The Valley may be better known for Mountain biking, with good reason, but, there is a very talented group of young Road cyclists from here as well. At the BC Provincial youth championships in Penticton two local riders came home with BC Champion jerseys. Mark Grant won both the Time Trail and Road race in the U17 category, while Gillian Ellsay took home the BC Champions jersey for the Time Trial in U19 girls. In the Road Race Gillian finished 3rd and another local rider Kia van der Vliet was 10th. Kia also placed 9th in both the TT and the Crit. In the U17 boys Isaac van der Vliet took 6th in the TT, 5th in the Road Race and 3rd in the Crit, right behind Mark Grant in 2nd . In the U19 boys events James Grant was 10th in the TT and 6th in the Crit.
A week earlier the senior BC Championships were held in Maple Ridge. Nigel Ellsay in his first race back after recovering from a broken collarbone placed 2nd in the TT, behind only Curtis Deardon the 2013 National time Trial champion. In the road race Nigel finished 10th. Nigel continued his preparation for Nationals by coming out to the Comox Valley Cycle Club Thursday night TT series, sponsored by Trail Bicycles, on our Dove Creek course. He proceeded to show us why he has a pro contract by setting a new course record of 20 minutes and 44 seconds for the 16 km circuit ( an average of 46.3kmh). Nigel then headed to Quebec for the National championships, where racing for his Silber Pro Cycling team, he placed 14th in the TT, 28th in the Road race and 2nd in the Crit.
The following week the Junior nationals took place also in Quebec. In the U19 (junior) girls category Gillian blew away the competition taking the national champions jersey. In the Junior boys category James Grant finished 16th out of 70+ riders in the TT.
The following is taken from Cycling Canada race report:
Gillian Ellsay of Courtenay, BC (Cycling BC) was in a class of her own atop the standings of the women’s race, posting a time of 23:27 on the 14.2 km course. Emeliah Harvie of Banff, AB (Team Alberta) took the second place, 44 seconds out of the first place, followed by Erin Attwell of Victoria, BC (Cycling BC).
Day two at the Junior Nationals the 80 Km road race saw Gillian lose out in the sprint to Emiliah Harvie finishing second. It was close enough that both girls were awarded the same time. In the Junior boys event James Grant finished 28th in the 141 km race, a very respectable 36 seconds behind the winner. Day 3 was the Crit, not Gillian’s strongest discipline, but she finished a respectable 8 seconds off the winner in 14th.
The tour of Rimosuskie runs July 8-12 in Quebec and both Gillian and James will be staying out east to compete with Junior racers from around the world. Nigel is gearing up for BC Superweek July 10-18 at locations around the Lower Mainland. Isaac will also be entering junior/cadet events that week. Gillian and the Grants may get home in time to compete in the final day or two of Superweek. Then in August Gillian will be representing Canada at the World Track Cycling championships in Kazakstan. Big brother Nigel will be racing the tour of Alberta with his Silber Pro Cycling Team. Best of luck to all our local riders.