July 11/09 9:00 am - Tour de Delta: Prologue

Posted by Editoress on 07/11/09
 

Brown, Routley kick off BC Superweek with Tour de Delta Prologue wins

Photos by Greg Descantes

Laura Brown barely missed winning last year's Tour de Delta Prologue, so she wasn't leaving any margin for error when BC Superweek kicked off on Friday night.

Riding for Local Ride Racing, Brown won the women's race at the MK Delta Prologue, finishing the three-kilometre time trial in 4:16, five seconds ahead of Portland's Robin Secrist (Veloforma), and Delta's own Kristine Brynjolfson (Westwood Cycle).

“Last year I lost by half a second to Ruth (Corset of New Zealand-based Jazz Apple Pro Team) so my goal this year was to win,” said Brown, a 22-year-old Calgary native who has been racing out of the West coast of British Columbia for the last four years, and will represent Canada at the Pan Am Championships in Chihuahua, Mexico next week.

Corset was a late scratch from the Tour de Delta after being called to Europe on an Australian National Team project. But Brown left little doubt about her place atop the podium, knocking seven seconds off Corset's winning time from last year's race. She also stayed ahead of one of Corset's new Jazz Apple teammates, Dotsie Bausch, a two-time US National Champion and Pan-Am Games gold medalist on the track.

“Seriously I heard `Dotsie Bausch' just before I went and I got a bit nervous because she's amazing,” Brown said of Bausch, who finished seventh, 12 seconds back.

In addition to making up for last year, the win gives Brown confidence heading to Mexico, especially since she'll represent Canada on the road, time trial and track.

“This is great because I've done a lot of longer time trials, like 20-km and just found out I'm doing track racing so doing 3-km and doing a fast time is great for the confidence,” said Brown, who was third in the time trial at the recent Canadian Nationals. “I was worried about the speed in my legs, 3-km is all about speed, but today was a good day.”

It was also a good day for Will Routley. Then again, the Whistler native has enjoyed a lot of good days during a great first season with Jelly Belly Pro Cycling.

Routley has finished in the top-10 in every stage race he's entered this season, and is 14th in NRC individual standings despite the fact many of his goal races are yet to come. He went a step further to start BC Superweek, winning Friday's Tour de Delta prologue ahead of an impressive field of top pros with a time of 3:48.

“There's good guys here,” said Routley, who will join his Jelly Belly team for UCI races in China after Tour de Delta. “Dominique Rollin is riding in the ProTour. You've got like 15 pro riders that are winning races in the US, and it's a solid race with good money on the line, so guys are out here to race. So certainly it means a lot to win.”

It meant almost as much to finish second for Jesse Reams of locally-based Garneau Evolution, especially considering the 20-year-old only moved down from the Yukon in September and didn't join the team until the spring. Add in a start list that included Rollin, top pro teams like Ouch, Bissell, Land Rover and Kelly Benefits – not to mention fellow Yukon native and Canadian Olympian Zach Bell – and it was a proud podium moment.


“This is big. I wasn't sure what to expect coming in,” said a wide-smiling Reams, who has been racing for three years. “But racing competitively in the Yukon isn't near this level. It's hard to train seriously when there's snow on the ground over half the year.”

Reams finished just ahead of Vancouver's Ryan Anderson, Bell's teammate on Kelly Benefits, and like Routley and Bell, a former member of the now-defunct Symmetrics team that used to dominate BC Superweek, winning seven of eight races last year.

“It's great to come home and race,” said Anderson. “We're on the road lots in the States and South America, and to be able to come home to Vancouver and race is unbelievable for me. You're in front of family and friends and it's such a great event and they do a great job getting top pros like Dominique Rollin and the Land Rover-ORBEA team.”

Rollin (Cervelo TestTeam), who is one of only five Canadians on Europe's ProTour, finished 27th, but is just 12 seconds off the overall lead, hardly an insurmountable gap heading into the Brenco Criterium Saturday in Ladner, and the White Spot Road Race Sunday. Then again, like Routley, he doesn't have any teammates to support him. And, like Routley's leader's jersey, Rollin's ProTour status will make him a marked man.

“When it comes to the Prologue being an individual doesn't really matter but from here on out it's going to be a lot different,” said Routley.

After the Tour de Delta finishes Sunday, BC Superweek wraps up with the 30th Tour de White Rock July 17-19, a challenging three-event weekend that starts with the Homelife Realty Hillclimb Friday and Maximum Collision Criterium Saturday, before wrapping up with the scenic and storied Peace Arch News Road Race Sunday.

Press release by Kevin Woodley, Media Relations