin (USA) BikeSale.com | |
DQ Scott Laliberte (Can) Westwood Cycle Club | |
DQ David Gillam (Can) Glotman Simpson Cycling | |
DQ Mike Laxdal (Can) Independent rider | |
DQ Matthew Krahn (Can) Independent rider |
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