B.C. Superweek – Gastown Grand Prix
Ken Hanson and Laren Rowney win big prize purse in Gastown.
Loren Rowney (Specialized-lululemon) and Ken Hanson (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) won the Elite criteriums at the B.C. Superweek’s Gastown Grand Prix on Wednesday night.
Rowney won the Elite women’s event’s bunch sprint ahead of American sprint legend Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom) in second and Nicky Wangsgard (Primal/May My Ride) in third.
“The atmosphere, just to see the public out here like this is great,” said Rowney, who earned $8,000 for the win. “In terms of atmosphere this is one of the greatest events I’ve done with the public and just the excitement and how well run it is. With women’s races being taken away with sponsorship falling through it’s great to see a sponsor stepping up for us.”
Hanson relied on a perfect team lead-out to win the Elite men’s race that offered $15,000 to the first placed rider. He out-paced Ryan Anderson (SpiderTech p/b C10) in second and Tommy Nankervis (Competitive Cyclist) in third.
“We all share it as a team so it’s not all going into my pocket,” said Hanson, who won the King of the Mountain jersey at the Tour de Beauce in June. “We’re having a bachelor party for a teammate getting married on Saturday so I don’t know if we’ll have anything after tonight.”
Photos by Scott Robarts
