Joanne Kiesanowski and Luke Keough win at UBC Grand Prix

The University of British Columbia campus turned into a race-course Tuesday for the UBC Grand Prix. The event, which is a part of BC Superweek, featured professional men’s and women’s criteriums on a technical circuit at the heart of the school’s grounds.

In the men’s contest, the UnitedHealthcare team swept the podium with Luke Keough claiming top honours. His teammates Hilton Clarke and Ken Hanson followed through for the second and third spots. Keough gave much of the credit to his squad. “These guys are so drilled, so strong, and it’s just great to have a group of guys who work so well together,” said Keough after the race. “To be able to deliver us to the line like that, it’s something like nothing else.”

Simon Lambert-Lamay of Garneau-Quebecor was the best of the Canadians with his fifth-place finish. Team SmartStop’s Kristofer Dahl came in sixth, to give Canada a second rider in the top-10.

In the women’s race, Joanne Kiesanowski of Team Tibco took the win, beating Winnipeg’s Leah Kirchmann of Team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies in a sprint out of a seven-rider breakaway that left the field in the first few laps. Attacking so early in the race was always a risk, but Tuesday evening the cards fell in favour of the move.

“I wasn’t sure if our break was going to be successful at first, but it was full of really strong riders and most of the big teams were represented so that really worked to our advantage,” Kirchmann said.

That left a tactical sprint to the line to decide the race’s winner. Kiesanowski beat Kirchmann to the crucial final corner and held on to take the crown. Laura van Gilder of Team Mellow Mushroom Racing finished third.

The second-place result was Kirchmann’s third podium spot in a row, following her wins at the White Rock | Delta road race and Brenco Criterium. Last month, she won the national road race, time-trial and criterium titles.

Canadians Gillian Carleton (fourth), Jamie Gilgen (fifth), Elle Anderson (sixth) and Annie Ewart (seventh) also finished inside the top-10.