Regan Gough kicked off Tour de Delta and BC Superweek Pro Cycling Series with a win at the North Delta criterium on Friday (July 5).
READ ALSO: BC Superweek cycling series set to kick off in North Delta, June 25, 2019
Gough, who was part of the New Zealand team that finished fourth at the Rio Olympics and won the 2016 New Zealand criterium championship, also received a $1,200-cheque with his win.
Gough, according to a news release from BC Superweek, raced ahead of Samuel Bassetti from Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling to wrap up the 45-lap, 54-km race in one hour, 10 minutes and 53 seconds.
The release said Gough, who didn’t have any teammates with him, was “part of a break close to midway through the race.”
“It was pretty tough out there, there were two Elevate guys and two Floyd’s Pro Cycling guys and they made me wait for it. They rode exceptionally well in that break and it was good to get out of the chaos in the group and just lean on it,” he said.
In second place was Bassetti, followed by Emile Jean of Floyd’s Pro Cycling.
#ICYMI Your top three finalists for the #NorthDelta Pro Men's Criterium:
— Tour de Delta (@tourdedelta) July 6, 2019
1st – Regen Gough, New Zealand
2nd – Samuel Bassetti, Elevate-KHS Pro Cycling
3rd – Emile Jean, Floyd's Pro Cycling
View the full race results here: https://t.co/GB46pIhcnR #TdD2019 pic.twitter.com/TCzvNNBiqX
For the women’s race, Leigh Ann Ganzar won the 40-lap, 48-km race in one hour, 13 minutes and 23 seconds – one second ahead of the Trinity Western Alumna Alison Jackson of Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank.
According to the release, eight women broke away from the field “just five laps” into the race and it “stuck all the way until the last lap” when Ganzar, the 2018 U.S. Women’s Pro Criterium National Champion, raced to victory.
Ganzar has her Hagens Berman Supermint teammate with her, Lily Williams. The release said Ganzar and Williams were the only two riders from the same team in the break and “they worked hard in driving much of the race.”
“Having Lily in the break was amazing, we knew we wanted numbers in the break which allowed us to have someone fresh in the end,” Ganzar said. “Lily was covering moves too – so she rode an absolutely fantastic race and I couldn’t have done it without her.”
In third place was Marie-Soleil Blais.
#ICYMI Your top three finalists for the #NorthDelta Pro Women’s Criterium:
— Tour de Delta (@tourdedelta) July 6, 2019
1st – Leigh Ann Ganzar, Nagens-Berman | Supermint
2nd – Alison Jackson, Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank
3rd – Marie-Soleil Blais, Astana Women Team
View the full race results here: https://t.co/egz7k0pWTF pic.twitter.com/aeUj3eMz1n
BC Superweek and the $40,000 Tour de Delta continues Saturday (July 6) with the Ladner criterium. The women race at 6:15 p.m., while the men take the course at 7:25 p.m.
BC Superweek, according to the release, is Canada’s biggest professional road cycling series and features more than $140,000 in prize money with nine races over 10 days.
It runs from July 5 to 14 and is made up of the Tour de Delta (July 5 to 7), New West Grand Prix (July 9), Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix (July 10), Giro di Burnaby presented by Appia Development (July 11), PoCo Grand Prix presented by Dominion Lending Centres (July 12), and Tour de White Rock presented by Landmark Premiere Properties (July 13 and 14).
READ MORE: Tour de Delta awarded $50K Sport Canada hosting grant, July 2, 2019
lauren.collins@surreynowleader.com
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