Luke Keough won back-to-back B.C. Superweek races on Tuesday and Wednesday in the two criterium events held in Vancouver, the exciting UBC Grand Prix and historic Gastown Grand Prix.
The Massachusetts sprinter stayed inches ahead of North Vancouver鈥檚 Ryan Anderson of Optum/Kelly Benefit Strategies to edge 119 competitors in the 60-kilometre, 50-lap Gastown race.
鈥淚t was awesome 鈥� to race in front of such a great crowd out here in B.C. was absolutely amazing. You could just hear the crowd. It was electric,鈥� Keough said.
At the Mahoney & Sons race at UBC some 24 hours earlier, Keough and his UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling teammates swept the podium even though Kevin Hanson, who came third, added to the high crash tally when he took a spill on the 20th lap.
Canada鈥檚 national women鈥檚 champion, Winnipegger Leah Kirchmann, won her second consecutive Gastown title and with it, the fattest women鈥檚 purse in North America. Kirchmann, who now lives in Squamish, rides with Optum/Kelly Benefit Strategies.
She and Keough each took home $13,000 for their wins in Gastown, the race which is sponsored by Global Relay.
鈥淭his is a monumental achievement for me in my career and my team 鈥� and for women鈥檚 cycling,鈥� said Kirchmann. 鈥淭hank you Global Relay.鈥�
Kirchmann outpaced New Zealander Jo Kiesanowski of Team TIBCO To The Top, the sprinter who the day before had won the UBC Grand Prix. 聽
The Canadian dodged a crash on the first corner of the final lap over Gastown鈥檚 technical cobblestone course and her teammates kept a fast pace to the finish line.
鈥淚t was a really hectic last lap,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had faith in my team that they were going to set me up with a really fast lead out. I guess there was a crash or a near crash around the first corner 鈥� I actually felt someone run into my foot and my wheel 鈥� but I held it up and was able to stay ahead of the field.鈥�
Team TIBCO To The Top placed two riders on the podium, and third-place finisher Samantha Schneider saw the crash that Kirchmann evaded.
鈥淭here was unfortunately a crash from the inside,鈥� said Schneider. 鈥淚t went out and luckily my teammate, Jo, and I got saved. Leah made it through and [it was] single file all through the last lap.鈥�
鈥� Compiled with information from news releases
