(Lac Mégantic, QC) Ryan Roth (Team SpiderTech) will proudly bear the maple leaf jersey for the next year following his victory in the road race at the 2012 Canadian Road Championships, which were held in Lac-Megantic.

Antoine Duchesne (Garneau-Quebecor) claims for his part the Canadian champion’s jersey in the U23 category.

Riders with Team Spidertech, with a full contingent, were seen as favorites before the start of the race. They also placed four riders in a breakaway that held on for a hundred of the 180 kilometers that the race lasted. The break even took a lead of six minutes before the peloton decided to close the gap.

The work of Michael Barry (Team Sky), Dominique Rollin (FDJ-Big Mat), Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEDGE), all world class riders, managed to close the gap. David Veilleux (Europcar) has also done extensive work in the bunch, but a flat tire made him lose precious time.

After the seven climbs of the Mount Morne, riders headed back to the municipality of Lac-Megantic with a breakaway of four riders led by Michael Barry. The latter has been very active throughout the race and it was finally at the finish line that the race was decided, with Roth taking the win with a one second lead (4:35:21) on Barry, while Marsh Cooper (Optum-Kelly Benefit) crossed the line in third with the same time for third place.

“It was so tight at the finish line,” said the new Canadian champion. “I did not even raise my arms for fear of being passed. It’s always hard to do a sprint finish, and I wanted the victory. When the peloton decided to react to catch the breakaway, the tempo became very high with the work of Tuft, Barry, Rollin, and Veilleux. When Michael decided to take the lead, I followed him. He worked very hard. With four of our guys in the break, there was Michael and I could try something in the mountain.”

In the U23 race, Antoine Duchesne, also fourth in the Elite race, savored his victory that completed an all-Quebec podium in the category, with David Boily (SpiderTech) in second place and Hugo Houle (Spidertech) in third.

“It’s been four years since I had not won, so this win is very satisfying. I was a little apprehensive at first because I was not feeling well, I had stomach pain. But as the race progressed, I felt better and when we returned to town, I felt fine. When I had the opportunity to breakaway, I did it with François Parisien and Nic Hamilton. At six or seven kilometers from the finish, I went alone on a hill and I keep this position to the end.  Fourth place among the Elite and a Canadian title in the U23, I could not ask for a better day.”

FULL RESULTS: https://cyclingcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/CANADIEN-RESULTATS-ROUTE-HOMME.pdf

The Canadian women’s road cycling scene has a new champion. And not once but twice, since by winning her first national title, Denise Ramsden (Optum-Kelly-Benefit) also won the U23 title.

The rider originally from the Northwest Territories completed this week full of emotions, as Thursday, Cycling Canada announced that she would be part of Olympic road cycling squad, along with Clara Hughes and Joëlle Numainville. The girls have traveled a total of 104.5 kilometers with twice climbing the challenging ascent at Mount Morne.

Among the Elites, Hughes took the second place after being overtaken in a sprint by Ramsden, and it’s Joelle Numainville who finished third in a sprint. An All-Olympic podium.

“It’s really wonderful to see that the three girls chosen for the Olympic team find themselves on the podium,” said Clara Hughes (Lululemon-Specialized). It’s also good to come back after 20 years, to Megantic, the place of my first national title in cycling. Denise attacked a lot during the race, and with 20 kilometers to go left in the race. I managed to link up with her and I asked her if she had the energy to work with me.”

Before the affirmative answer from Ramsden, the two took off. “I worked a little more than her, but it’s okay. I would have done the same thing in her place. And everything was decided in the sprint. The two girls who do not sprint finished the race in a sprint.”

On the top step of the podium, Denise Ramsden fully savored her victory. “It’s really fantastic to don the jersey of National Champion. My team did a great job and everything worked well, according to the strategy that we implemented. When I left on a breakaway, I saw that Clara was trying to reach me. She is very strong. We worked together but of course she was doing the bulk of the work. At the end we were wondering how to finish the sprint because we are not girls who are recognized for sprint finishes. Fortunately, Joëlle (Numainville) gave me good advice.”

In the U23 category, Jasmin Glaesser (CyclingBC) finished second while Annie Ewart (Optum) finished third behind the champion Denise Ramsden.

FULL RESULTS: https://cyclingcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/CANADIEN-RESULTATS-ROUTE-FEMME.pdf

Lac-Mégantic – Svein Tuft (Orica Greenedge) is the undisputed king of the individual time trials in Canada. He gave a cycling lesson to the other participants in the race by posting a time of 47:26 on the 39 km course, earning his fifth consecutive Canadian title and eighth overall.

Earlier in the day, Hughes also showed dominance with her great first place after travelling the 30 kilometers course. She has also been confirmed today on the Canadian Olympic team, along with Joelle Numainville and Denise Ramsden In men, Ryder Hesjedal who participate in the Tour de France will be the Canadian representative in London.

Christian Meier (Orica Greenedge) took second place in the elite men at 2:08 behind the winning time, while Hugo Houle (SpiderTech) finished third and  also ranked as the top U23 rider.

“I have been putting a lot of emphasis in the time trials,” said Svein Tuft. “I recovered well from the Giro d’Italia, and today it is the dedication of all the efforts that the technical team has made. It was perfect today. I’m really happy. I just did 12 minutes of warming up in the heat. I was super hydrated in the last two days. Also, I understand the decision of Cycling Canada for choosing Ryder (Hesjedal). The problem is just that Canada has a single spot in the Olympics.”

The time posted by Hugo Houle in the Time Trial was also excellent. “It was very difficult because of the heat. When Svein caught me, it gave me a big blow to morale. I knew I was going very well. That is why in the last lap, I put my head down and I gave everything I could. It has been 30 minutes since the race is over, and I’m still tired.”

Clara Hughes will be making her sixth appearance at the Olympics, three of them being Summer Games. “I am very pleased to have been chosen. I am really motivated and we will have a great team in London. Today it was important for me to win here. I love wearing the Canadian champion jersey.”

Joëlle Numainville, her first Olympic team makes her really happy. “I am so happy to be riding with Clara, she is such a good athlete. It will help a lot with her experience. I will be at the service of the team, and the important thing is that someone from team step on the podium, nothing less.”