The Greater Victoria Velodrome Association (GVVA) hosted a weekend of adrenaline-fuelled championship racing at the Westshore Velodrome as riders went head to head at the BC Track Cycling Provincial Championships from August 23rd to 25th, 2019 in Colwood, BC, just outside of Victoria.
The championships blasted off with the Team Sprint and Team Pursuit events on Friday evening. The team of Meghan Grant and Kate O’Brien won the Elite Women’s Team Sprint while the trio of Von Winkelmann, Colin Fowlow, and Amiel Flett-Brown took the Elite Men’s category. In the Team Pursuit, the Elite Women’s team consisting of Micaiah Besier, Zoe Saccio, Brenna Pauly and Holly Simonson claimed the win while Flett-Brown, Fowlow, Winkelmann, and Caleb Bender* won the Senior/Elite Men’s race.
On Day 2, riders not only had to contend with each other on the 333m concrete track but also had to deal with inclement weather as rain on Saturday morning disrupted the schedule of events, forcing a later than anticipated start to the day. Strong winds continued to gust but the sun finally broke through mid-day and the racing was back on track.
Dylan Davies (Langlois Brown Racing) claimed the provincial championship in the Elite Men’s Omnium, topping all riders with 163 points while Zoe Saccio (Fluevog’s Crit Nasty) led the Senior/Elite Women’s field with 124 points. The Keirin saw Amiel Flett-Brown in first place, ahead of Von Winkelmann in 2nd, and Colin Fowlow in 3rd among Senior/Elite Men. Holly Simonson (Trek Red Truck Racing pb Mosaic Homes) would best Brenna Paully and Zoe Saccio in the Senior/Elite Women’s field.
Day 3 consisted of the Time Trial, Sprint, and Individual Pursuit events. Ethan Ogrodniczuk (Cannondale) won the Junior Men’s BC Championship title in both the TT and Individual Pursuit while Carolyn Shaw also came away as a double provincial champion, coming in 1st among Junior Women in the Sprint and Individual Pursuit. Aedan Crocker (TaG Cycling Race Team) won the Junior Men’s Sprint and Isla Walker (Tripleshot Cycling) won the Junior Women’s TT.
The weekend’s championship races also included U17 and Masters categories which saw wins from U17 riders Kendra Shaw, Parker Swanson, Erik Haaheim, and Masters riders Alex Hui, Tom Malczynski, Hans Loeffelholz, Sarah Goomeshi Nobary, Damian Dollisson, Dave Shishkoff, John Van der Vliet, John Mayr, Matt Powell, and Stephen Price.
In addition to winning the provincial championship jersey, the champions will be honoured and presented with trophies at the Cycling BC Season Wrap-up Party in November.
A huge thank you to the organizers, volunteers, officials, fans, and racers that came out to the races. Congratulations!