Vancouver, BC, May 27, 2019 – There were 206 racers from across the province that lined up this past weekend for the 2019 Cycling BC Elite and Masters Road and Time Trial Championships in Langley B.C. Both events were hosted by Escape Velocity in partnership with Brian Jessel BMW.
The weather was the defining factor to Saturday’s Time Trial with driving rain causing pooling water and debris along the River Road course east of Fort Langley. For the second year in a row, Kelowna resident and continental pro Jordan Cheyne (Elevate – KHS Pro Cycling) stormed to victory in the Elite Men’s race finishing the 40km course in 51:02, 1’14” ahead of his closest rival Justin Homewood (Langlois Brown Racing). In the Elite Women’s race, Isabella Bertold (InstaFund La Prima) completed the same distance in 1:01:26, only 16” ahead of her teammate Helena Coney.
The racers were welcomed by splendid sunshine for Sunday’s road race which took place on the same “Atomic Double” course used for the 2018 championship. This time, however, it seemed that the savviest of racers figured out how to make the challenging terrain work for them, with all races finishing in either solo or two person breakaways. The Elite Men set a sizzling pace from the whistle with attacks flying as soon as the group exited the neutral zone. Less than half of the field completed the full 137km. Jordan Cheyne doubled up by taking the Elite Men’s title ahead of Glotman Simpson Cycling teammates Jackson Bocksnick and Amiel Flett-Brown in 2nd and 3rd respectfully.
It was well worth the ferry ride for the Pauly family, with Ethan (TaG Cycling) holding on to the main field to get the U23 title while his older sister Brenna (Trek Red Truck Racing P/B Mosaic Homes) captured the Elite Women’s road race title. Esta Bovill and Michele Schaeffer of the InstaFund La Prima racing team finished 2nd and 3rd, rounding out a successful weekend for the team in their inaugural year.
Both championship races also doubled as stops along the road to awarding the BC Cup p/b Cobotix. Nigel Kinney holds a slender lead ahead of his Langlois Brown Racing teammate Pat Riddell in the Elite Men’s Series while Claire Cameron (Fluevog’s Crit Nasty) maintains a healthy lead ahead of the InstaFund La Prima women. Jesse Klassen (Independent) and Nichola Bendle (Mighty Cycling) lead the Cat 3 series for Men and Women respectively while Matt Usborne (Independent) has finally unseated Jeff Werner (Langlois Brown Racing) for the top spot in the Masters Men series.
Provincial Championship season continues in a few weeks with BMX, Cross-Country Marathon and Criterium championships occurring on June 15th at various locations. For more information, please visit cyclingbc.net/events.
Images from the Brian Jessel BMW Elite & Masters Road/TT championships Courtesy of TLBvelo
Complete results for the 2019 BC Elite/Masters Road Provincial Championships