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Routley second in White Rock road race

Whistler's Will Routley stayed in B.C. last weekend, and elected to compete in the Tour de White Rock against some of the top riders in Canada - notably former Symmetrics teammates Svein Tuft and Christian Meier.

Whistler's Will Routley stayed in B.C. last weekend, and elected to compete in the Tour de White Rock against some of the top riders in Canada - notably former Symmetrics teammates Svein Tuft and Christian Meier.

Once again Routley found himself riding solo without any team support from his pro club, Team Jelly Belly presented by Kenda.

Routley started the weekend off with a win in the prologue, a tough hill climb up one of White Rocks steep roads - 700 metres up a 16 per cent grade. What's more, riders had to make the ascent twice, with the top five heading back down to face off once again.

Routley edged out Andrew Pinfold, another former Symmetrics teammate, to take the win.

"As far as prologues go, that's 10 times harder than anything else," Routley told Canadian Cyclist. "It's terrible. It's just the right length that you can go hard all the way to the top and you kind of blow up right at the line. I don't think I felt that loaded with lactate at any other time, and then to go down there and have to do it all over again. It is just punishment."

Routley had a bad day in the criterium the following day, which cost him a shot at the omnium win, but was back on form for the 134 km road race that wrapped up the tour.

Svein Tuft got the win on that stage with the help of Meier, his teammate on the Garmin-Transitions Pro Tour squad.

Tuft sat back with the peleton while Meier took care of a breakaway by Routley and Ryan Anderson. Tuft then bridged his way back to the lead group to make it a foursome. They dropped Anderson soon afterwards, then Meier put Tuft in a position to sprint away on the final lap while Routley battled some cramping.

Routley, the national road champion, hung onto second place, about 50 seconds back of Tuft and 50 seconds ahead of Meier.

"I towed him around for all I could but I started cramping," said Routley of Tuft.

Tuft said it was one of the fastest Tours de White Rock that he has ever done, and that the final road race is the hardest he knows of in the 130-km distance range. He also credited Routley for being the strongest rider in the race, with no teammates to support him on the breaks.

Routley's future includes some more races with his pro team, and likely a spot representing Canada at the Commonwealth Games - a stepping stone that could put Routley in contention for a spot on the national team at the 2012 Summer Games in London.

 

Locals take on Peach Classic

The annual IG Peach Classic Triathlon took place in Penticton last Sunday, July 18 with a number of athletes from Sea to Sky making the trip to the interior to race.

Squamish's Jan Francke won the overall and placed first in the men's 25 to 29 category in the Olympic distance race (1,500 metre swim, 40 km bike and 10 km run) with a total time of 2:01:08 - nearly two full minutes ahead of the next racer. Francke won the swim and posted the third-fastest time on the bike and run to take the win.

Whistler's Dave Higgins placed 40 th overall and sixth in the men's 40 to 44 race, one week after racing in the Squamish triathlon - his first race in two years since injuring his back.

 

Toonie goes up and over

Tonight's Toonie Ride, sponsored by Snowcovers, Skiis & Biikes and Mike's Garage, has a distinctive uphill flavour from the start, which is at the top of the Kadenwood subdivision. From there the course goes up to the top of the lower section of Babylon by Bike, then starts heading back down See Colours and Puke and the Riverside trail to the finish at House Rock.

Next week's race (July 29) is sponsored by Fanatyk Co. and takes place on Whistler's west side. The registration location and course are still to be announced. Visit www.worca.com for details.

 

Fundraiser for GranFondo signage

On the second Saturday of September some 4,000 road riders will make the trip from downtown Vancouver to Whistler along the Sea to Sky Highway on the first running of the RBC GranFondo Whistler - a distance of over 120 km.

Some of the participants will be racing, and the final leg is being run as a Giro with $12,000 in prize money up for grabs.

That's a long course by any measure, and will require thousands of cones and markers. To help cover the cost of the signage, Corsa Cycles in Squamish is hosting a "PreFondo" event on Aug. 6 to help purchase "Share the Road" signs through the Squamish area.

"Road riding has increased in popularity almost exponentially over the past few years," said Corsa owner Dave Heisler, "and these signs are just a reminder to motorists and cyclists that they're not alone on the road."

The PreFondo training ride starts and finishes at Corsa Cycles at Squamish Station Mall at 5:30 p.m., and will return to Corsa by 7:30 p.m. for a post-race party. You don't need to be registered for the RBC GranFondo to take part in the ride.

If you haven't registered for the sold-out GranFondo, participants in the PreFondo ride can purchase raffle tickets for a prize draw that includes spots in the GranFondo. Proceeds from the draw go towards the purchase of the signs.

Upwards of 200 riders are expected for the PreFondo, and Specialized Bicycles will be on hand with some demo bikes for participants to try.

To register, visit www.cyclecomponentsnetwork.com/event/show/926 and click on the August tab then Day 6.