A welcome break in the weather greeted more than 150 racers with sunny skies at Local Ride Racing’s annual Jeremy’s Roubaix.
With near-perfect conditions and a field of some of B.C.’s top road racers, everyone in attendance was witness to some amazing, competitive races, said organizer Barry Lyster.
The first wave of riders included cat 4 and youth categories. With cat 3 up-grade points up for grabs, strong, aggressive racing was on hand. Grant Gill took the cat 4 men’s race while Angie Buonassissi, of Wowride Tag Cycling, took the women’s race.
In the youth races, it was domination by the local Devo pb Fortius with Lilly Ujfalusi winning the girls category and team-mate Fredrick Ma taking the boys.
Strong fields of riders made-up the next morning waves of elite men, elite women and master men 30-plus.
The master men powered through the 80 km course in under two hours, which early in the race became a battle between Langois Brown Racing and Pender Racing pb Bicicletta.
An early break of four riders formed including Langois Brown’s Jeff Werner and Jonathon Wood along with Pender Racing’s Dave Johnson. With numbers on their side, Werner broke away from his group of now three to take the solo victory, with teammate Wood beating Johnson in the sprint for second.
The elite women’s field was the biggest in Jeremy’s Roubaix history. Trek Red Truck Racing fielded a strong team, and looked to take control of the race early.
Red Truck’s Anika Todd initiated an early break, which only Rachel Canning, Fluevog’s Crit Nasty, was able to respond to.
These two riders stayed away together for the entire race until Todd broke free with under one kilometer to go to take the solo victory.
Canning finishing second with Haley Gill, Pender Racing pb Bicicletta taking the bunch sprint for third.
Isabella Bertold, TaG Cycling Race Team, was the top cat 3 rider with teammate Esta Bovill second and Joelle Delhaes, Jukebox, in third.
The Elite Men’s race saw an early break leave the peloton with representation from Trek Red Truck Racing, Langois Brown Racing, Smart Savvy+ Garneau and TaG Cycling Race Team.
By the time it came down to the sprint finish, the group was 7 strong. In a tightly contested finish, Red Truck’s Alexander Murison, with victory in his sites, got pipped at the line by Dylan Davies, Langois Brown Racing who took the win with Murison second, and Mitchell Ketler, Smart Savvy+ Garneau, taking third.
The cat 3 men fought hard to hold their own in the strong elite men’s field. Their race also ended in in a sprint finish, with Duncan Bryson, Victoria Wheelers taking the win followed by Quinn Storey, Cannondale pb Fortius and Carsten Ivany, Giant Vancouver.
The next race for Local Ride Racing will be Race the Ridge on April 29 and 30.
This year will see the return of the Thornhill Road Race, a new Thornhill Time Trial and the popular Town Core Criterium.
• Early registration special pricing is in effect until April 15. For information and to register, go to www.localride.ca.
