The inaugural Tour de Concord took place on a short, tight and technical 850 meter long course in the centre of Burnaby’s Metrotown. A tight right hander after the start/finish straight led onto a long back straight along Kingsway which proved to the best (and only) place to meaningfully move up before a highly technical series of corners ahead of the finish, with the final bend coming a mere 75-100 meters before the line. Positioning from the start would therefore be critical.
From the gun, Red Trucker and current Canadian Cyclocross National Champion Michael van den Ham (Easton Overland) used his cross starting speed to launch and maintain a high pace for the opening laps, shadowed by Red Trucks Alex Fraser-Maraun, Kyle Buckosky, Cole Glover & Chris MacLeod. Unfortunate early crashes would spell the end of the race for Declan, Amiel & Tom as the first corner created havoc throughout the race with a number of crashes.
We had gone into the race with a plan to race aggressively, always covering the attacks with multiple riders, however it quickly became obvious that with a strong headwind along the back straight (which was the only real place to attack), it would be extremely tough to get a gap and therefore the team looked to keep a high pace at the front to control the race for a sprint, picking up several primes in the process.
With 20 minutes to go a sprint looked nailed on before carnage unfolded. Unfortunately, Dave Gerth (Langlois Brown) slid out when in 2nd wheel which led to 90% of the front group hitting the deck. After scurrying to the pits, it emerged only Sam Morris (Mighty Riders) had made it through and held a ~25 second lead. Myself and AFM, along with a few other riders started to frantically chase. With the gap coming down, the race was eventually neutralized by the commissaires to bring the bunch back together with 8 laps to go.
Kyle (with a cracked frame and heavily rubbing rear break), Cole and AFM looked to keep a high pace for the closing laps to keep it together for a sprint so I, like I had all race, could save as much energy as possible.
We had gone into the race with a plan for the leadout, however the carnage and the nature of the race meant this plan was swiftly abandoned. With one lap to go AFM and Cole set a hard tempo on the front, while I sat slightly too far back in around 8th wheel. Realizing I was too far back, I launched my sprint early on Kingsway, managing to make it to 2nd wheel by the end of the straight, before winning the corner into the technical section before the finish and holding the position all the way to the line to take the win, with Chris following up in 4th.
A great day for the team with the result down to exceptional teamwork which I was glad to finish off! Thank you to Concord Pacific and all the other sponsors for supporting cycling events here in BC.