July 17, 2005 – With more than 200 victories around the world, there aren¹t a lot of places for Canadian cycling legend Gord Fraser to pick up a first win. The Ottawa native found one Sunday. Fraser, 36, edged out both North Vancouver-resident Kirk O’Bee and Health Net teammate Tyler Farrar in a pack sprint to the finish line to win the fifth annual Tour de Delta¹s White Spot Road Race. After140 kilometres of racing, the top three all finished within half a bike length of each other, with a huge pack nipping closely at their back wheels.

“I always like to add individual races I’ve never won before,” said Fraser, a three-time Olympian and 2004 Canadian road champion. “I like to get one more before I quit the sport. It¹s always good to win, I don’t care how old you are, it always feels good.¹¹ With more than 80 of the 158 starting riders still in the main pack through the final lap, Fraser said he was initially just trying to lead Farrar into the final turn and give his 21-year-old teammate a chance to defend the Tour de Delta road race title he won last year. When he couldn¹t see Farrar on his back wheel, he decided to go after it himself.

“I figured I had to fend for myself and make sure one of us wins,” said Fraser. “Tyler is going to win a lot more races bigger than this in the future, he’s going to be doing the big tour while I’m working at a desk somewhere so I’m glad to be his teammate when I can.” The pack stayed intact through four and a half laps around the 7.9-kilometer North Delta route and, somewhat surprisingly, through the flats of Delta, over Highway 99 and into Tsawwassen for 10 laps of 7.8-kilometer track through and around town. It wasn¹t until the final four laps that a breakaway group of 10 riders started to pull away. A few riders fell off the back, but by the next lap the chase group had bridged the break and the pack was again intact.

“It was pretty uncharacteristic,” said Fraser. “Usually there¹s enough cross wind to really split it up but there wasn¹t that much wind so it was easy to sit in a bunch.¹¹ Things pretty much stayed that way until the final sprint. Despite falling off in the final corner, Farrar, who also won the Brenco Hill Climb Friday night and the Lehigh criterium last year, still managed to climb back for third. “I was sitting good coming into the last turn, sitting on Gord¹s wheel feeling very confident and then I got taken off a little bit,” said Farrar, who was also second at last year¹s Tour de Gastown and is the reigning US Under-23 champion for criteriums and road races. “At least Gord was able to see what was going on and win the stage.” To do it, Fraser had to first pass O¹Bee, who was coming off an impressive sprint win of Saturday¹s Lehigh Criterium in Ladner. “I¹ve got a real bad habit of going too early in sprints,” said O’Bee, riding as part of a five-man Navigators Insurance team. “I misjudged it and left it 20 metres short for Gord. He¹s one of the best sprinters in the world, he makes living off field sprints so it¹s not too bad coming second to him, but I hate coming up second.¹¹

O’Bee, a Michigan native and past US criterium champion who has called the area home with his young family for the last three years, still claimed the Omnium as overall winner of a three-event Tour de Delta he labeled a “sort-of hometown” race. “It¹s about as local as I can get for racing to home,” added O¹Bee, 28. Despite missing out on the Omnium, the first-and-third Health Net finish in the road race helped ease Fraser and Farrar¹s minds after completely missing out on an early break in the criterium Saturday night, a rare mistake that made for a long night. “It makes us feel better for our screw up last night,¹¹ said Fraser. “We were pretty dark last night and then we watched Apocalypse Now, so we were really dark last night. S It¹s not very often I miss a boat like that. We wanted to come back strong and take this one.”

Talented up-and-comer Christian Meier provided a much-needed highlight for B.C.-based Symmetrics Cycling team by winning King of the Mountain, which is given out to the rider who racks up the most points by finishing in the top three of each lap. His Symmetrics teammate Andrew Pinfold won the men¹s Best of B.C. award. There was a lot less suspense when it came to deciding top spot in the 85-kilomtre women¹s race, which started on the Tsawwasssen circuit and consisted of 11 laps. Two-time Canadian Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Lyne Bessette of Quebec went hard on the second lap trying to secure Queen of the Mountains point, awarded to the top-3 riders in each lap, and ended up staying out front the entire race, building up a lead of three and a half minutes at the midway point. “I was basically going for the money so I went for the Queen of the Mountain on the second lap and just kept going,” said Bessette, a former Canadian road and time trial champion who also finished third in the Brenco Hill Climb on Friday night.

“The first three laps I went hard to open a gap, then settled into a pace: hard enough but not killing me. “I think they did try to chase for a little bit and then they gave up.¹¹ Long after Bessette coasted through the finish line, defending Tour de Delta Road Race champion Sarah Uhl of Quark Cycling emerged from the chase group, winning a pack sprint to the finish to claim second place. After winning both the Brenco Hill Climb Friday night and Lehigh Criterium Saturday night, it was enough to give Uhl her second straight Tour de Delta Omnium (overall title), just ahead of Victoria¹s Gina Grain and Bessette. Grain, riding for Victory Brewing, was right behind Uhl in the sprint to the finish line, matching her third-place criterium finish the night before to finish second overall and claim the Best of B.C. title for the women. “It was really intimidating when Lyne¹s gap got so big right away,¹¹ said Uhl, who was a teammate of Bessette¹s on Quark last year. “It¹s a big gap and it¹s intimidating with a world-class rider up the road. I knew I still had to place fairly high to keep the overall if Lyne won so that made me think on the hill Ookay, I can¹t get dropped¹.¹¹ That didn¹t seem likely for Uhl, a former World Junior Match Sprint champion who has won four of six Tour de Delta events the last two years.

Uhl was also second in Gastown last year and is recognized as one of the fastest sprinters in women¹s cycling. Bessette made sure it wouldn’t come down to a sprint by attacking early. “Sarah had already won the overall so she had no reason to chase,” Bessette said. Bessette can relate. After competing in the 2004 summer Olympics in Athens, she¹s just wrapping up what she called a “down year.” Instead of racing with the top pro teams, the 29-year-old is riding for a local Quebec team, Sports Experts – Louis Garneau. She¹s been riding her favorite races and staying closer to home, and only entered the BC Superweek because she was already out west for Nationals in Kamloops earlier this summer and husband Tim Johnson is here as part of the seven-rider Jittery Joes ­Kalahari team. Now, after winning the Tour de Delta, she¹s gearing up again. “My goal is Commonwealth Games in Australia in March,¹¹ she said.

The Tour de Delta was the first stop in BC Superweek, a three-event series over 10 days that also includes the Tour de Gastown Wednesday and Tour de White Rock, July 22-24.

Results:

Men

1. Gord Fraser (Can) Health Net 3:17:20
2. Kirk OBee (USA) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
3. Tyler Farrar (USA) Health Net
4. Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics Cycling
5. Richard Bowker (NZl) ItalPasta
6. Luis Garcia (Crc) Costa Rica
7. Siro Camponogara (Ita) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
8. Evan Elken (USA) Jittery Joe’s -Kalahari
9. Zachary Taylor (USA) TIAA-CREF
10. David Richter (USA) Subway
11. Vassili Davidenko (Rus) Navigators Insurance Cycling Team
12. Tommy Nankervis (Aus) Wentings Cycle
13. Chad Nikolz (USA) Benaroya Research Institiute
14. Cory Lange (Can) Symmetrics Cycling
15. Richard Minichiello (Can) TREK – Red Truck Ale
16. Brandon Crichton (Can) ItalPasta
17. Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics Cycling
18. Jeff Hansen (Can) ItalPasta
19. Jeff Hopkins (Aus) Jittery Joe’s -Kalahari
20. Cameron Hughes (Aus) Subway

Final Overall:

1. Kirk O’Bee (USA) Navigators Insurance
2. Tyler Farrar (USA) Health Net
3. Gord Fraser (Can) Health Net
4. Evan Elken (USA) Jittery Joe’s -Kalahari
5. Siro Camponogara (ITA) Navigators Insurance
6. Andrew Pinfold (Can) Symmetrics Cycling
7. Dustin Macburnie (Can) Broadmark Capital
8. Chad Nikolz (USA) Benaroya Research Institiute
9. Richard Bowker (NZl) ItalPasta
10. Luis Garcia (CRc) Costa Rica

Women

1. Lyne Bessette (Can) Sports Experts – Louis Garneau 2:17:34
2. Sarah Uhl (USA) Quark Cycling Team 2:21:14
3. Gina Grain (Can) Victory Brewing
4. Mandy Poitras (Can) Symmetrics Cycling
5. Lisa Sweeney (Can) Team Coastal
6. Anna Tratnyek (Can) Terry Precision
7. Marni Hambleton (Can) Symmetrics Cycling
8. Julia Farell (Can) Wheels of Bloor
9. Claire Cameron (Can) Blak Dog Racing
10. Leah Guloien (Can) Sugoi / Giant
11. Joelle Numainville (Can) Canadian National Junior Women
12. Heather Lamson (Can) Wentings Cycle
13. Erinne Willock (Can) Webcor Builders Cycling Team
14. Alena Radomsky (Can) Team Coastal
15. Karol-Ann Canuel (Can) Canadian National Junior Women
16. Lee Darling (Can) Team Coastal
17. Naomi Cooper (Can) Canadian National Junior Women
18. Barb Zimich (Can) Team Coastal
19. Stacey Spencer (Can) Gericks Cycle
20. Helen Kelly (Aus) Quark Cycling Team

Final Overall:

Women
1. Sarah Uhl (USA) Quark Cycling Team
2. Gina Grain (Can) Victory Brewing
3. Lyne Bessette (Can) Sports Experts – Louis Garnea
4. Mandy Poitras (Can) Symmetrics Cycling
5. Marni Hambleton (Can) Symmetrics Cycling
6. Lisa Sweeney (Can) Team Coastal
7. Alison Testroete (Can) Bow Cycle/Cyclemeisters
8. Julia Farell (Can) Wheels of Bloor
9. Anna Tratnyek (Can) Terry Precision
10. Claire Cameron (Can) Blak Dog Racing