麻豆社区

Whitehorse cyclists were in top form in Juneau this past weekend.

Competing in the annual Tour de Juneau event, local riders topped four of the six overall categories.

Troy Henry was the men's overall winner, defeating Juneau's John Bursell in a sprint finish.

At just 22-years-old, Henry is continuing to develop into one of the top cyclists in the territory.

He was tested thoroughly by Bursell, who attempted to overtake Henry along the final 82-km stage.

In the sprint finish, Henry edged Bursell by half of at tire rotation.

On the women's side, Whitehorse's Janice Sheufelt repeated as last year's overall winner, crossing the finish line in a combined time of three hours, 24 minutes and three seconds.

Local cycling coach Treena Irving placed fourth overall.

Sheufelt found some extra motivation in Friday's prologue event, where local rookie rider Melanie Tait crossed the finish line four seconds ahead of her.

"That blew everyone away,鈥� said Irving, who along with competing in the event herself was also coaching the newly formed U Kon Echelon Cycling Club.

Tait continued her winning ways in the women's 48-km short course, reaching the finish in 1:34:35, only eight seconds behind men's overall winner Layrd Oliff.

Tait is in her second year of competitive cycling and is also an established speed skater.

The Tour de Junea was the first outside event for the U Kon Echelon club and Irving was impressed with the results.

"Many of our kids came in first and that's what I wanted,鈥� she said.

"It was a great event for us.鈥�

On Saturday, the cyclists attempted the most grueling portion of the Tour, a seven-kilometre climb of Eaglecrest Hill.

With over 3,000 feet of elevation, Irving found herself having to play the role of motivator a couple times during the climb.

"Mel was puttering out so I caught up to her and said 鈥榮ee, Shea (Hoffman)? He's in front of us so let's get him,' I had to redirect her attention because your legs are just burning, " she said.

"So we followed Shea, he was the fox and we were the hounds, and that seemed to get her up there a bit faster.鈥�

Tait eventually reached the finish line in second place with a time of 23:13. Sheufelt placed first overall with a time of 19:41.

Tait also displayed her agility later in the race, competing on flat ground.

When a cyclists went down in front of her, Tait didn't slow down but instead hopped over the downed cyclist and kept up her pace.

"I tell the group that if you don't flat and don't go down in race, regardless of results, you've won in some way,鈥� said Irving. "She saved it, didn't go down and just kept going. It was awesome.鈥�

On the men's side, Henry was the first up Eaglecrest in the hill climb with a time of 17:41.

Whitehorse cyclists swept the Youth category, with Hoffman finishing in 22:50 while Bryce Lemphers and Matthew Knaack finished in just under 23 minutes.

Also competing in the climb was Irving's seven-year-old daughter, Ava, who completed a 3.2-km versions of the course in 15:13.

Darryl Tait also finished the course on a handcycle, finishing in 11:11.

Hoffman finished first overall in the Youth category and his smarts on the road propelled him to the top finish when a Juneau cyclist attempted to block one of his pass attempts.

The cyclists looked back to keep on eye on Hoffman and seizing the opportunity, Hoffman accelerated and took the pass on the other side, cruising into first place.

Irving said the Tour was a great experience for the club, which also allowed them to camp together over the weekend.

The group will now be headed to Edmonton this week to compete in the Alberta Junior Provincial Championship and the Alberta Provincial Para-Athlete Championships.

Irving said they will depart early Thursday morning and she's hopeful that once again, the Whitehorse cyclists will finish at the top of the pack.

"Things went really, really well in Juneau so it was great,鈥� she said.

"We want to keep that momentum going.鈥�