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Will Routley tops Bike Fest

Whistler rider first overall in four-stage event

Whistler's Will Routley would have been the favourite coming into the 2011 edition of the Banff National Park Bike Fest, and he didn't disappoint. Routley placed first overall in the general classification with a total time of six hours, 36 minutes and 31 seconds.

He raced alone, with most of his team members heading to Quebec to take part in the UCI-sanctioned Tour de Beauce. Routley decided to go off on his own for two reasons - one was to recharge and focus on the upcoming nationals, where he'll defend his title, and the other was to give some of his teammates on Team Spidertech powered by C10 a chance to ride. Before Beauce, Routley had more race days than any other Spidertech member.

"After the spring Euro trip and Turkey and California I was pretty exhausted," he said. "I came back to Whistler and slept for a week solid, then got in a couple of weeks of proper training instead of travelling and racing and squeezing in training here and there. I used the race in Banff to tune up for the nationals and it went really well, I felt better and better every day."

He finished with a second place finish in the Tunnel Mountain Road Race portion, a bike length behind Justin Kerr of Team H&R Block. With rain and cold weather, he was first in the time trial by almost 30 seconds, and followed up with a sixth place in the criterium through the town of Banff. In the opening Lake Louise Road Race, he stuck with the lead group and placed fifth, one second back of the top three. When all was said and done he had first place by 48 seconds.

While Bike Fest is a smaller event than Beauce, Routley was impressed by the course and the size of the crowds - smaller than last year because of the weather, but still pretty big for a regional event.

He also had to ride alone after a season of being supported as part of a team.

"That made it tough," he said. "The biggest prize money for the overall, and I felt I had a decent time trial. That's when I took the lead and had to defend it in the crit and final road race, so I had two hard stages to figure out how to defend my lead myself and fend off attacks."

While Routley was on his own when he won the nationals in 2010, he says that Team Spidertech will be riding that event as a team with the goal of winning. They haven't discussed team tactics for the ride, but Routley's goal is to defend his title this week.

"I was really proud to wear the Maple Leaf in Europe this year," said Routley. It's a UCI requirement that all national champions identify themselves on their team jerseys, so Routley has been competing for Canada as well as his team. "It generated a lot of coverage and a lot of interest. It does feel good, and as it gets closer I really want to defend it."

If he doesn't defend, Routley will be happy as long as the win goes to a teammate.

"No question that our team has to win. I was the one who spoiled that (for Spidertech) last year, and now I'm on the team with Svein Tuft. We'll have to win, or there will be hell to pay - mostly from ourselves, but it's still important for us to win our home race. I think my form is on the way back up and I like the look of the course."

The Canadian Nationals are in Southern Ontario from June 23 to June 26, finishing with a 180-km road ride from Burlington along the Niagara Escarpment.

"I've now won the nationals, but doing it again could never be the same - it's never as profound as when you do it yourself with no team, and since then it's been onward and upward," he said. "I'm really looking forward to the next chunk of the season, going to Europe for the whole month of August and then coming back for the tour races in Montreal and Quebec.

"It was such a new experience gong to Europe and there was a lot of learning - and it was tough with all of us getting that plague of a cold in the early spring. But now I'm home and recovered and feeling more human again I can look back and say it was an awesome spring. The best part is the team seems to be improving as the season goes on. It's a big new team and big step up for most of us, and in the beginning we were all working through things. Now the guys are riding as a unit more than every, which is important - it really takes team support to get big results."

After nationals, Routley will focus on training once again and plans to enter Super Week events in the Lower Mainland - the Tour de Delta, the UBC Grand Prix, the Giro di Burnaby and the Tour de White Rock. The Tour de Gastown was cancelled this year because of sponsor issues, but was replaced with two events in the Grand Prix and the Giro di Burnaby.