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Shining lights on PoCo Grand Prix

Additional lighting to spotlight racers in Friday's cycling criterium through downtown Port Coquitlam
PoCo GP twilight
There will be more lights set up around the course of Friday's PoCo Grand Prix to make it brighter for the races and more dramatic for spectators at the twilight event.

The lights will be even brighter at the 2019 PoCo Grand Prix shining the spotlight on the international cyclists participating in the popular BC Superweek event through Port Coquitlam’s downtown Friday night.

Organizers moved the event’s races to a later time in 2018, bringing in lights to illuminate the criterium course as twilight set in. Race director Mark Ernsting said even more lighting is being added this year — the fourth running of the race — for the start/finish line so they can put on an NBA-like introduction of the cyclists.

The night riding distinguishes the PoCo Grand Prix from the others in the long-running, nine-race series. The extra wattage builds on the popularity of the move last year.

“Running a cycling event under the lights is not a new concept but it’s definitely something that’s not often experienced in North American racing,” said Ernsting. "The riders' feedback post-race was all positive. It gave us the security to move forward and it was something the city embraced.

“We have the top riders in North America and abroad coming to the series, what we want to do now is add to the show quality of the series.”

The other big change is a change of direction from the previous PoCo Grand Prix incarnations. The start/finish will still be at Shaughnessy Street and McAllister Avenue but instead of starting with the riders heading south down Shaughnessy, they’ll go north one block and hang a right at Elgin Avenue.

The switch allows the final stretch to be a high-speed, two-block straightaway from Wilson Avenue to McAllister instead of the riders being forced to slow down to go around the corner at Elgin with no time to build up speed toward the finish line. 

“We felt the long straightaway leading into the finish line would be more spectator-friendly,” said Ernsting.

The final corner at Wilson and Shaughnessy, noted Ernsting, is also twice as wide as the one at Elgin and Shaughnessy.

“It allow them to come into the corner with more speed,” said Ernsting. “It will also lend itself to some more team tactics.”

He said because the final straightaway is so long, the riders will want to have a teammate leading the way to protect them and conserve energy for the final sprint to catch the leaders. That should make for a more dramatic finish compared to previous PoCo Grand Prix races, when there was only a short distance to catch up after coming around a sharp corner.

Californian Kendall Ryan won last year’s women’s race, barely edging Coquitlam’s Sara Bergen (see story in Sports) and Maggie Coles-Lyster of Maple Ridge, who will not be able to race Friday because she’ll be with the Canadian team training for the upcoming Pan American Games. Mitchell Ketler of Winnipeg won the men’s race ahead of German Florenz Knauer and U.S. rider William Myers of California.

• The action begins with the men’s category 3/4 pro race at 4:30 p.m. then a kids' race at 5:15 p.m. and a youth race at 6:25 p.m.; the women’s pro race starts at 7:15 p.m. and the men’s at 8:45 p.m. There will be a children’s area with entertainment on McAllister from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. and musical entertainment on the main stage until 11 p.m.

ggranger@tricitynews.com