BCBR’s Gravel Explorer started as it finished: Andrew L’Esperance and Rob Britton sprinting for the win. This, despite long days and wildly varied terrain ranging from very rough gravel to smoother, speedier days in the Okanagan.
The fast finish ends a long week of racing from Naramata to Okanagan Falls. While a trio of men battled at the front, the women’s race was a week-long campaign by Cynthia Frazier to unseat reigning Gravel Explorer champ, Amity Rockwell
Cooperation, competition and gravel sprints
On Stage 1, Britton (Easton Overland) just edged out L’Esperance (Maxxis Factory Team) to take the win on a false-flat downhill section of the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR). L’Esperance responded on Stage 2, fighting back to take the win and, over the following days, to steadily build a lead in the overall.
Between Stage 1, which took a back route from Naramata to the edge of Kelowna before looping back to the finish line, and Stage 5 in Summerland, Britton, L’Esperance and Cory Wallace (Kona) would trade wins on the men’s side.
The final day of racing again ended in a sprint finish. Again it was Britton, a former pro road racer, taking the win. “Rob just has too much experience on the road for me to get him in a sprint like that,” L’Esperance said after the finish line. Despite Britton taking the final win, L’Esperance holds on to win the Gravel Explorer overall. The win extends his streak of BCBR stage race victories. In 2021 he won the BC Bike Race mountain bike event in his first appearance.
Cory Wallace finishes third overall, even stealing a stage win from the Britton and L’Esperance, despite the two leaders occasionally working together to create an advantage before settling the stage wins via sprints.
“Once those guys start working together, it’s game over for me,” Wallace said of the leader’s strategy. The result caps off a wild 2022 for the Jasper, Alta. racer that started with a bikepacking adventure on the African continent, including an FKT ride up to Mount Kilimanjaro.
Amity Rockwell and Cynthia Frazier ride together mid-stage during the Gravel Explorer XLT. Photo: Chris Stenberg
Frazier out on her own on the final race day in Summerland. Photo: Chris Stenberg
Rachel Wills contratulated by Papa John after five days of racing. Photo: Chris Stenberg
A new champion…
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