Cyclists Race, Despite Bad Weather

Under grey clouds and periodic heavy showers, 40 riders spent the weekend competing in the Regina Cycle Club stage race, the Tour of the Prairies. On Saturday morning, the road races were held on a 28 km circuit, south and east of Chamberlain, with each lap requiring two sharp climbs out of the Arm River valley. The Category 5 race over 58 km, was won by Luke Patterson , while a combined Category 4 and Women’s race over 86 km was won by Bruce Gordon. The feature race over 114 km, contested by the best riders in the province, was won by Cuylar Conly of the Cycledelia club, with a lead over six minutes  after a lone breakaway .

The worst weather of the weekend, with strong winds and heavy rain, was reserved for the time trial over 12.8 km on Saturday evening. Despite the conditions some very fast performances were recorded,  with many riders exceeding 40 km/hr. A notable performance was produced by Ryan Leibel of Regina Cycle Club, who won the Category 4 time trial by over one minute, establishing a commanding lead in the overall classification.

The stage race concluded on Sunday morning with criteriums (or circuit races) around the First Nations University of Canada and University of Regina roads. The short circuit of approximately 700 m drew an enthusiastic crowd, despite the poor weather conditions. In the early races the rain and wind combined to slow the pace, as the riders were reluctant to take chances on the tight corners. The Category 5 race was won by Luke Patterson of Saskatoon, who also won the overall classification, followed by Jakob Dekok of Saskatoon and Durston Brennan of Manitoba. Regina CC riders Phil Anderson, Earl Leblanc and David Levett placed 6, 7 and 8 respectively.  In the Category  4 race, Ryan Leibel rode strongly to win the criterium and take first place overall. Julia Garnet of Saskatoon rode an outstanding weekend’s  racing and finished 4th. Regina CC’s Shane MacNaughton finished 5th overall. 

The Category 2/3 race enjoyed the best conditions of the day. Despite Cuylar Conly’s large overall lead, there was some spirited racing from local riders.  Pedro Peralta finished the criterium in second place, James Winter finished in 4th place, while Michael Wrubleski, younger brother of Olympian Alex Wrubleski, performed well in the intermittent sprints.  Brad Clifford of Regina CC finished the stage race in 3rd place. Spectators were treated to a reminder of how tough cycle racing is when one rider fell spectacularly while contesting an intermediate sprint, but regained his place in the pack before the finish of the race. 

Regina Cycle Club would like to thank Dutch Cycle for sponsorship and all the volunteers, in addition to the various bodies that facilitated the use of the facilities for the criteriums on Sunday morning.