Russ Hays Grand Prix winners from Vancouver Island

CHEK

In the Russ Hays Grand Prix elite women’s race, 18-year-old track sensation Sarah Van Dam, racing for Trek Red Truck p/p Mosaic Homes, swept the course clean by winning all the primes ($250 in total) and astonishingly saving some strength for the end.

The final race of the action-packed weekend – the elite men’s cat 1-2 . Early in the 50-minute plus five-lap race, a six-man break exploded from the field and lapped the field at the 27-minute mark.

The six – Trek Red Truck Racing’s Riley Pickrell and Chris Macleod; Langlois Brown Racing’s Patrick Riddell and Dylan Davies; Mighty Cycling’s Nick Monette and Glotman Simpson Cycling’s Jackson Bocksnick – tried to bask in the glow of the peloton and take a well-deserved rest, but that just wasn’t in the cards.

Attempting to “un-lap” themselves, two riders Mighty Rider’s Sam Horn and Langlois Brown Racing’s Nigel Kinney attacked at the 42-minute mark and woke up the field.

Typically, a lapped field would leave the course at the end of the timed 50 minutes, but with two breaks on the course, things got interesting. The second break of about 10 seconds forced a field sprint with three laps to go.

After the lapped field left the course with two laps to go, the six leaders laid down the gauntlet. Davies tried to take advantage of the Government Street incline with an attack after the bell lap’s first corner, but Pickrell would have nothing of it.  Working with MacLeod, he surged ahead around the final corner to take the victory.

Jeff KingJeff King

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