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Grief and greatness mark historic year in sports
Loss of athletes overshadows record accomplishments by national teams
by Andrew Mitchell
Page 7 of 10
As well as all the things he's done as a racer Routley also gained attention in 2012 for an article he wrote that provided a clean cyclist's reaction to the drug scandals that resulted in Lance Armstrong being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles this year. First published in The Vancouver Sun and reprinted by Pique, the letter quickly went viral and brought to light the frustration of clean riders that have been impacted by doping, as well as problems with the way the doping story has been covered in the media. It's definitely worth a read for any road-racing fan.
• Locally, one of the biggest cycling stories of 2012 has to be the performance of Squamish's Neal Kindree. He is the first athlete to sweep every Squamish epic — Ore Crusher, Test of Metal, GearJammer and Just Another Bike Race. He also finished first overall in the very close BC Bike Race and in the 2012 Transrockies Challenge. He placed second in the NimbyFifty in Pemberton and, out of nowhere, was second in the 50km Sigge's P'ayakentsut cross-country ski race after he showed up with a pair of dimes taped to the back of borrowed skis (for balance), wearing a pair of bike tights with shorts on top. He finished just behind national development racer Colin Abbott and ahead of a group of former World Cup racers.
• Also worth mentioning is the Whistler Secondary Storm high school mountain bike team, which is continuing to grow in leaps and bounds. This past year several athletes finished on top of their age categories in the North Shore Mountain Bike League, and over a dozen different athletes made the podium. This season the team will be coached by Katrina Strand with the assistance of other coaches and volunteers — riders are already doing dryland training to get ready for Spring 2013. Standouts on the team were Alex Auger, Matt Riddle, Zach Davis, Max Peiffer, Felix Burke, Matthew Wentzel, Jack Iles, Austin Reith, Edi Schreyer, Mahon Lamont, Tristan Underhill, Nicki Murdoch, Iyla Nordin, Keeley Wentzel and Carly Mann, among others.
• Crankworx Whistler was another huge success this year, with even more events crammed into the 10-day freeride mountain bike festival. Among the new events were the Dual Speed and Style event that combined race timing with slopestyle judging to crown a winner, and the unofficial Whip-Off World Championship.
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May 18, 2013, 2:00 PM
Water study results positive for Garibaldi at Squamish
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May 17, 2013, 11:02 AM
RCMP to use helicopter, road blocks over May long weekend
Sea to Sky Highway to be intensely monitored for high-risk driving More...
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May 16, 2013, 10:00 AM
Police release sketch of foiled liquor store robber
Store clerk put knife-wielding man into a headlock, chased him off More...
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