The 17th annual Tour de Whitehorse took place July 8th through July 10th with warm temperatures and sunny skies.

Starting with a 2-km race up the South Access (Robert Service Way) on Friday, followed by an individual time trial on the North Klondike on Saturday and culminating in a road race from Jakes Corner to the Miles Canyon turn off on the Alaska Highway, not only was the weather impressive but so were many of the performances put in by the cyclist.

Things got underway on Friday evening with the lung busting 2 kilometre sprint up the South Access Road.

Under near perfect conditions, Jillian Chown, competing in the expert women’s division, established a new record, covering the distance in 4:44, which was the seventh fastest time Friday night.

Preston Blackie in the men’s expert division was first in 3:45 followed by Marc LaPointe in 3:58. LaPointe and Blackie were the only two riders to go under 4 minutes.

Micah Taggart-Cox showed why he is considered a future star when the 15-year-old put in a time of 4:30 to claim the U17 title.

“Micah has had an outstanding season,” said coach Trena Irving.

Conditions were once again near perfect on Saturday for the individual time trial, which took place on the North Klondike Highway at the junction of the North Klondike and Hot Springs road.

Blackie continued to impress as he set a record of 27:54 on the 20-km out-and-back course. Blackie averaged 43 km/hr in setting the record.

In the expert women’s division Trena Irving put in a personal best, completing the course in 32:52 and taking first place ahead of Chown.

Lucas Taggart-Cox bested Kaden Gregory by 35 seconds with a time of 16:10 in the U13 division.

The last day of competition would see the riders competing over distances ranging from 28 km (U13), 48 km (U15) and 73.5 km (U17, sport and expert).

Micah Taggart-Cox, 15, competing in the U17 division would finish third overall in the long road race and less than one minute behind overall winner Preston Blackie who soloed over the last 15 km to victory.

Blackie won the Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay solo title in June.

The Tour also served as the Yukon Championships in the Hill Climb, Time Trial and Road Race and championship trophies were handed out by Marc Lapointe, President of the Cycling Association of Yukon to the top three in all categories.

Irving said that many of the U23 athletes raced to personal best times, sometimes shaving minutes off their times.

She said this time of the year is when the athletes are at their strongest, with “more power and lots of kilometres under their belts.”

Monday a group of young cyclists will head to Vancouver for some training before continuing on to Washington for the Northwest Junior Stage Race at the end of July.

There will be another training camp in Victoria before the riders come home for yet another training camp and a race in Haines Junction.

Shea Hoffman and David Jackson, both U23 riders, will head to Saskatchewan for its provincials and then to Calgary for the Tour de Bowness.

“One thing after another,” said Irving of the summer. “It’s really exciting.

Report prepared by Mike McCann with files from Marissa Tiel.

Yukon champs settled at criterium

Riders were at the mercy of the weather when deciding when to race the Yukon Championships for Criterium. The weather held out and the race ran Wednesday evening.

U13 Boys

1- Lucas Taggart-Cox
2- Kaden Gregory
3- Johna Irving-Staley
4- Olie Johnson
5- Taiga Burman

U13 Girls

1- Annie Cable
2- Ava Irving-Staley

U15 Girls

1- Mollie Fraser

U17 Boys

1- Micah Taggart-Cox

Sport Men

1- David Jackson

Expert Men

1- Preston Blackie
2- Marc Lapointe
3- Matthias Purdon
4- Shea Hoffman

Expert Women

1-Trena Irving