It all came together for Surrey resident Kyle Buckosky at the 2014 RBC GranFondo on Saturday (Sept. 6).
The 20-year-old posted the fastest time since 2011 at the event and blasted past the finish line four minutes ahead of the next competitor.
He said the significant lead gave him the chance to soak the victory in during the last few hundred kilometres.
“Everybody wants to come in alone,” he said at the finish line. “That’s the goal of all races. They always want to come in by themselves with a gap and have the time to put up your arms and all that stuff.”
Buckosky’s time of three hours, 17 minutes and 58 seconds was the speediest time since Zach Garland won the race in 3:16:02 back in 2011.
“It feels great,” he said. “It all went smoothly, which is rare in some cases. Usually you have some sort of trouble in some races but not this time.”
He explained that he made his move with around 35 kms to go and kept his pace going until the finish line. Vancouver’s Dylan Davies placed second, with David Gerth finishing third.
Vancouver’s Sara Bergen captured the women’s crown with a time of 3:30:55 and edged out second place finisher Denise Ramsden by only one second.
“It was a sprint finish,” she said. “I think I got her by like a foot or so. It was good, it was fast and the women’s field was fantastic.”
The top local finisher in the Giro was Brandi Heisterman, who completed the race in 4:00:21. The Garibaldi Highlands resident was 98th overall and finished 17th amongst all females. She said it was a challenging but enjoyable race.
“In the Giro it gets pretty strung out and you end up being in small little packs and doing lots of work,” she said. “When you're in a group of three or four for a 110km, you're pretty done because you're at the front so much. I had my nose in the wind way more than I had energy for, so it blew me up for sure. I was a good 20 minutes slower than normal.”
She said the men attacked on Taylor Way, which also strung her out and the group she was riding with.
Heisterman wasn’t the only local who took on the 122-kilometre event, as Squamish’s Martin Caron also had a strong day on the roads in the GranFondo race. Caron finished 54th overall with a time of 3:54:58.
Other Squamish residents in the top 500 included: Paul Sutton (172nd), Evan Power (262nd), Brendan Urlocker (290th) and Petra Hauke (461st).
Also of note was the performance of the “Squamish Ironkid” Linnea Unnila, who had the top time in the female under 18 division. Uunila, who has competed in dozens of different types of races, finished 1332nd overall. The 11-year-old posted a time of 5:33:21 and was 171st amongst all females.
It was the first year for the 152 km Forte race, which was won by Colorado’s Alex Howes for the men and Vancouver’s Anne Mackie for the women. The new course saw riders travel up Cypress Mountain before going through Squamish en route to Whistler.
A total of 103 competitors participated in the 55-kilometre Medio race, which begins in Squamish and goes to Whistler. Top times this year were North Vancouver’s Eric Inkster for the men (1:58:49) and West Vancouver’s Bronwen Campbell for the women.
Squamish riders in the Medio included: Michele Steenssens (71st) and Melissa Von Bloedau (85th).
Also returning this year was the Squamish Sprint, which saw competitors attempt to post the fastest time in a 500-metre section of Highway 99 in front of the Fondo Fan Zone at the Garibaldi Village Mall. Vancouver residents Bradley Dean and Megan Clothier, both with times of 40 seconds, won the men and women’s divisions respectively.
For complete results from the event, visit www.granfondowhistler.com/news/results.
With files from: Braden Dupuis and Vince Shuley – Glacier Media
