Tour de Delta - NE

Canada, July 15-17, 2005

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Stage 2 - July 16: Criterium, 54/36km

O'Bee sprints to win; Uhl takes women's

North Vancouver's Kirk O'Bee won a sprint to the finish to take the fifth-annual Tour de Delta's Lehigh Criterium, a 60-lap road race through the streets of Ladner, Saturday night.

O'Bee, riding for the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team, led a 13-rider break with 12 laps left, and out sprinted Portland's Evan Elken of the Jittery Joes-Kalahari Team and Seattle's Chad Nikolz, a one-man team sponsored by Benaroya Research Institute, down the stretch.

One-hundred and eighteen top professional riders from all over North America - and some from as far away as Costa Rica - reached speeds in excess of 50-kilometres an hour during the 54-kilometre race. And after 60 trips around the 0.9-kilometre track, the top three riders all finished within a bike length of each other.

"There has been a good history of breaks here and I just wanted to split things up right from the start. At the end I just tried to stay at the front and it worked," O'Bee, who finished fifth in the 2005 US Pro Championships, said of his early break. "I'm riding well right now and I really wanted to put on a hometown show in front of friends and family."

O'Bee said he was surprised to catch so many guys back in the chase group, including top names like Canadian cycling legend Gord Fraser, adding that large primes (prize laps) helped the breakaway stay away. The largest prime - a $1,610 crowd prime of donations gathered at the race - came with two laps left and O'Bee was tempted to go for it.

"I couldn't believe my ears, it's like the biggest crowd prime in the world," said O'Bee, who earned $1,200 for finishing first as part of a five-rider Navigators team. "I was kind of tempted to go for it but I thought just Œsave it for the win.' I didn't want to take any chances after my teammates busted their butts."

In the women's race, Sarah Uhl of Quark Cycling continued her domination of the Tour de Delta, following up Friday night's victory in the Brenco Hill Climb by winning a sprint to the finish line in Saturday's Criterium. After 40 laps around the 0.9-kilometre track Uhl, who also won the Criterium and Road Race and finished second in the hill climb last year, edged out Vancouver's Marni Hambelton of Symmetrics Cycling and Victoria's Gina Grain of Victory Brewing in a frantic dash down the stretch.

Uhl, a former World Junior Match Sprint champion, also finished second in the Tour de Gastown last year and is recognized as one of the fastest sprinters in women's cycling.

"This never gets old," said Uhl, 20, who worked with teammate Helen Kelly.

"Anytime you win a bike race, there were a lot of things aligned. Winning a bike race is more than just having the strongest legs. It's having good teammates, having a good plan, having luck."

With some of the top women's riders in North America in the field of 37, the pack stayed tight right into the final technical turn of the 36-kilometre race.

Grain, the Canadian points race champion in 2004, won three primes worth $100 each by beating the rest of the pack out of the same corner and down the same stretch, but couldn't stay ahead of Uhl or Hambelton when it counted.

"There was too much horsepower in the pack for anyone to pull away," said Hambelton, who worked with Symmetrics teammates Christina Briante and Mandy Poitras to improve on her fourth-place finish in the same event last year. "We knew it would come down to a pack sprint and Sarah Uhl and Gina Grain were ones to watch."

Results

Men - Pro 1 2
 
1 Kirk OBee (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team                    
2 Evan Elken (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                              
3 Chad Nikolz (USA) Benaroya Research Institiute                       
4 Siro Camponogara (Ita) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team             
5 Dustin MacBurnie (Can) Broadmark Capital                             
6 Cameron Hughes (Aus) Subway                                          
7 Tom Peterson (USA) Broadmark Capital                                 
8 Zak Grabowski (USA) TIAA-CREF                                        
9 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                                  
10 Nieves Carasco (CRc) Costa Rica                                     
11 Brian Nelson (USA) Momentum sports/Inewmed                          
12 Chris Issac (Can) ItalPasta                                         
13 Tyler Farrar (USA) Health Net                                       
14 Chris Brennan (USA) Team Rio Grande                                 
15 Tommy Nankervis (Aus) Wentings Cycle                                
16 David Richter (USA) Subway                                          
17 Jacob Erker (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                                
18 David Goosen (Can) Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe                  
19 Dan Neyens (USA) Broadmark Capital                                  
20 Garth White (Can) TREK - Red Truck Ale                              
21 Pablo Araya (CRc) Costa Rica                                        
22 Zachary Taylor (USA) TIAA-CREF                                      
23 Bruno Langlois (Can) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                         
24 Jeff Hansen (Can) ItalPasta                                         
25 Nicholas Rowe (Can) SG / Espoirs de Laval - TTN                     
26 Peter Sanowar (Can) ItalPasta                                       
27 Allen Krughoff (USA) Century Tel                                    
28 Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team           
29 Ryan McKenzie (Can) Subway                                          
30 Nick Friesen (Can) The Bike Shop                                    
31 Justin Davis (Aus) Wentings Cycle                                   
32 Eric Kameka (Can) Escape Velocity / DEVO                            
33 Tim Sherstobitoff (Can) Kelowna Cycle                               
34 Scott Brown (Aus) Wentings Cycle                                    
35 Luis Garcia (CRc) Costa Rica                                        
36 Taylor Little (Can) Taylor Little                                   
37 Brad Bingham (USA) CenturyTel / VRAD                                
38 Nicholas Jendzjowsky (Can) Pedalhead Roadworks/Sleemans             
39 Brett Boniface (Can) OrganicAthlete Victoria                        
40 Cory Lange (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                                 
41 Andrew Fischer (USA) Broadmark Capital                              
42 Pleasure Jackson (USA) Broadmark Capital                            
43 Craig De gier (Can) Cyclesmith CC                                   
44 Craig Wilcox (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                           
45 Kevin Noiles (Can) Escape Velocity / DEVO                           
46 Duncan Steele (Can) Escape Velocity / DEVO                          
47 Daniel Maggiacomo (Can) ItalPasta                                   
48 Zack Garland (Can) N/A                                              
49 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                              
50 Maurice Worsfold (Can) Bayside Cycling Club                         
51 Richard Bowker (NZl) ItalPasta                                      
52 Keith Stark (Can) Rocky Mountain - Business Objects                 
53 Nat Faulkner (Can) ItalPasta                                        
54 Derek McMaster (Can) Team Coastal                                   
55 Aaron Tuckerman (NZl) Team Rubicon                                  
56 Scott Laliberte (Can) Schwalbe / Genisoy Cycling                    
57 Christian Meier (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                            
58 Cameron McKnight (Can) Edmonton Road & Track Club                   
59 Brandon Crichton (Can) ItalPasta                                    
60 Marsh Cooper (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                               
61 Murray Carter (Can) Ride With Rendall                               
62 Chris Worsfold (Can) Bayside Cycling Club                           
63 Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                             
64 Todd Cornelius (USA) Subway                                         
65 Bradley Fairall (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                            
66 Trevor Connor (Can) Chris Cookies/Swan Cycles                       
67 Jamie Sparling (Can) Bicisport Calgary                              
68 Matthew Bonin (Can) Whole Foods                                     
69 Phil Zajicek (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team                
70 Justin Morgan (USA) Broadmark Capital                               
71 Tim Johnson (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                            
72 Jonny Sundt (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                            
73 Jesse Lawler (USA) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                           
74 Scott Slater (Can) Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe                  
75 Omer Kem (USA) Subway                                               
76 Basse Clement (Can) Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe                 
77 Andy Edwards (Aus) GS Ciao                                          
78 Brad Slater (Can) Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe                   
79 Tim Abercrombie (Can) Escape Velocity / DEVO                        
80 James Shaw (Can) Team Coastal                                       
81 Harley Borlee (Can) Velocity                                        
82 Roy Pickavance (Can) CenturyTel                                     
83 Jeff Sherstobitoff (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                         
84 Troy Heithecker (USA) Benaroya Research Institute                   
85 Gord Fraser (Can) Health Net                                        
86 Will Routley (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                               
87 Hilton Clarke (Aus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team               
88 Owen Gue (USA) Broadmark Capital                                    
89 Shawn Bunnin (Can) Team Saskatchewan / Spoke n Sport                
DNF Min Van Velzen (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                            
DNF Paul Blanchette (Can) Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe              
DNF Carl Jacobson (Can) Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe                
DNF Jeff Hopkins (Aus) Jittery Joe's-Kalahari                          
DNF Mark Howard (Aus) Wentings Cycle                                   
DNF Robert Campbell (USA) The Valley Athletic Club                     
DNF Joshua Smith (USA) CenturyTel / VRAD                               
DNF Chris Squire (Can) N/A                                             
DNF Josh James (Can) TREK - Red Truck Ale                              
DNF Mark Grimmett (Can) Wenting's Cycles                               
DNF Matthew Hall (USA) CenturyTel / VRAD                               
DNF Donald Buscombe (Can) Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe              
DNF Sven Sturm (Ger) Organic Athlete Victoria                          
DNF Axel Bergman (Can) Team Organic Victoria                           
DNF Damien Waugh (Can) Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe                 
DNF Rob Britton (Can) Team Coastal                                     
DNF Shaun Adamson (Can) United Cycle                                   
DNF Ian Manning (Can) BikeSports - Pfaff Racing Team                   
DNF Matthew Walker (Can) Team Sask                                     
DNF Chris Reid (Can) Team Coastal                                      
DNF Jeff Sparling (Can) Team Alberta                                   
DNF Ezra Nichols (Can) Organic Ahtlete Victoria                        
DNF Paul Beard (Can) Atomic Racing Club                                
DNF Jesse James Collins (Can) BiciSport                                
DNF Samuel Bail (Can) coachchris.ca / All Seasons Sports               
DNF Jim Tsilemos (Can) Team Coastal                                    
DNF Mark Cunningham (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                           
DNF Dan Skinner (Can) Elitewave.com                                    
DNF Jordan Guenette (Can) Rocky Mountain Bicycles / Adobe              
DNF Chris White (Can) TREK - Red Truck Ale                             
 
Women 
 
1 Sarah Uhl (USA) Quark Cycling Team                                   
2 Marni Hambleton (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                             
3 Gina Grain (Can) Victory Brewing                                     
4 Mandy Poitras (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                               
5 Lisa Sweeney (Can) Team Coastal                                      
6 Jenny Trew (Can) Team Coastal                                        
7 Alison Testroete (Can) Team Alberta                                  
8 Claire Cameron (Can) Blak Dog Racing                                 
9 Julia Farell (Can) Wheels of Bloor                                   
10 Moriah MacGregor (Can) Dizzy Chicks                                 
11 Unknown Rider                                                       
12 Helen Kelly (Aus) Quark Cycling Team                                
13 Alena Radomsky (Can) Team Coastal                                   
14 Erinne Willock (Can) Webcor Builders Cycling Team                   
15 Karol-Ann Canuel (Can) Canadian National Junior Women               
16 Joelle Numainville (Can) Canadian National Junior Women             
17 Anna Tratnyek (Can) Terry Precision                                 
18 Helena Coney (Can) N/A                                              
19 Lee Darling (Can) Team Coastal                                      
20 Barb Zimich (Can) Team Coastal                                      
21 Naomi Cooper (Can) Canadian National Junior Women                   
22 Julie Hutsebaut (Can) Terry Precision                               
23 Suzanne Macht (Can) Adventurebound.ca                               
24 Mathilde Hupin Debeurme (Can) Sportif Bromont                       
25 Lyne Bessette (Can) Sports Experts - Louis Garneau                  
26 Stacey Spencer (Can) Gericks Cycle                                  
27 Christina Briante (Can) Symmetrics Cycling                          
DNF Kylie Case (Can) Team Manitoba                                     
DNF Lisa Tasa (Can) Chapman Land Surveying Racing                      
DNF Anne Guzman (Can) Terry Precision                                  
DNF Kristine Brynjolfson (Can) Team Coastal                            
DNF Kristin Campbell (Can) Pedalhead Roadwork's/Sleemans               
DNF Beth Bissell (Can) Midweek Cycling Club                            
DNF Leslie Vice (Can) Dizzy Chicks                                     
DNF Gill Walker (Can) Team Coastal                                     
DNF Angella Goran (Can) Team Adventure Bound                           
DNF Heather Lamson (Can) N/A                                           
DNF Alex Wrubleski (Can) Regina Cycle Club/Sask                        
DNF Jean Ann McKirdy (Can) Rocky Mountain Business Objects