May 28 (Simon Fraser University, BC) — Symmetrics rider Will Routley came within a hair of taking the BC cup lead away from LazyBoy rider Rob Britton at the third round of the BC cup yesterday. On a hilly 6km circuit (nearly 2km of the course was a climb, the rest was a descent) the well-represented Symmetrics squad (who had all their Vancouver based riders present) put their train on the front from lap one and drove an early split that would become the winning move as behind them the race fell to pieces.

There were seven Symmetrics riders in the move; Will Routley, Svein Tuft, Andrew Pinfold, Cam Evans, Brendan Crichton, Christian Meier, and Jeff Sherstobitoff. The rest of the breakaway was composed of Britton and teammate Jamie Sparling (both LazyBoy), RedTruck/Trek rider Dave Vukets and Newfoundlander Zach Garland (Masi/Adobe) the only other riders still in contention 20km into the 120km race.

The race quickly turned into a war of attrition, as groups of 5-10 riders were scattered around the circuit and one by one lapped and pulled. At day’s end less than ten riders remained on the same lap as the leaders. In the end, Routley and Tuft bridged across to Pinfold, and the three riders distanced their remaining breakaway companions. Routley crossed the line first for maximum points while Pinfold and Tuft came in together.

Sherstobitoff brought back last lap attack from new Masi/Adobe recruit Garland, to finish fouth while Britton came in 6th to narrowly defend his BC cup lead. Jamie Sparling (LazyBoy) is now third in the standings.

Women’s Race

In the women’s race Leah Goldstein (Symmetrics) soloed to victory by an impressive margin on a course tailor-made for her abilities. Alison Testeroete (Team expresscopy.com) led home a small group for second ahead of Leah Guloien (Giant Canada) with Marni Hambleton (Symmetrics) in fourth.

Previous BC Cup leader Jenny Trew (Giant Canada) slipped out of the top three in the BC cup standings as she was racing at the Kelly Cup in Baltimore. Goldstein now leads Hambleton with Testeroete in third.

Unofficial Results

Men
1. Will Routley (Symmetrics)
2. Andrew Pinfold (Symmetrics)
3. Svein Tuft (Symmetrics)
4. Jeff Sherstobitoff (Symmetrics)
5. Zach Garland (Masi/Adobe)
6. Rob Britton (LazyBoy)

Women
1. Leah Goldstein (Symmetrics)
2. Alison Testeroete (Team expresscopy.com)
3. Leah Guloien (Giant Canada)
4. Marni Hambleton (Symmetrics)