麻豆社区

Elijah Buffalo took one last long glance over his shoulder before crossing the finish line victorious Sunday.

The attack never came.

The 32-year-old bested Ian Parker in yesterday鈥檚 84-kilometre road race that finished on the Miles Canyon loop, earning him the title of Tour de Whitehorse champion.

鈥淲hen I鈥坱urned back and looked, I鈥坵as like 鈥極h, OK. I鈥坢ight as well put in a sprint and see what happens,鈥欌�� said Buffalo, who races for Gastown Cycling. He finished in 2:11:11.

鈥淚t feels pretty good to win, especially since it鈥檚 also the Yukon championships.鈥�

The VeloNorth Cycling Club hosted the 15th edition of the Yukon鈥檚 original stage race over the weekend.

The event also featured a 1.8-km hill climb prologue Friday and a 20-km time trial Saturday.

The Tour de Whitehorse doubled as the territory鈥檚 time trial and road race championships.

Other category winners were Trena Irving (expert women), Ian Hansen (sport men) and Sara Burke-Forsyth (sport women).

Twenty-one cyclists took part in the tour鈥檚 final event Sunday.

鈥淲e are trying to revitalize road cycling in the territory,鈥� said organizer Mike McCann. 鈥淭he turnout was as expected in a rebuilding year.鈥�

In the future, McCann said he hopes to link the Tour de Whitehorse with sister Alaskan tours in the future, including events in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau.

Approximately $2,000 in prize money was handed out at a post-race awards ceremony.

While several expert male riders turned out for Sunday鈥檚 road race, Buffalo knew the win was his as he had competed in all three tour events.

Hansen, 18, and Burke-Forsyth, 19, used the event as a warm-up for next month鈥檚 Western Canada Summer Games.

The duo, who are both dating and newcomers to the road cycling scene, will be joined by Shea Hoffman in Fort McMurray, Alta.

鈥淚t鈥檚 never happened to me before,鈥� said Hansen of the category win. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty cool.鈥�

Burke-Forsyth said participating in Saturday鈥檚 time trial was a unique experience for both of them.

鈥淚t was weird,鈥� she chuckled. 鈥淭here鈥檚 the helmet, the aerobars, the skin suit and some weird boot covers. ... I felt that I was going faster?鈥�

Irving said the revival of Yukon cycling has drawn a large group of very young cyclists, which bodes well for the future.

鈥淭hese kids will have trained with me for five years before the next Westerns,鈥� said Irving, the 41-year-old coach of the territory鈥檚 new U Kon Echelon cycling club. 鈥淲ho knows?鈥圱hey might be medallists there. I have high hopes.鈥�

Meanwhile, for Parker, the runner-up finish was hugely significant.

The race marked the first for the 42-year-old since he fractured his neck in a fat-biking incident at Mount McIntyre last March.

鈥淚t鈥檚 funny how it takes something like that to make you feel lucky,鈥� he said.

鈥淪econd place in a bike race is always first loser, but today I鈥坮ealized I was just lucky to put away the voices in my head that said 42-year-olds don鈥檛 come back from serious injuries to be competitive again.鈥�