May 29/11 21:43 pm - Bastion Square Grand Prix: report and results

Posted by Editoress on 05/29/11
 

Who knew? No one. Certainly not cyclocross specialist Craig Richey of Victoria himself, who attacked the lead bunch in the final five laps of the Condo Group Bastion Square Grand Prix to sprint free to win his first Bastion Square criterium in 1:18:01.

When asked at the end how it felt, “Just crazy,” the CyclocrossRacing.com p/b Blue rider said, still a little bit in shock at his win.

Team H&R Block’s Zack Garland was second in 1:18:08 while (?) Trek Red Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes was third. Seven riders broke away from the pack in the final laps of the 70-lap race to build a 30-second lead. The pack, led by last night’s Kona Russ Hay’s time trial champion Rob Britton (Brissel Pro Cycling Team) tried to bridge the gap in the last 10 laps getting close to 17 seconds from the lead, but it wasn’t enough.

On the women’s side, Team TIBCO/To the Top’s Erinne Willock has been to the Olympics and World championships, but a home-town Bastion Square win still eluded her, until today. Willock beat Trek Red Truck’s Karlee Gendron and Local Ride/Dr Vie Superfoods+ Steph Roorda in a final surge up the final few hundred metres of Fort Street.

With four laps to go, the women’s top five lapped the pack with Willock, Gendron, Roorda, Missing Link Coaching Systems p/b Specialized Leah Guloien and junior rider phenomenon Annie Ewart (Trek Red Truck Racing Team p/b Mosaic) battling it out for the sprint finish (54:15.5).

It was a glorious day for the second race of the two-day Robert W. Cameron Law Corporation Cycling Series with thousands of spectators lining the Bastion Square 900-metre course. The excitement also featured 7th place 2010 Tour de France home-town boy Ryder Hesjedal leading more than 100 young “ryders” in the Tim Hortons Timbit Challenge.

The cycling series is part of the inaugural Victoria International Cycling Festival, presented by Harbour Air and follows yesterday’s Ryder Hesjedal’s Tour de Victoria.

Women
1 Erinne Willock (TIBCO/To the Top)
2 Karlee Gendron (Trek Red Truck)
3 Steph Roorda (Local Ride/Dr Vie Superfoods+)

Men
1 Craig Richey (CyclocrossRacing.com p/b Blue)
2 Zack Garland (Team H&R Block)