July 17/04 10:44 am - Tour de Delta: Photos, Story and Full Results

Posted by Editoress on 07/17/04
 

Tour de Delta - Hill Climb

Photos by Greg Descantes

First Timer And Repeat Winner In Tour de Delta Hill Climb
by Eric Dwyer

It was veteran's night in the Brenco Hill Climb, the opening event of the 4th annual Tour de Delta.

The oldest of the 30 riders in the women's race was the fastest of them all., Sara Neil who is "43 and damned proud of it" zipped up a steep 700-meter hill in North Delta in 1.24.53 to edge out Amy Moore of Missassaugia, Ont by four-hundredths of a second., Australian Helen Kelly was another five-hundredths behind to take 3rd.

"I'm shocked!" said Neil when she learned she'd won a hill climb for the first time in a remarkable career spanning more than 2 decades. She discovered you really are never too old to learn. "Even with all my experience I usually panic on the hills but tonight I was totally relaxed., There's a fine line of anxiety that enhances performance and usually I'm way above it., This time I took it more low key and mellow and it paid off."

The veteran of the Trek Volkswagen and numerous Canadian National teams has announced that BC Superweek will be her final week of racing. She'll retire after next weekend's Tour de White Rock.

The men's event was hijacked by the Yukon Kid for the second year in a row. 21 year old Zach Bell of Watson Lake, now living and racing in Calgary, upset a powerful field of top pros and Olympians from Canada and the USA., "I feel privileged to ride with these guys, and to win is just incredible" said the member of Team Alberta. Racing side by side with one of the top young riders in North America, Tyler Fararer,, Bell pushed his front wheel across the finish line to edge the 20 year old from Bellingham , Wa, by less than half a second. "It was great to come back here and not only win but also to improve my time, " he said., Bell's record winning time of 1.06.37 was 2 seconds faster than last year.

Tsawwassen's Cam Evans was third in a time of 1.08.60.

The Tour de Delta shifts to the historic fishing village of Ladner on Saturday night for the Lehigh Cement Criterium and then concludes with the White Spot Road Race, a rare point to point race from North Delta to Tsawwassen on Sunday Morning.