WOMEN’S RACES TO TAKE PLACE WITHOUT ITS DEFENDING CHAMPION
A new Canadian Champion will be crowned as Numainville not racing to defend her titles
(Lac Mégantic, QC – June 25, 2014) The 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships road races will feature the best Canadian women on two wheels, and a large group of professional and amateur cyclists will take to the streets of Lac Mégantic to showcase the strength and power of women cycling in this country.
Joëlle Numainville (Montreal, QC) of Optum-Kelly Benefits displayed an exceptional showcase of talent last year, winning last year both the Canadian Championships in the time trial and the road races. However, Numainville will not be racing this year, opening the door to this powerful group of women to crown a new Champion.
Denise Ramsden (Vancouver, BC) of Optum-Kelly Benefit will be looking to repeat her win from 2012 on the same circuit after taking off with Clara Hughes on a two-woman breakaway that lasted to the finish line. Ramsden will have two teammates around her in Leah Kirchmann (Chelsea, QC), the defending Canadian Criterium Champion, and Annie Ewart (Victoria, BC).
Olympic medallists from track cycling Jasmin Glaesser (Coquitlam, BC) of Team TIBCO-To-The-Top and Gillian Carleton (Victoria, BC) of Team Vanderkitten will be looking to make some gains this week. Glaesser was fourth in the women’s road race in 2012 on a similar course, while Carleton is having a stellar season with her new team. The two women continue their track preparations with the women’s team pursuit, a team that will attempt to defend its Pan-American Games record in Toronto 2015 and improve on its bronze medal from the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Lex Albrecht (Montreal, QC) of Team Twenty16 Pro Cycling will be racing for her team, and is a serious contender to grab the Canadian Champion jersey.
There will be a few teams with larger representation, such as SAS-Mazda-MACOGEP-Specialized, Team Red Truck Racing, Stevens-The Cyclery and Team NCCH-DEC Express.
The women’s road race will take place on Friday, June 27.
TIME TRIAL RACE ALSO EXPECTED TO BE A DIFFICULT BATTLE
To kick start the 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships on Thursday in the time trial race, expect Anika Todd (Victoria, BC) of TIBCO-To-The-Top, Jasmin Glaesser, Denise Ramsden and Annie Ewart and Leah Kirchmann to rise and contend for the top honours. These strong women are proven time-trialists and raced well in the event in 2013.
Also to watch will be Canada Games Champion in the women’s time trial Annie Forman-Mackay (Kingston, ON) of Team Stevens-The Cyclery, Alizée Brien (St-Jérome, QC) of Team TIBCO-To-The-Top, and the 2013 junior time trial Canadian Champion Kinley Gibson (Edmonton, AB) of Team Trek Red Truck.
You can also follow Cycling Canada on Facebook @CyclingCanada and on the main twitter account @CyclingCanada. The official twitter hashtag for the event is #GRCanRoadChamps.
The 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships are taking place June 26 through July 5, in Lac Mégantic, QC and Beauceville, QC. Athletes from all over Canada will race for the coveted title of Canadian Champion in the road race, time trial and criterium races, earning the right to wear the Red and White jersey for the next year.
More information at www.championnatscanadiensroute.com
ABOUT GLOBAL RELAY
Global Relay is the world leader in cloud-based messaging, archiving and search technology for the financial sector. Global Relay is headquartered in Gastown, with offices in New York, Chicago, London and Singapore. In 2012, Global Relay invested $1 million to bring back and operate the Gastown Grand Prix, Canada’s most prestigious criterium which attracts some of North America’s top cyclists and crowds of 30,000 to the streets of historic Gastown in Vancouver each July, as part of BC Superweek.
