December 19/17 17:00 pm - Hayman Classic Registration Opens January 1st

Posted by Editor on 12/19/17
 

Preparations for the finest Junior cycling event west of Quebec are well underway - and rightly so. In little more than five short months, the flag will drop on the 2018 edition of the Hayman Classic and organizers promise it will be best in the history of the event. Here are the highlights of the preparations to date:

• The Hayman Classic 2018 will run over three days in May and feature four events: a time trial, a circuit race, a criterium and a road race.

• The competition will again be conducted as a stage race, meaning the finishing times in each of the four events will be added together to give each rider an overall time for the weekend. This is a distinguishing feature of the Hayman Classic, one that sets it apart from almost every other Junior cycling event in Canada.

• In 2018, for the first time its four-year history, the Hayman Classic is on the national cycling calendar. This represents not only a major development for the competition, but an important step by Cycling Canada toward greater involvement in Junior cycling. As of 2018, there will three national events on the Junior race calendar - the Hayman Classic, the Tour de la Releve in Rimouski, Que., and the national championships.

• The Hayman Classic 2018 will feature three age categories - U15, U17 and U19. Each category will have its own standings and winner's jerseys.

• In keeping with boisterous tradition, the 2018 Classic will feature a Saturday night banquet and celebration of Junior cycling. Prizes will be abundant and a guest speaker will be on hand. Riders and their families are welcome, including family members who are not cyclists. That covers everyone from aunts and uncles to distant cousins and infants in strollers.

• Registration opens Jan.1, with incentives on offer for early registrants. Details are available on the website - www.haymanclassic.com.

• The venues for the 2018 Classic will be familiar to many riders and coaches. The first event on Day One - Friday the 25th - is a time trial that will run over the same route that was used last year for a mass-start hill climb. This year, riders will depart at one-minute intervals from Okanagan Falls, ride north along Okanagan Lake and finish in the parking lot at Painted Rock Winery. The course is about 11 kilometres long, and the section from Okanagan Lake to Painted Rock features a hill climb with stinging grades of 16 to 18 per cent.

• The second event, also on Day One, will see the Classic return to the afternoon heat and beauty of Area 27, Canada's newest motor speedway. Nestled among the vineyards and hills near Oliver, B.C., the race track at Area 27 dips, rolls and curves over 4.8 kilometres of silky smooth asphalt - a perfect setting for a circuit race.

• Day Three - Saturday the 26th - features a criterium along the now well-known route that runs north and south along Riverside Drive in Penticton. Day Four - Sunday the 27th - will see riders return to the punishing climbs and dizzying descents of the road-race course that begins and ends in Oliver.

Taken together, these four events over three days will offer young riders the variety of conditions, courses and challenges that have become a hallmark of the Hayman Classic. And the one in 2018, says Ron Hayman, will be "bigger and better than ever."