Banff Stage Race

by Rachel Canning

This past weekend was the 3rd Annual Banff Stage Race. For the women, this consists of 4 stages: prologue, road race, time trial and criterium. The person who had the fastest cumulative time was the winner. Having done this race the previous year, I had a bit of an idea of what to expect, but with Road Nationals the following week in Edmonton, the field was much stronger, and at capacity with 50 racers! I was the sole Local Ride racer; however my teammate Julia was also there with me, but representing Team Saskatchewan.

The race started Thursday evening with a 1.5km uphill prologue. I can only describe it as short, fast, and hard! The hill started off with a gentle grade, and then kicked up in the last 500m. The racers were treated to cool and wet conditions, with many competitors opting to warm up in their rooms. I went a bit too hard in the beginning, so by the time I got to the steep section my legs were screaming! I was a bit disappointed with my result, finishing 36th- 57 seconds back. Julia, who was suffering from a head cold, finished a respectable 29th. Two-time world champion Tara Whitten crushed the field, riding the course in just under 3 minutes, winning by over 11 seconds!

Next up was an 81km road race near Lake Louise. The weather really cleared up, leaving us with sunny skies and warm temperatures. The course was rolling, but nothing was much longer than a few minutes. With such a strong field, the pace was very high, and full of attacks. Nothing stuck, but several girls fell off the back. The last 10km was false flat, with a steeper final kilometre, where the group shattered. Alison Testroete pulled off the win. I worked really hard to stay with the lead group until the last 500m, where I just couldn’t hang on any longer! I finished 19th, 17 seconds back. This bumped me up to 27th in GC. Unfortunately, Julia was feeling pretty sick, so she didn’t start and was out of the race.

Saturday started bright and early, with a 21 km time trial. This is one of the tougher courses I’ve done. The first and last 3km are flat, but the rest is anything but! Long climbs followed by quick descends made this course exciting. I finished in 34:24, which was 45 seconds faster than last year, and good enough for 26th. Tara Whitten demonstrated why she is the current National TT Champion, and posted a time of 30:15, winning by 30 seconds!

The final stage was a 26 lap criterium, set in downtown Banff. The course was very challenging, with 4 90 degree corners and a 180 degree hairpin in the 800 meter lap. I did my best to stay with the lead group, but about halfway through the race a crash caused a split, and I was in the second group. My group worked very hard not to get lapped, and were the only ones outside of the lead group to finish the race. Leah Kirchmann took the win, while I finished 25th.

When it was all settled, I was able to crack the top half in GC, finishing 22nd, behind overall winner Tara Whitten. I was really pleased with this and felt that this was a great prep for Nationals. Thanks to everyone who helped me out and made this happen.