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Dominated may not be a strong enough word for a Kelowna racer's finish in a road race at the 40th anniversary of the Tour de White Rock on Sunday.
Jordan Cheyne rocketed to a first place victory at the Westminter Savings Road Race portion of the longest continuously run race in North America and will have his name chiseled into history on the Hans Steida Memorial Trophy.
Cheyne, riding for Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling, finished the race at 3:26:35, nearly a minute ahead of second place Christopher Hatz hailing from Germany (3:27:26).
The 27-year-old Kelowna native broke away from a group of seven with just over 40 kilometres left in the 134 km circuit and maintained his first place position to be crowned champion.
“I went up the climb with four to go and I didn’t really attack hard, but I saw a gap open up and I just committed to it. This circuit is so hard that it’s almost easier to go on your own sometimes,” Cheyne said.
The Elevate-KHS team has been showing their status as solid contenders throughout BC Superweek — which is Canada's largest professional road cycling series with nine races over ten days, including the Tour de White Rock — with several podium finishes for team members Samual Bassetti and Ulises Castillo Soto.
“It’s been a hard week, I’ve done three or four of the crits, but my teammates were making all the money for me, so it was my turn today,” said Cheyne.
“We got a chance: it was down to three of us in the break and my best chance was a long-range attack so that’s what I did. It was early, but if you can roll a break the whole day here, I think it’s easier because there’s no accelerations on all these climbs – it adds up in a hurry in the field. You might have to hit the wind a bit more, but I prefer to be up the road.”
Castillo Soto was the men's winner for the omnium (or overall points), also earning second in Saturday’s Choices Markets Criterium and 11th in Sunday’s Westminster Savings Road Race.
Below is list of podium finishers for the four groupings: men's road race, women's road race, men ominum, women omnium.
Men RR:
- Jordan Cheyne, Kelowna, BC (3:26:35)
- Christopher Hatz, Dienheim, GER (3:27:26)
- Edward Walsh, Halifax, NS (3:27:41)
Men Omnium:
- Ulises Castillo Soto, Los Michos, MEX (22 points)
- Florenz Knauer, Lisberg, GER (22 pts)
- Christopher Hatz, Dienheim, GER (17 pts)
Women RR:
- Nina Kessler, Velserbroek, NED (2:29:39)
- Marie-Soleil Blais, St-Rosaire, QC (2:29:39)
- Megan Rathwell, Victoria, BC (2:29:40)
Women Omnium:
- Marie-Soleil Blais, St-Rosaire, QC (26 pts)
- Nina Kessler, Velserbroek, NED (20 pts)
- Rachel Langdon, Louisville, KY (19 pts)
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