July 10/25 14:59 pm - Majendie & Bourgoyne Take Gastown Titles

Posted by Editoress on 07/10/25
 

Two first time winners won the women's and men's titles at the Gastown GP on Wednesday evening in Vancouver, with Fiona Majendie (Project Instinct Racing) becoming the first Canadian women's winner since Denise Ramsden in 2015. American Lucas Bourgoyne (Cadence Cyclery p/b Encore Wire) took the men's title; Samuel Hogman (Project Echelon) was the top Canadian in fifth place.

Women
In a thrilling showcase of homegrown talent and teamwork, 27‑year‑old Fiona Majendie (Project Instinct Racing) clinched a thrilling sprint victory in a photo finish.

The 30-lap, 45-kilometre contest through Gastown's iconic cobblestone streets came down to the wire as Majendie edged Ontario riders Vanessa Montrichard (TaG Cycling) from Hamilton, and Collingwood's Katelyn Walcroft (Independent).

Majendie, who advanced from grassroots competition to becoming an Olympian in just two years, finished off the night in style and claimed the $12,000 prize purse in the process.

The final lap saw incredible action. "Going in with three laps to go, I was not in a very good position," recounted Majendie, who is also the 2025 BC Provincial Criterium champion. "So, I kind of burned a few matches to get up top five wheels. Then I was just surfing other teams' lead out trains and hoping for the best. It turned out and we crossed the line first."

In the final metres, the pack matched Majendie's pace but couldn't quite push across the line ahead of her. In the heat of the moment, Majendie misjudged her celebration by throwing an arm up early, and then her faced dropped as she thought Montrichard had caught her at the line. "It definitely was (a bit early) - my bad," she admitted with a chuckle after the race, "But we got (the win)... so we don't have to feel too bad about that."

This win proved significant not only personally, but also for Project Instinct Racing, which fielded a unified team effort. "I think this is the first time that my team has really raced it together as kind of a combined team. We went in with a plan and it paid off, so it's really exciting," she said. "It's just an awesome race to win at home and it's always so awesome to watch. That's where I started - just watching this race - and now to win it is pretty cool."

Men
Lucas Bourgoyne is making a habit of winning big races - and on Wednesday night in front of a packed and electric Gastown crowd, he added another major prize to his growing list of victories.

Nicknamed "The Cowboy", the 24-year-old from Austin, Texas, sprinted to the win, beating out Cade Bickmore (Project Echelon Racing) and Luke Lamperti (Team Soudal Quick-Step) in a thrilling final dash after 42 laps and 49 kilometres of racing.

The current U.S. National Criterium Champion, Bourgoyne rode into Vancouver fresh off a dominant showing at last month's Kwik Trip Tour of America's Dairyland, where he racked up five podium finishes - including three wins. After Wednesday's victory, he now has no fewer than a dozen individual criterium wins this year and it was his 22nd top five finish in 35 races.

"It was absolutely incredible - the crowd was amazing," said Bourgoyne. "We came in third last year and we knew we wanted to come back and win this thing because Canada throws a bike race right."

The pace was high throughout the 42-lap event, and it all came down to positioning and attacks during the closing laps. On the last lap, Bourgoyne found himself behind a few leading riders, but with one last dig, he powered his way past the competition.

"Bickmore went really long, and I thought Lamperti was going to jump him - and he didn't," Bourgoyne explained. "So, I had to get to chasing, and I was just praying to God that (Bickmore) didn't have the step of God."

"This is a dream race to win," Bourgoyne said post-race, soaking in the moment. "It's the biggest crit in Canada. We got the biggest one in the U.S., now we got the biggest one in Canada... let's go to Mexico next or something and get that."

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