It’s been 10 years since North Burnaby held the first Giro di Burnaby, and a decade on, the cycling race is just as strong as ever.
The race returns to its usual Burnaby Heights stomping grounds on July 14, as party of the Super Week series, a collection of cycling races around the region.
This year, the city is bracing for 10,000 spectators to line the course along Hastings Street to cheer on the riders.
Giro organizer Rainy Kent said planning for this year’s event is well underway, but she doesn’t expect any significant changes for the race.
Instead, it will be business as usual for the premier event in the neighbourhood.
“How we’ve seen the race develop since 2006 is huge,” she told the NOW.
Kent noted every year since the start, the event has taken steps to get buy-in from the businesses in the area, to the point now where she said merchants are embracing the race.
“It’s kind of a celebration day around some pretty amazing bike racing,” she said.
If you’re new to the race, The Giro di Burnaby comprises a single cycling event, open to male and female cyclists competing for a total prize purse of over $15,000, collected from sponsorship. The race consists of 30 laps of the 1.2-kilometre course for the women and 45 laps for the men.
The race went on hiatus for two years in 2009 and 2010, but returned with renewed sponsor for 2011.
And the city is equally happy to have the race in North Burnaby.
Parks and recreation director Dave Ellenwood said the city sees the race as an economic boon and an opportunity to draw tourists into the community.
Along with Hats Off Day in June, he said the Giro has become a feature event for North Burnaby.
“This one as well is very important in the North Burnaby community,” he said, adding the event has full support from the local business improvement association.
With continued support from sole title sponsor Appia Development, both organizers and the city expect the race continue for years to come.
“We want it to have a very long life,” Ellenwood said. “I think it’s getting ingrained in the community where if it didn’t happen, they would wonder why.”
The women’s race will start at 6 p.m. and the men’s race will start at approximately 7:15 p.m. Hastings Street and the surrounding streets are required to be closed to local traffic from 4 to 10 p.m. with restricted parking in the immediate area beginning at 3 p.m.
A staff report asking for council to approve the road closures noted the 4 p.m. closure allows the large volunteer team the time required to set up the 8,000-plus feet of required security fencing and ample time for the staging area to be moved into position.
