December 28, 2010 (Burnaby, BC) – The Saputo Burnaby 4 track race which runs from Dec. 27-30 and features UCI-sanctioned events as well as club racing got underway yesterday evening. The high profile track event has attracted some big names in the sport including top American riders Tyler Farrar of ProTour and Garmin-Cervelo fame, and track world champion Sarah Hammer. Swiss national champion, Pascale Schnider, is also in attendance as well as double gold world title holder, Canadian Tara Whitten, making for star-studded match ups over the 4-day event.

Elite Women
Following the opening ceremonies the evening began with the Elite Women’s UCI-sanctioned 50-lap scratch race, the first of three events for the women on day one of the Saputo Burnaby 4. The USA’s Hammer (Ouch) showed spectators why she’s the individual pursuit world champion winning all three races handily on solo efforts. Starting off with the scratch race she lapped the field twice. Whitten (Velocity Cycling Club) and New Zealander, Joanne Keisanowski (TIBCO to the Top), worked together to try and catch Hammer, lapping the field once, but failed to reel her in. For their efforts they picked up second and third place respectively.

Hammer maintained a low profile until after the second of ten sprints in the next event, a UCI-sanctioned 100-lap 10×10 Elite Women’s points race, when she attacked, lapping the field shortly after the third sprint. Not one to take it easy, Hammer lapped the field again on another solo effort after the fifth sprint, and a third time with three laps to go. Hammer won the race over Whitten, followed by Schnider. In an impressive showing, junior rider Jasmine Gleasser (Team BC) took fourth place in this top level elite field.

The Elite women wound down their evening with a non-UCI event, a 50% Elimination to 10-lap scratch race. Surviving the elimination rounds and making it to the ten-lap scratch race were Hammer, Whitten, Schnider, Keisanowski, Rachel Canning (Local Ride), and Jennie Ried (Fanatik Bike Co). Hammer waited until the bell lap to attack powering away for the win followed by Reid in second, and Keisanowski in third.

“The field here is small, but really strong,” commented Hammer. “The top girls here are some of the best in the world, and there are a lot of strong young Canadian girls out racing as well – some of them really impressed me.” Hammer has mixed in the Saputo Burnaby 4-day in between races on her world cup schedule. “I just got back from the World Cup in Cali, and I’m on a down cycle right now. I’m missing the next World Cup (in Beijing, China Jan. 21-23), and then I’ll start ramping back up again for the World Cup in Manchester (Feb. 18-20).”

Elite Men
Throughout the Burnaby 4, the Elite men are competing in teams for an overall general classification across all Madison and mass start events, and each pair is racing with a unique sponsor for the Burnaby-4.

The Pro/Elite men kicked off their four days of racing with a UCI-sanctioned 125-lap 5×25 Madison. Haywood-sponsored Canadian Olympians Svein Tuft and Zach Bell lead the points for much of the race, but were edged out of first place by the Saputo team of American riders Colby Pearce and Daniel Holloway when Holloway out-sprinted Bell on the final lap.

“We spent the first half of the race sussing out the competition – seeing who has good legs, and who had bad legs,” said Holloway. “About half way through we felt like we figured the field out, and we were able to make some strategic moves.”

Garmin’s Christian Meier and Tyler Farrar took third, while Hayman’s Jackie Simes and Bobby Lea were fourth, and Ian Moir and Danny Heeley, a young American pair sponsored by TrainerMic, picked up an impressive fifth place finish.

“We made a few mistakes out there – mistakes that we were making two years ago – you know, missing exchanges, so we weren’t too happy about that. But it’s great to be here racing with all these guys,” commented Heeley.

Following the Madison was a 75-lap Scratch race, the second and final UCI-sanctioned race of the evening for the men. The race was dynamic, with frequent attacks, and an attempt by BCIT’s young Canadian rider Jacob Schwingboth to bridge up to a break of four riders including Farrar and Holloway, that brought the crowd to its feet. Yet no break stuck until Hayman’s Bobby Lea attacked with seven laps to go, staying away to take the win.

“It’s the first of a few days of racing, and everyone’s checking out everyone else’s form – no one wants to go too crazy this early on. Tuft and Bell and Pearce and Holloway are two of the strongest teams here. Everyone’s watching them, and it looked like they were only watching each other, which played to my advantage out there,” said Lea post race.

Bell, Holloway, Farrar, and Cody Campbell (Continental Repair) rounded out the top five.

The Elite men also competed in two non-UCI races – the first of these was an Elimination race, which saw Saputo’s Colby Pearce and R&B’s Jason Allen the last two men still racing in the final sprint, with Allen edging out Pearce for the win. BCIT’s Cam MacKinnon, Garmin’s Christian Meier, and Hayman’s Jackie Simes rounded out the top five.

The final event of the evening was a 150-lap Madison (shortened from 200) with Saputo’s Pearce and Holloway the winners, followed by R&B’s Allen and Carney, Hayman’s Simes and Lea, Garmin’s Meier and Farrar, and with TrainerMic’s Heeley and Moir in fifth.

More photos by Doug Brons here.

Results

Women

Scratch Race – 50 laps
1. Sarah Hammer (USA) Team Ouch
2. Tara Whitten (Can) Velocity Cycling Club -1 lap
3. Pascal Schnider (Sui) Switzerland -1 lap
4. Joanne Keisanowski (Nzl) TIBCO to the Top -1 lap
5. Jasmin Glaesser (Ger) Cycling BC -2 laps
6. Cari Higgins (USA) Peanut Butter Co/2012 -2 laps
7. Sara Coney (Can) Stevens Racing -2 laps
8. Jeanann Mckirdy (Can) Local Ride -2 laps
9. Steph Roorda (Can) Incycle -2 laps
10. Jennie Reid (USA) Fanatik Bike co -2 laps
11. Jenny Lehmann (Can) Mighty Riders -2 laps
12. Rachel Canning (Can) Local Ride -2 laps
13. Morgan Cabot (Can) Glotman Simpson -2 laps

Points Race – 100 laps
1. Sarah Hammer (USA) Team Ouch 90 pts (+4 laps)
2. Tara Whitten (Can) Velocity Cycling Club 37 (+1 lap)
3. Pascal Schnider (Sui) Switzerland 36 (+1 lap)
4. Jasmin Glaesser (Ger) Cycling BC 29 (+1 lap)
5. Joanne Keisanowski (Nzl) TIBCO to the Top 21
6. Sara Coney (Can) Stevens Racing 20 (+1 lap)
7. Jennie Reid (USA) Fanatik Bike co 14
8. Cari Higgins (USA) Peanut Butter Co/2012 14
9. Jean Ann McKirdy (Can) Local Ride 2
10. Rachel Canning (Can) Local Ride 1
11. Steph Roorda (Can) Incycle (-1 lap)
DNF Jenny Lehmann (Can) Mighty Riders (-1 lap)
DNF Morgan Cabot (Can) Glotman Simpson (-1 lap)

Elimination Race
1. Sarah Hammer (USA) Ouch
2. Jennie Reid (USA) Fanatik Bike co
3. Joanne Keisanowski (Nzl) TIBCO to the Top
4. Tara Whitten (Can) Velocity Cycling Club
5. Pascal Schnider (SUI) Switzerland
6. Rachel Canning (Can) Local Ride
7. Cari Higgins (USA) Peanut Butter Co/2012
8. Jenny Lehmann (Can) Mighty Riders
9. Sara Coney (Can) Stevens Racing
10. Steph Roorda (Can) Incycle
11. Jasmin Glaesser (Ger) Cycling BC
12. Morgan Cabot (Can) Glotman Simpson
13. Jeanann McKirdy (Can) Local Ride

Men

Madison – 125 Laps 5×25
1. Saputo (Colby Pearce/Daniel Holloway)
2. Haywood (Zach Bell/Svein Tuft)
3. Garmin Transitions (Christian Meier/Tyler Farrar)
4. Hayman (Jackie Simes/Bobby Lea)
5. Trainer Mic (Ian Moir/Danny Heeley)
6. BCIT (Cam Mackinnon/Jacob Schwingboth)
7. RTL (Colt Peterson/Kit Karzen)
8. Continental (Mark MacDonald/Cody Campbell)
9. Pedal (Ryan Aitcheson/Alex Cataford)
10. R&B (Jason Allen/James Carney)
11. Caps South Shore (John Walsh/Collin Berry)

Scratch Race – 75 laps
1. Bobby Lea (USA) Hayman
2. Zach Bell (Can) Haywood
3. Daniel Holloway (USA) Saputo
4. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin Transitions
5. Cody Campbell (Can) Continental
6. Danny Heeley (USA) Trainer Mic
7. Collin Berry (USA) Caps South Shore
8. James Carney (USA) R&B
9. Kit Karzen (USA) RTL
10. Jacob Schwingboth (Can) BCIT
11. Alex Cataford (Can) Pedal

Elimination – Group 2
1. Jason Allen (Nzl) R&B
2. Colby Pearce (USA) Saputo
3. Cam Mackinnon (Can) BCIT
4. Christian Meier (Can) Garmin Transitions
5. Jackie Simes (USA) Haywood
6. Svein Tuft (Can) Haywood
7. Colt Peterson (USA) RTL
8. Mark MacDonald (Can) Continental
9. Ryan Aitcheson (Can) Pedal
10. Ian Moir (USA) Trainer Mic
11. John Walsh (USA) Caps South Shore

Madison – 150 Laps 6×25
1. Saputo (Colby Pearce/Daniel Holloway) 16 pts
2. R&B (Jason Allen/James Carney) 7
3. Haywood (Jackie Simes/Bobby Lea) 17
4. Garmin Transitions (Christian Meier/Tyler Farrar) 14 (-1 lap)
5. Trainer Mic (Ian Moir/Danny Heeley) 5 (-1 lap)
6. RTL (Colt Peterson/Kit Karzen) 4 (-1 lap)
7. Hayman (Zach Bell/Svein Tuft) 3 (-1 lap)
8. Continental (Mark MacDonald/Cody Campbell) 0 (-3 laps)
9. BCIT (Cam Mackinnon/Jacob Schwingboth) 0 (-4 laps)
10. Caps South Shore (John Walsh/Collin Berry) 0 (-5 laps)
11. Pedal (Ryan Aitcheson/Alex Cataford) 0 (-5 laps)

GC after Day 1

Elite Women
1. Sarah Hammer (USA) Team Ouch 60 pts
2. Tara Whitten (Can) Velocity Cycling Club 48
3. Pascal Schnider (Sui) Switzerland 42
4. Joanne Keisanowski (Nzl) TIBCO/To the Top 43
5. Jasmin Glaesser (Ger) Cycling BC 28
6. Cari Higgins (USA) Peanut Butter & Co/2012 34
7. Sara Coney (Can) Stevens Racing 29
8. Jean Ann McKirdy (Can) Local Ride 20
9. Steph Roorda (Can) Incycle 21
10. Jennie Reid (USA) Fanatik Bike Co 28
11. Jenny Lehmann (Can) Mighty Riders 20
11. Rachel Canning (Can) Local Ride 20
11. Morgan Cabot (Can) Glotman Simpson 2

Elite Men
1. Saputo (Colby Pearce/Daniel Holloway) 63 pts
2. Hayman (Jackie Simes/Bobby Lea) 57 (-1 lap)
3. Haywood (Zach Bell/Svein Tuft) 48 (-1 lap)
4. Garmin Transitions (Christian Meier/Tyler Farrar) 46 (-1 lap)
5. RTL (Colt Peterson/Kit Karzen) 24 (-1 lap)
6. Trainer Mic (Ian Moir/Danny Heeley) 24 (-1 lap)
7. R&B (Jason Allen/James Carney) 42 (-3 laps)
8. Continental (Mark MacDonald/Cody Campbell) 25 (-3 laps)
9. BCIT (Cam Mackinnon/Jacob Schwingboth) 22 (-4 laps)
10. Pedal (Ryan Aitcheson/Alex Cataford) 12 (-6 laps)
11. Caps South Shore (John Walsh/Collin Berry) 13 (-10 laps)

Group A
1. Jesse Reams (Can) Evolve Cycling Club 20 pts
2. Mike Sidic (Can) H&R Block Norco 17
3. Rob Evans (USA) RHVilla/IAS 15
4. Mike Rothengatter (Can) Escape Velocity/DEVo 14
5. Erik Mulder (Can) Steed Cycles 13
6. Kyle Buckosky (Can) Team Coastal 12
7. Keith Jones (Can) Garneau Evolution 11
8. Cid Martinez-Arroyo (Bol) Independant 10
9. Joshua Simpson (USA) Recycled Cycles Racing 9
10. David Gillam (Can) Glotman Simpson 8
11. Donald Gillmore (Can) Schwalbe Cycling Club 2
12. Scott Inman (Can) Team Coastal 2
13. Guy Tucker (USA) IJM.org 2

Group B
1. Bobby Unverzagt (USA) South Bay Wheelmen 37 pts
2. Trevor Pearson (Can) Escape Velocity/DEVo 34
3. John Livingstone (Can) Escape Velocity/DEVo 27
4. Aidan Caves (Can) Burnaby Velodrome Club 27
5. Alex Northey (Can) Wedgewood Cycling 26
6. Alex Pinnard (Can) VC Montréal Cycles Régis 26
7. Emil Marcetta (Can) Glotman Simpson 23
8. Bryan Gallant (Can) Escape Velocity 16
9. Kevin Macdonald (Can) Steed Cycles 12
10. Mike Fellows (Can) Atomic Racing 11
11. Richard Machhein (Can) Local Ride 11
12. Zachary Renwick (Can) Escape Velocity/DEVo 10
13. Rob Mulder (Can) Steed Cycles 4
14. Darcy Reno (Can) Glotman Simpson 4
15. Bart Ludbrook (Can) Glotman Simpson 3
16. Rob Warren (Can) Escape Velocity/DEVo 2