The Comox Valley Cycle Club hosted the BC Junior Road Cycling Provincial Championships, Saturday June 7 on the Minto Road course.
The event was well attended, exceeding participant numbers for the past few years, and included riders from the Under 13 up to the Under 19 age categories. Participants and their families included those from Nanaimo, Victoria, Vancouver, Kelowna, Revelstoke, Kamloops and the Yukon.
Vancouver-based Team DEVO's Kate Matson won the U-13 Women category over Victoria-based Tripleshot's Toria Kalyniuk and DEVO teammate Maia Matson. Team DEVO was successful again in U-13 Men, with Lief Rodgers taking first place over Comox Valley local VIPYRS' Evan Luksay and DEVO teammate Reese Critchlow.
Tripleshot Youth Team had success in U-15 Women with Sarah Van Dam taking first place. Sophie Ogilvie from Interior Grasslands took second and DEVO's Bronwen Campbell third.
The U-15 Men included a large field of 17 riders. Josiah Ney (VIPYRS) put the pressure on the group by attacking early in the race. He gained a lead over the group and maintained it for the remainder of the race.
Norco rider Conor Martin from Kelowna tried to bridge up to Ney and although he put in some time on the rest of the field he was never able to catch Ney and finished second. What was left of the bunch finished in a sprint for third place with Isaac van der Vliet (Team Trail Bikes) just overtaking Riley Pickrell at the line.
The U-17 Women raced with the U-19 Women, and Trail Bikes' Gillian Ellsay (U-19) and Local Ride's Maggie Coles-Lyster (U-17) broke away from the rest of the girls with a couple of laps to go. Ellsay was able to push the pace up the final climb to the finish line, beating Coles-Lyster by a few seconds.
VAC's Holly Simonson (U-17) crossed the line a couple of minutes later for third place and Ellsay's teammate Kia van der Vliet (U-19) followed in fourth place.
The U-17 Men was won by VAC ProCity Racing's Erik Diertens. Fergus Horrobin took second place over local James Grant third.
The U-19 Men included an experienced field and no one was able to break away from the pack. After 90km the finish was decided in a sprint to the top of Boulder Hill.
Tag Cycling's Max Duso just managed to overtake Trevor Stothard from Trek Red Truck at the top of the Overpass to take first place. Duso's teammate Brendan Armstrong followed closely behind to take third.
– Comox Valley Cycle Club