July 16, 2018 (White Rock, BC) – On a scorching hot summer Sunday in White Rock, Brendan Rhim made it look easy in winning the Tour de White Rock presented by Landmark Premiere Properties Westminster Savings Road Race to wrap up the BC Superweek cycling series. Canada’s Alison Jackson delivered back-to-back White Rock victories following up Saturday’s Crit win with a stellar attack near the end of the women’s 80km race to seal the win and the women’s Omnium winner’s jersey as well.

Make no mistake, it wasn’t easy, but the 22-year-old broke away with about 50 kilometres remaining in the 130 kilometre race to cross the finish line alone in three hours, 28 minutes and 35 seconds.

“This is a pretty hard course, I’ve never done it before, so I was a little unsure I could stay away. Especially the short laps on the finishing circuit, I knew they were going to be hard with the short little hill. I measured my effort, everybody in the group looked pretty tired when I went up the road, soI was just calculating and it was good,” said the Norwich, Vermont native riding for the Holowesko | Citadel Cycling Team.

The plan for the day for the Holowesko team was to set up Rhim to go away. “We knew this day would be our best shot at getting a win, so Joe Lewis was in the group, I think we had Morgan Schmitt and some of the other guys making the race hard. Once it was down to about 20 guys, we knew it was just taking down one or two individuals and getting separation.”

Second place went to German rider Christopher Hatz, who made an impression on the BC Superweek field after breaking away early during Wednesday’s Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix and staying away for a big part of the race. On Sunday, he couldn’t catch Rhim, but put some distance between himself and the chase group.

“For the first three or four laps I thought, ‘Whoa, this is going to be a hot day today’ and I saw my teammate Florenz Knauer was doing quite well so I thought I was going to help him, but my legs kept getting better even though I counted all the laps. It was so hard and the hill on that big lap is so steep, it was a bit too steep for me, but I managed to get to the final six laps and I was dying.”

Knauer, who’s earned the nickname of “Mr. Tour de White Rock” due to his past successes at the event, came third for his seventh podium appearance of BC Superweek this year. The 29-year-old, riding for Hermann Radteam, and Hatz tried to catch Rhim, but the gap was too big to close. “I had an easy time, Chris did all the work up the road, I just had to sit on. All I had to do was make sure no one bridged alone up there and keep the guys under control. If we caught him, I thought I would be fresh enough to still go for the sprint.”

Knauer won the Tour de White Rock omnium from 2012 to 14 and used his previous race experience in White Rock to gauge whether Rhim would stay on the break or not. “From my experience the last seven times I’ve done this course, I was pretty sure he could do it. Usually in a group there, it’s not always pulling through and some guys are sitting on, making it a bad rhythm – fast, slow – and that gave him an advantage. He was able to just go at a steady pace and keep it going to stay away.”

Women’s Race
She may be from Vermillion, Alberta, but based on her success over the years, Alison Jackson may as well call the Tour de White Rock presented by Landmark Premiere Properties Westminster Savings Road Race a hometown race. The 29-year-old riding for TIBCO – Silicon Valley Bank attacked with about 400 metres to go in the grueling 80 kilometre circuit and sprinted to take the win.

It’s the fourth time in the last five years she’s finished top-5 at the race, but the first time she’s won it. “My fitness is usually really good, and so when we get to the end it’s really hard. I’m willing to suffer in the heat and the climbs,” said the 2015 Canadian National Criterium Champion. “A lot of times people think, ‘Oh, she’s a sprinter and that’s about it’ but you can’t drop me on these climbs. I love a really hard race and White Rock has always been that for me.”

When Jackson decided to go for the sprint with just under half a kilometre to go, it was according to plan. “I was a little bit further back in the pack than I wanted to be, so coming from about fifth wheel – and the road is pretty narrow at that point – when it opened up I knew I had to go. I would rather take it full from far out than just miss it by going too late.”

In second was Rally Cycling’s Gillian Ellsay of Courtenay, BC, just ahead of Victoria, BC’s Megan Rathwell riding for the Rise Racing team out of Toronto. Rathwell is a part-time rider who actually won this race back in 2014.

“I kind of saw Alison going up the left, it was kind of chaotic, so I just followed her and figured it was a good wheel,” laughed Rathwell, who’s a full-time civil engineer. “And it worked out!”
Jackson’s win caps off a memorable week for her TIBCO – Silicon Valley Bank team, which finished with a rider atop the podium seven times over nine races at BC Superweek. For the Tour de White Rock, it was down to Jackson and Nicolle Bruderer.

“We had to play it smart because we only had two people and it’s a hard race, lots of climbing and the heat too. Then when you get to the end of BC Superweek, everyone’s legs are just that tired so it’s tough to know who’s going to take it hard in the last race,” she said. “I just really trusted in my legs for making it over the climb and then I knew I’d do well in the sprint, so I was just waiting for that.”

Despite being a former national champion and racing for an American team, Jackson is quick to remember the role that the Tour de White Rock and BC Superweek played in her development and is happy to pay it forward by pushing the young riders in the field.

“I think it’s such a good series of races for locals to get a chance to race with the pros and I’m particularly really excited about someone like Elizabeth Gin, a junior rider hanging in there and making it today with the second group, that’s a great ride for a young girl. You can only have that experience when you have a great race series like this, so I think it’s really good for local racing and developing Canadian athletes.”

BC Superweek is Canada’s biggest professional road cycling series and features more than $140,000 in prize money with nine races over ten days. BC Superweek runs from July 6 – 15 and is made up of the Tour de Delta presented by Beedie (July 6 – 8), New West Grand Prix (July 10), Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix (July 11), Giro di Burnaby presented by Appia Developments (July 12), PoCo Grand Prix presented by Dominion Lending Centres (July 13), and Tour de White Rock presented by Landmark Premiere Properties (July 14 – 15).

Results

Women Pro 1/2/3
1. Alison Jackson (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) 2:28:29
2. Gillian Ellsay (Rally Cycling)
3. Megan Rathwell (Rise Racing)
4. Emily Nelson (Independent)
5. Marie-Soleil Blais (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell)
6. Haley Gill (Rise Racing)
7. Olivia Baril (Macogep-Argon18-Girondins de Bordeaux p/b Mazda)
8. Emma Lujan (Glotman Simpson Cycling)
9. Ella Harris (Mike Greer Homes Womens Cycling Team)
10. Sara Poidevin (Rally Cycling)
11. Michele Schaeffer (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)
12. Lizzie Stannard (Rise Racing)
13. Ariane Bonehomme Bruneau (Cyclery Racing)
14. Frederique Larose Gingras (Macogep-Argon18-Girondins de Bordeaux p/b Mazda)
15. Erica Clevenger (Twenty20 Pro Cycling)
16. Callie Swan (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes) 00:29.90
17. Jasmine Soh (V.C. Cascade)
18. Holly Henry (Rise Racing) 00:42.60
19. Carolyn Russell (Pender Racing p/b Bicicletta)
20. Luce Bourbeau (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell) 01:21.50
21. Daniela Deschamps (Jakroo Racing)
22. Janna Gillick (Glotman Simpson Cycling)
23. Elizabeth Gin (Cannondale p/b Fortius)
24. Esta Bovill (TaG Cycling Race Team) 01:23.70
25. Krista Matthews (Glotman Simpson Cycling) 01:26.80
26. Leah Guloien (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes) 01:28.30
27. Isabella Bertold (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes) 02:23.20
28. Summer Moak (Rally Cycling) 02:42.00
29. Margot Clyne (UCI WPT: Twenty20 p/b Sho-Air) 02:43.90
30. Ann-Pascale Ouellet (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell) 04:49.00
31. Sarah Van Dam (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes) 06:03.30
32. Catherine Ouellette (Cyclery Racing) 06:04.80
33. Laurie Jussaume (Cyclery Racing)
34. Devaney Collier (Cyclery Racing)
35. Allyson Gillard (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell)
36. Emily Flynn (Cyclery Racing)
37. Kate Smith (Rise Racing)
38. Abigail Mickey (Rally Cycling) 06:09.70
39. Nicolle Bruderer (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) 08:19.10
40. Philippa Sutton (Rise Racing) 14:34.30
DNF Anna Talman (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)
DNF Holly Simonson (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)
DNF Mary Maroon (Jakroo Racing)
DNF Anna Stewart (Jakroo Racing)
DNF Jeana Rose (Jakroo Racing)
DNF Miriam Brouwer (Cyclery Racing)
DNF Amelie Bruneau (Cyclery Racing)
DNF Sonia Taylor (Glotman Simpson Cycling)
DNF Maggie Coles Lyster (Macogep-Argon18-Girondins de Bordeaux p/b Mazda)
DNF Elena Valentini (T°Red Factory Racing Team)
DNF Brenna Pauly (Tripleshot Cycling)
DNF Irena Ossola (Independent)
DNS Erin Attwell (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)
DNS Kendall Ryan (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank)
DNS Sara Bergen (Rally Cycling)
DNS Heidi Franz (Rally Cycling)
DNS Dafne Theroux Izquierdo (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell)
DNS Annie Foreman-Mackey (Cyclery Racing)
DNS Kinley Gibson (Cyclery Racing)
DNS Stella Callaghan (Hera Everyday Goddess Racing)
DNS Lancely Yung (Hera Everyday Goddess Racing)
DNS Libby Arbuckle (Mike Greer Homes Womens Cycling Team)
DNS Stephanie Wood (Independent)
DNS Michelle Howe (Independent)

Men Pro 1/2
1. Brendan Rhim (Holowesko|Citadel Cycling Team) 3:25:38.00
2. Christopher Hatz (Herrmann Radteam) 01:21.30
3. Florenz Knauer (Herrmann Radteam) 01:53.50
4. Adam De Vos (Rally Cycling)
5. Edward Walsh (T-Palm PCW)
6. Luke Mudgway (H&R Block Pro Cycling Team) 01:56.60
7. Joseph Lewis (Holowesko|Citadel Cycling Team) 02:10.10
8. Steve Fisher (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis)
9. Olivier Brisebois (Probaclac/Devinci)
10. Noah Simms (Toronto Hustle)
11. Jure Rupnik (H&R Block Pro Cycling Team)
12. Kaler Marshall (Hangar 15 Biycles Elite Team) 02:13.30
13. Ryan Anderson (Rally Cycling)
14. Jackson Duncan (Independent) 02:20.30
15. Stephen Keeping (Probaclac/Devinci) 02:44.60
16. Matthieu Jeannes (Probaclac/Devinci) 04:35.90
17. Adam Jamieson (Silber Pro Cycling) 05:00.10
18. Francis Izquierdo-Bernier (Probaclac/Devinci) 05:19.80
19. Nicolas Masbourian (Silber Pro Cycling) 06:32.20
DNF Marc-Antoine Nadon (H&R Block Pro Cycling Team)
DNF Conor O’Brien (H&R Block Pro Cycling Team)
DNF Jean-Denis Thibault (H&R Block Pro Cycling Team)
DNF Alexis Cartier (H&R Block Pro Cycling Team)
DNF Jayson Valade (H&R Block Pro Cycling Team)
DNF Stephen Bassett (Silber Pro Cycling)
DNF Pier-Andre Cote (Silber Pro Cycling)
DNF Emile Jean (Silber Pro Cycling)
DNF Ryan Roth (Silber Pro Cycling)
DNF Marc Antoine Soucy (Silber Pro Cycling)
DNF Antoine Ippersiel (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell)
DNF Felix Pelletier (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell)
DNF Jonathan Cassivi (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell)
DNF Felix Boutin (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell)
DNF Guillaume Davidson (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell)
DNF Levi Kramer (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell)
DNF Gabriel Guay (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell)
DNF Chris Ernst (Team RaceClean)
DNF Aidan Caves (Team RaceClean)
DNF Evan Burtnik (Team RaceClean)
DNF Tristan Guillemette (Team RaceClean)
DNF Michael Foley (Team RaceClean)
DNF Derek Gee (Team RaceClean)
DNF Joshua Kropf (Applewood Garneau p/b Smart Savvy)
DNF Lukas Conly (Applewood Garneau p/b Smart Savvy)
DNF Jake Cullen (Applewood Garneau p/b Smart Savvy)
DNF Kellen Viznaugh (Applewood Garneau p/b Smart Savvy)
DNF Duncan Bryson (Applewood Garneau p/b Smart Savvy)
DNF Graham Lock (Applewood Garneau p/b Smart Savvy)
DNF Von Winkelmann (Applewood Garneay p/b Smart Savvy)
DNF Benoit Boulay (Toronto Hustle)
DNF Anton Varabei (Toronto Hustle)
DNF Trevor O’Donnell (Toronto Hustle)
DNF Ethan Palamarek (Toronto Hustle)
DNF Brendan Armstrong (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)
DNF Alexander Murison (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)
DNF Kyle Buckosky (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)
DNF Chris Macleod (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)
DNF Jay Lamoureux (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)
DNF Erik Diertens (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)
DNF Clarke Lind (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)
DNF Michael Van Den Ham (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes)
DNF Brendan Cowley (Hewdog Racing)
DNF Alexander Fraser-Maraun (Hewdog Racing)
DNF Jackson Bocksnick (Hewdog Racing)
DNF Sam Boardman (Marc Pro Cycling p/b Gym One)
DNF William Myers (Marc Pro Cycling p/b Gym One)
DNF Quinten Kirby (Marc Pro Cycling p/b Gym One)
DNF Gavin Murray (Marc Pro Cycling p/b Gym One)
DNF Robert Pearce (Marc Pro Cycling p/b Gym One)
DNF Olivier Peloquin (Probaclac/Devinci)
DNF Max Rubarth (Probaclac/Devinci)
DNF Connor Toppings (Probaclac/Devinci)
DNF Morgan Schmitt (Holowesko|Citadel Cycling Team)
DNF Evan Bybee (Holowesko|Citadel Cycling Team)
DNF Andrew Dahlheim (Holowesko|Citadel Cycling Team)
DNF Grant Koontz (Holowesko|Citadel Cycling Team)
DNF Thorsten Askervold (Team California)
DNF Enrique Serrato (Team California)
DNF Callum Gordon (Team California)
DNF Chad Hall (Team California)
DNF Leo Yip (Team California)
DNF Camden Vodicka (Team California)
DNF Sam Horn (Victoria Wheelers)
DNF Amiel Flett-Brown (Glotman Simpson Cycling)
DNF Alexander Amiri (Glotman Simpson Cycling)
DNF Nicholas Diniz (Glotman Simpson Cycling)
DNF Wilson Tran (Langlois Brown Racing)
DNF Nigel Kinney (Langlois Brown Racing)
DNF Dylan Davies (Langlois Brown Racing)
DNF Nicholas Jones (Langlois Brown Racing)
DNF Justin Homewood (Langlois Brown Racing)
DNF Ryan Primeau (Velo iBike)
DNF Matteo Dal-Cin (Rally Cycling)
DNF Bradley Huff (Rally Cycling)
DNF Eric Young (Rally Cycling)
DNF Jack Burke (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis)
DNF Cormac Mcgeough (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis)
DNF Geoffrey Chambers-Bedard (Ascent Cycling p/b Neworld Cycle)
DNF Keith Brouillette (Ascent Cycling p/b Neworld Cycle)
DNF Marco Cecchinato (T°Red Factory Racing Team)
DNF Piergiacomo Marcolina (T°Red Factory Racing Team)
DNF Facundo Gabriel Lezica (T°Red Factory Racing Team)
DNF Mamoru Yoshioka (Kyoto Sangyo Univ)
DNF Tadaaki Nakai (Kyoto Sangyo Univ)
DNF Drew Levitt (Groove Subaru Excel Sports)
DNF Ryan Golbeck (Mighty Riders Cycling)
DNF Brett Wakefield (Team Giant Vancouver)
DNF Ryan Rudderham (RealDeal | Aquila)
DNF Craig Richey (Garneau – Easton Cycling)
DNF Carlo Quicho (Green Line Velo driven by Zip Car)
DNF Dalton Walters (Matrix/RBM)
DNF Nicholas Perhala (Monster Media Racing)
DNF Christopher Carter (Monton)
DNF Tim Savre (Glotman Simpson Cycling)
DNF Grant Gill (Steed Cycles)
DNF Erik Hammerquist (TNCF Legal p/b West End Bikes)
DNF Nick Monette (Victoria Wheelers)
DNF Jack Tanner (Groove Subaru Excel Sports)
DNF Zack Jensen (Independent)
DNF Jordan Gilmore (Independent)
DNF John Borstelmann (Marc Pro Cycling p/b Gym One)
DNF Dillon Corkery (Gerard-DHL)
DNS Danick Vandale (Silber Pro Cycling)
DNS Thierry Kirouac-Marcassa (Team RaceClean)
DNS Gabriel Drapeau-Zgoralski (Team RaceClean)
DNS John Willcox (Team RaceClean)
DNS Mitchell Ketler (Applewood Garneau p/b Smart Savvy)
DNS Thomas Schellenberg (Applewood Garneau p/b Smart Savvy)
DNS Evan Murphy (Toronto Hustle)
DNS Sam Rosenholtz (Toronto Hustle)
DNS Kurt Penno (Toronto Hustle)
DNS Patrick Riddell (Hewdog Racing)
DNS Isaac Niles (Hewdog Racing)
DNS Marc Dupuis (Hewdog Racing)
DNS Adam Holcombe (Hewdog Racing)
DNS Mason Burtnik (Hewdog Racing)
DNS Stephen Vogel (Marc Pro Cycling p/b Gym One)
DNS Hendrik Pineda (Probaclac/Devinci)
DNS Cooper Rombold (Team California)
DNS Gera Medina (Team California)
DNS Wai-Ben Wong (Glotman Simpson Cycling)
DNS Eric Johnston (Ascent Cycling p/b Neworld Cycle)
DNS Cade Bickmore (Groove Subaru Excel Sports)
DNS Bruno Labelle (Factory Five-thePACK)
DNS Christopher Gill (Factory Five-thePACK)
DNS Antoine Fabry (Factory Five-thePACK)
DNS Dylan Wiwad (Gastown Cycling Association)
DNS Laurent Gervais (Aevolo Cycling)
DNS Pierre-Olivier Santerre (Espoirs Elite Primeau Velo)
DNS Wolfgang Brandl (Movistar Team Ecuador)
DNS Philip Short (Nine Lives Carbon Repair)
DNS Riley Pickrell (Independent)
DNS Jordann Jones (Independent)
DNS Zola Mehlomakulu (Independent)
DNS Jean-Michel Lachance (0)
DNS Charles-Antoine Forest Leblanc (Desjardins Ford p/b Cromwell)

Omnium

Women
1. Alison Jackson (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) 28
2. Marie-Soleil Blais (Desjardins-Ford p/b Cromwell) 19
3. Emily Nelson (Independent) 17
4. Gillian Ellsay (Rally Cycling) 14
5. Haley Gill (Rise Racing) 14
6. Megan Rathwell (Rise Racing) 13
7. Ariane Bonehomme Bruneau (Cyclery Racing) 13
8. Ella Harris (Mike Greer Homes Womens Cycling Team) 10
9. Olivia Baril (Macogep-Argon18-Girondins de Bordeaux p/b Mazda) 9
10. Emma Lujan (Glotman Simpson Cycling) 9
11. Callie Swan (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes) 9
12. Sara Poidevin (Rally Cycling) 6
13. Michele Schaeffer (Trek Red-Truck Racing p/b Mosaic Homes) 5
14. Lizzie Stannard (Rise Racing) 4
15. Elizabeth Gin (Cannondale p/b Fortius) 4
16. Philippa Sutton (Rise Racing) 2
17. Nicolle Bruderer (Team TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) 2
18. Summer Moak (Rally Cycling) 2
19. Abigail Mickey (Rally Cycling) 2
20. Catherine Ouellette (Cyclery Racing) 2
21. Margot Clyne (UCI WPT: Twenty20 p/b Sho-Air) 2
22. Frederique Larose Gingras (Macogep-Argon18-Girondins de Bordeaux p/b Mazda) 2
23. Esta Bovill (TaG Cycling Race Team) 2
24. Erica Clevenger (Twenty20 Pro Cycling) 2
25. Jasmine Soh (V.C. Cascade) 2

Men
1. Christopher Hatz (Herrmann Radteam) 23
2. Florenz Knauer (Herrmann Radteam) 19
3. Luke Mudgway (H&R Block Pro Cycling Team) 18
4. Brendan Rhim (Holowesko|Citadel Cycling Team) 16
5. Steve Fisher (Jelly Belly p/b Maxxis) 14
6. Adam De Vos (Rally Cycling) 12
7. Joseph Lewis (Holowesko|Citadel Cycling Team) 11
8. Kaler Marshall (Hangar 15 Biycles Elite Team) 8
9. Nicolas Masbourian (Silber Pro Cycling) 7

Men’s Finish

Men’s Podium

Women’s Finish

Women’s Podium

Men’s and Women’s Tour de White Rock Omnium