Belgian Waffle Ride made its debut in Canada on Sunday, greeting riders with a hefty 218-km course that balanced road, gravel and single track in a way that delivered dynamic racing for those at the front and a challenge worthy of the BWR name for riders throughout the pack.
Canadians successfully defended their home turf, landing wins in both of the pro races. In the mark of a truly balanced course, Rob Britton and Haley Smith rode very different strategies to victory. While the tactics differed, Britton attacked solo on a long climb while Smith established a gap on a stretch of technical single track, both produced the same result: a hard-earned victory.
Waffle men: Britton brings BWR home
While all Canadians were racing to some extent with the idea of winning at “home” in mind, this was probably most true for Victoria local Rob Britton. The pro road racer turned gravel specialist has logged countless hours on the side roads and various gravel surfaces of southern Vancouver Island over his decade of training in the area.
“It probably wasn’t a secret beforehand, but it was very important to me to win this race. I put in a lot of work to make that happen, but you can make all the goals you want. I saw the start roster and, with all those fast guys, there was no guarantees. I had a plan to attack where I did. To pull it off is pretty special.”
While Britton had the motivation, he also had the weight of expectation and the eyes of his competitors trained squarely on his back. Instead of leaving anything to chance the Canadian attacked early, launching up an extended paved, then steep gravel climb over 100km from the finish line.
“Rob attacked right at the bottom of the Shawnigan Lakes climb, kind of as expected,” said fourth-place finisher Carter Nieuwesteeg, who also spent several years training and living in Victoria. “He knows that climb better than most of us. Seven of us tried to reel him in, but he was gone.”
While the group eventually put in a concerted chase, Britton benefited from some initial hesitation among that group to lead the chase.
“The way I saw the group work wasn’t super cohesive,” Britton says. “I kind of thought they let me go, the way I was able to ride away.”
By the top of the climb, the gap was formed. The Easton Overland rider extended…
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