Articles, Cycling

The Giro Burnaby deserves

by Ross Arbo

2014 is the seventh year for the Giro di Burnaby. The 1.3Km race course in the heart of North Burnaby (better known as ‘The Heights’) covers three blocks of Hastings Street and one block of Gilmore, Albert, and MacDonald with a hairpin turn on Hastings at Madison. The race is well sponsored with a number of high-profile local and provincial sponsors, and the community openly supports the race.

This race is included in the BC Superweek race series that occurs all over the Lower Mainland, and includes a prize purse of over $15,000. This is a big draw for the racers entering the Giro di Burnaby.

At the Giro di Burnaby finish, Luke Keogh finishes ahead of teammate Ken Hanson. On the Podium, they're joined by Hilton Clarke (L). Photo by Chris Relke courtesy of BC Superweek.
At the Giro di Burnaby finish, Luke Keogh finishes ahead of teammate Ken Hanson. On the Podium, they’re joined by Hilton Clarke (L). Photo by Chris Relke courtesy of BC Superweek.

The women’s race included a who’s who of seasoned professionals and upcoming superstars. Laura van Gilder is 42, has been racing for 21 years, and won the Giro di Burnaby two years ago. Laura had a great race riding near the front of the peloton and took third place on the podium.

At the other end of the spectrum, Maggie Coles-Lyster is 15 years old….. that’s right, 15!!! Maggie is a local (from Maple Ridge) and got the biggest cheer from the crowd as she was invited to the front of the pack at the start of the race. Maggie won a prime (pronounced ‘preem’) and it was a crowd-sponsored prime. She could do no wrong. Remember her name folks, she’ll be a contender. Not surprisingly, first and second place were claimed by Erica Allar and superstar Leah Kirchmann respectively.

The men’s race almost seemed predetermined as team United Healthcare (UHC) took first and third place at the Gastown Grand Prix the night before. The blue and white team stacked the mens group with six riders. Other big teams included locals Trek-Red Truck Racing / Mosaic and Optum (too bad three of their top riders were a no-show). The race started with a number of different racers taking primes and showing strong break-aways as the laps counted down. Really impressive showings from Columbian Jonaton Restrepo, Derrick St-John, team Jelly Belly (tee-hee) Steve Fisher, and team Garneau-Quebecor’s Luke Ockerby. However, as all this was going on, UHC was slowly positioning to the front of the peloton (and holding up the rest of the peleton) and were six deep by the second to last lap. Sure enough, UHC managed to take all three top spots. Congrats to Luke Keough (1), Ken Hanson (2), and Hilton Clarke (3) of team UHC.