Banff, AB. - Some of the best cyclists from across Western Canada kicked off the first annual Banff National Park Bike Fest this past weekend through the iconic mountain town in the Canadian Rockies.

As an Alberta Bicycle Association sanctioned race, cyclists were split into five categories from the elite Category 1 racers down to the Category Five racers. Sundays elite men's and women's road races were by invitation only.

Time Trial: Starting at 8 a.m., every 30 seconds one of a field of 150 cyclists began pedalling the hilly course from Banff Avenue near downtown Banff north across an overpass of the TransCanada Highway up the steep hills of the Minnewanka Loop and back through a fast, twisty downhill.

Trek Red Truck's Rob Britton powered to first place in the individual time trial. Despite suffering from the course’s high elevation at 1,383 metres above sea level, Rob Britton, a 23-year-old from Victoria edged out the “undisputed king of time trials in Alberta” to win the elite men’s category in 26 minutes and 44.1 seconds. “I could taste blood the whole time,” Britton said just before accepting his winner’s medal. “I was hurting pretty bad.”

Official results for Saturday's Individual Time Trial

Elite Men (pdf 98.36 kB)
Elite Women (pdf 89.52 kB)
Master Men (pdf 89.64 kB)
Master Women (pdf 88.35 kB)
Category 2/3 (pdf 89.67 kB)
Category 4 (pdf 90.35 kB)
Category 5 (pdf 89.39 kB)

Criterium: A field of 82 elite men ended the night with an electric race of 45-minutes, plus five laps. A pack of 10 riders broke away a third of the way into the high-speed race. By the end of the race, only six could stay away from the chasing pack of riders. But with two laps to go, Tim Heemskerk , a 32-year-old from Edmonton racing for United Cycle Racing, got a rousing cheer from the crowd when he broke away from the lead group and held on to win by just two seconds in 49:54.

Official results for Saturday's Criterium

Elite Men (pdf 97.33 kB)
Elite Women (pdf 89.63 kB)
Category 2/3 (pdf 91.20 kB)
Category 4 (pdf 90.78 kB)
Category 5 (pdf 88.19 kB

Road Race: Just as the women ended their 52-kilometre race, Sunday morning, the rain cleared as if on cue for the strong field of 82 men preparing to start the elite men’s road race. But the men would have to fight strong headwinds through much of their 104-kilometre race on the same course. A lead group of eight racers broke away from the main pack midway through the race. They opened up a major gap, but not enough of one for Rob Britton, a 23-year-old from Victoria racing for Trek Red Truck Racing Team by MOSAIC, who won the time trial on Saturday morning. Britton made his break at the start of the first hill on Tunnel Mountain Dr. midway through the second-last lap. With one lap to go, Britton had stretched his lead to 30 seconds. By the finish, Britton was a full minute ahead, winning with a time of 2:38.46. “I was really tired from yesterday,” Britton said after the race. “Just about everywhere there were really strong headwinds. The only place to rest was on the uphills.” Tyler Trace, Britton’s 23-year-old teammate from Victoria, finished second. Britton’s road race win, combined with his time trial win and a strong showing in the criterium on Saturday, earned him a convincing overall stage race win. His total time of 3:55.28.2 was almost two minutes faster than his closest competition.