April 22, 2008 – The Tour of Walla Walla continues to grow, with this year’s additions selling out early despite an increased 120-rider field limit in the men’s Pro 1/2 race. A large Canadian contingent made their presence known, as full squads from the Kona-Adobe and Trek-Red Truck men’s teams from British Columbia and the Alberta’s H&R Block outfit all made the trip down for the 3-day four-stage race. Giant Canada’s women’s team also had a considerable presence at the event.

Rob Britton of Trek-Red Truck took command of the men’s race on a windy 100km first stage. Britton escaped with US collegiate track champion Dan Harm of Hagens Berman, eventually dropping the lanky track rider and soloing in to a commanding near 3-minute lead. Escape Velocity rider Tim Abercrombie placed second in the sprint from the splintered group to finish third on the day.

Harm’s teamate Sam Johnson avenged him the next day, winning the short 12km time trial before the afternoon’s longest stage. With five significant climbs, and a 3km climb to the finish, the 152km stage was set to be decisive. Britton was able to make full use of his strong team however to keep the race well in control. He came to the base of the hill with Will Routley (Symmetrics) and team mate Jamie Sparling (Trek-Red Truck) as well as Newfoundlander Zack Garland of Kona-Adobe. The young Garland attacked from the base of the hill to solo in with an impressive 57-second margin to leapfrog into second place on GC.

Despite several crashes the GC was unaffected in the following day’s criterium, won by Pacific Northwest sprint star Ian Tubbs of Carter Subaru with Ryan Anderson (Symmetrics) finishing third.

Women’s Race
While there was a women’s race on the Friday, only the weekend races counted for the stage race which was won by the ageless veteran Sue Weldon (Wines of Washington). Three Canadians finished in the top ten led by Sarah Stewart (Total Restoration) in 7th ahead of Jessica Hannah (Giant Canada), the 2001 Canada Games gold medalist in the Road Race who is making a return to racing after a several year hiatus. Steph Roorda (Giant Canada) was hot on her team-mates heels in 9th on GC.

Laura Brown (Giant Canada) rode an impressive time trial to finish 3rd behind Weldon. In the criterium Roorda continued on her streak of recent success adding another win to her Harris-Roubaix victory the weekend before.

Walla Notes
Friday’s race was by all accounts exceptionally hard and very, very windy, with a considerable number of riders being dropped in the first ten kilometres of the race. The men, with a larger field than last year, took nearly six minutes longer to complete the course. Kona-Adobe rider Jonathon Gormick commented that sometimes he was worried about being blown off his bike, despite riding box-section Mavi R-Sys wheels. Given the conditions, Britton’s margin of victory is even more impressive.

Final GC

Men

1. Rob Britton (Trek/Red Truck pb Mosaic Homes) 8:06:13
2. Zack Garland (Kona-Adobe) 02:08
3. Will Routley (Symmetrics) 03:04
4. Jamie Sparling (Trek/Red Truck pb Mosaic Homes ) 03:46
5. Sam Johnson (Hagens Berman LLP Cycling ) 04:12
6. Devon Smibert (Synergy Racing) 04:45
7. Justin Rose (Bobs-Bicycles.com) 04:51
8. Tyler Trace (Trek/Red Truck pb Mosaic Homes) 05:05
9. Dave Vuckets (Trek/Red Truck pb Mosaic Homes) 06:08
10. Eric Anderson (Vertical Earth/CDA Velo Riders) 06:18

Women
1. Suz Weldon (Union Bay Cycling/Wines of WA) 3:19:22
2. Robin Secrist (First Rate Mortgage) 00:07
3. Allison Beall (Bobs-Bicycles.com) 00:29
4. Jenni Gaertner (Bobs-Bicycles.com ) 00:38
5. Tricia Bailey (Union Bay Cycling/Wines of WA) 00:43
6. Sarah Barber (Bobs-Bicycles.com ) 00:52
7. Sarah Stewart (Total Restoration Cycling Team) 00:55
8. Jessica Hannah (Giant Canada/Team Whistler) 01:17
9. Steph Roorda (Giant Canada/Team Whistler) 01:28
10. Lisa Turnbull (Sound Velo/Team Group Health) 01:30