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Routley takes Tour de White Rock

Symmetrics teammates boost Whistler road rider to victory
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Like a rock Whistler's Will Routley rode aggressively on Sunday to claim the Tour de White Rock championship. Photo by Tony Routley.

Three summers ago Whistler’s Will Routley came within seconds of winning the Tour de Delta after riding aggressively and leading breaks up the toughest climbs on course — only to find himself in a lead pack of three riders with two members of Team Jelly Belly. Outnumbered two-to-one, he was constantly being challenged by one rider while another rested on his back wheel, he found himself in second after the last hill climb to the finish.

Routley, 24, entered this season determined not to let that happen again. His goal from the beginning has been to ride well and to win an event in Super Week, which began last weekend and includes the Tour de White Rock, the Tour de Gastown and the Tour de Delta.

This time everything worked out as planned in the Tour de White Rock. He rode aggressively all day, and made three breaks that set the tone for the day.

He made his first break about 10 km into the race, with teammate Zach Bell and a rider from the Jittery Joe’s team.

“It felt good up there (with Zach), even with the rider from Jittery Joe’s just following behind us and not working, but after about half an hour we got caught by the main field,” said Routley. “The Navigators (Insurance) team and Jittery Joe’s were chasing pretty hard and weren’t going to let us get away that easily. As soon as they caught us the other guys started to attack, so I decided to go again.”

Routley made a solo break that lasted for a lap until teammate Christian Meyer, 22, bridged up with a member of Team Trek-Red Truck Ale.

“We rode as hard as we could, and the Trek rider started to fade so it was just me and Christian with about half an hour to go,” said Routley.

“We had about three minutes on the field at one point, but then the Navigators team started to attack again, to the point where they were less than half a minute back at the end. We were both suffering and cramping and bonking. When you’re in a breakaway that long it’s tough, because in the peleton everybody gets to rest.

“Although it’s a good course to be aggressive because of all the hills. You still get a little bit more rest in the peleton, but everybody still has to work on all the climbs. If there’s one race to ride aggressively, that’s the one.”

Routley and Meier talked about who would cross the line first, but when they saw the Navigators team bridging up heading into the last climb to the finish they decided to both sprint as hard as they could. Routley was still feeling good, and took the win by just over half a second.

In the chase pack, their teammate Cameron Evans — the national road champion — put on a burst of speed at the finish to edge his way past Kristian House of the Navigators Insurance team and claim third place. It was the first time in Super Week history that a cycling team had swept a podium.

Two other Symmetrics riders also placed in the top-10, with Jeff Sherstobitoff in seventh and Andrew Pinfold in eighth.

There were 91 riders at the start, but most riders elected to pull out and save their energy for the rest of Super Week.

The race was 134 km, but Routley said the hills made it feel like 200 km. For the most part temperatures were perfect, although it did get warmer for the end of the ride.

The crowd also grew in size, which Routley said helped him get through the low points in his ride.

“By the time the race ended it was nearly noon, and there were several thousand people at the finish line,” he said. “It makes it pretty exciting. We do a lot of races in the States with big crowds, but here there were a lot of people calling out your name. Even if you start to feel like cracking, it’s the last thing you’re going to let yourself do because you want to shine in front of your friends, family and sponsors.”

The win once again put Routley on top of the B.C. Cup standings, and with a strong performance in the Tour de Delta he is on pace to win the provincial title — something he has not done since he rode mountain bikes in the junior race categories.

He did not race in the Tour de Gastown on Wednesday. Although he would have liked to ride in that event, which attracts a crowd of more than 60,000 people, he said that Symmetrics now has 11 riders on the team and were limited to just eight riders for each Super Week event.

“Some guys are really better suited to crits (criteriums), while I’m probably a little better for the road. It makes sense to watch that one from the sidelines, and rest up for the Tour de Delta on the weekend.”

That race won’t be easy. Riding with yellow Symmetrics jerseys makes you a target these days and other teams will be shadowing them closely.

“It’s actually kind of neat because all the guys are riding so strong right now,” said Routley. “It’s the other teams that are worrying about us, and not the other way around. Instead of getting one guy into the breaks we’re getting two or more, and we can control the race better.”

Following Super Week, Routley and Symmetrics will head to a stage race in Kelowna, where he will be able to earn more B.C. Cup points.

Leah Goldstein of Symmetrics also claimed the women’s title, which demonstrates just how dominant Symmetrics Cycling has become in less than five years as an organized team. Svein Tuft is leading the overall North American standings, while Symmetrics riders as a whole are earning UCI points to qualify more Canadians to race in the world championships and Olympics.