American rider Kendall Ryan kicked off BC Superweek with back-to-back-back wins at the Tour de Delta.
The 25-year-old California native won the women’s race at the North Delta Criterium Friday evening, finishing the 40-lap race in one hour, 12 minutes and 18 seconds.
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| Third-place winner Annie Foreman-Mackey (left) and second-place winner Peta Mullens watch as Kendall Ryan pops open her first-place champagne after the North Delta Criterium.
(Grace Kennedy photo) |
At the 30-lap mark, Ryan was part of a group of five riders who broke away from the pack. She took short turns at the front of the group to conserve energy (riders at the front of a group “pull” the others in their wake), which she expected to cause a problem.
“I was expecting them to yell at me at some point because I was short pulling them,” Ryan said after the race. “It’s not a cool thing to do, but a sprinter’s gotta do what a sprinter’s gotta do.”
Coming in second and third at the North Delta Criterium was Australia’s Peta Mullens and Ontario-native Annie Foreman-Mackey, respectively.
Ryan also took first place the next day at the fast-paced Ladner Criterium, beating out Calgary’s Kristi Lay, who came in second, and Great Britain’s Harriet Owen.
Then on Sunday, Ryan repeated as winner of the White Spot | Delta Road Race in Tsawwassen, the same race she won in 2017. Ryan joined Canadian Olympian Joelle Numainville as the only women to ever win all three Tour de Delta races in one year.
Ryan attributed this year’s win to the work of her teammates, who allowed her to save her energy for the sprints.
“My teammates absolutely gutted themselves in that lead out,” she said. “They were relentless today on every attack and just made sure I was able to sit in and save everything for the finish.”
In the men’s competition, Boulder, Colo.’s Eric Young took the top spot at the North Delta Criterium for the second year in a row.
Young finished the 45-lap race in one hour, 11 minutes and one second, followed closely by his teammate Brad Huff. The two were the only Rally Cycling riders in the event.
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| First place winner Eric Young (centre) pops his celebratory champagne next to second-place winner Florenz Knauer (right) and third-place winner Bradley Huff (left).
(Grace Kennedy photo) |
“Brad and I were just trying to hide as best we could,” Young said after the race. “It went super well; we weren’t sure if it was going to stay together or not.”
Huff came in third at the North Delta Criterium, beat out by Germany’s Florenz Kauer.
The three riders also dominated the podium at the Ladner Criterium. Young once again claimed the top spot, with Huff coming in second and Knauer finishing third.
The Rally Cycling team couldn’t keep up the momentum for the White Spot | Delta Road Race.
On Sunday, Young fell to Victoria’s Adam de Vos, who finished first, and Kaler Marshall, who took second.
BC Superweek, which goes until July 15 and includes the Tour de Delta, New West Grand Prix, Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix, Giro di Burnaby, PoCo Grand Prix and Tour de White Rock, sees riders compete for more than $140,000 in prize money, as well as earn points towards competing in the Olympics.
But the Tour de Delta was also an opportunity for the community to come together.
Each Delta criterium featured on or two children’s races, as well as a festival in each community. In North Delta, the festival was held at Richardson Elementary and featured games, food trucks and entertainment.
grace.kennedy@northdeltareporter.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
