The notion that the Tour de Delta is a proving ground for cyclists on their way to the world stage certainly got a boost in France last weekend.
Exactly three weeks after capturing the White Spot Delta Road Race in Tsawwassen, Winnipeg's Leah Kirchmann found herself on cycling's biggest stage in the inaugural running of La Course, a possible precursor to a female version of the Tour de France. And not only did Kirchmann take part in the historic race, but the Canadian champion almost won it all, finishing an extremely close third behind Olympic champ Marianne Vos of the Netherlands.
We've seen cyclists come through here - Tyler Farrar, Svein Tuft and Christian Meier come to mind recently - that go on to ride in the Tour de France and other big time races in Europe, but usually it doesn't happen quite so quickly.
Arms raised in victory, Kirchmann was pictured on the front page of our July 9 issue thanks to her triumph in Tsawwassen (she also won the Brenco Criterium in Ladner Village the night before). The day the paper came out she claimed her third B.C. Superweek title at the Gastown Grand Prix.
And before you know it, she's in France competing against the world's best.
*** While on the topic of athletes destined for big things, it's nice to see Ladner's own James Paxton poised to return to the Seattle Mariners' rotation. Paxton was an impressive call-up last September and was enjoying a strong spring when his season was derailed by injury.
I saw a stat the other day that said he is the first pitcher in almost 50 years to toss at least six shutout innings in three of his first five career MLB games. Not bad, not bad at all.
*** For at least a couple of years now we've been hearing how liquefied natural gas will be the saviour of the B.C. economy. For significantly longer than that we've been told, like it or not, Delta's strategic location makes it a key player in the Asia-Pacific gateway.
Well, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before those two issues crossed paths, which has finally happened with the application before the National Energy Board to build an LNG terminal on the Fraser River.
I thought the whole bulk liquids issue would make its way out to Roberts Bank, and it might well find itself there at some point, but the fact there's a proposal for the Tilbury area can hardly be considered surprising.
