Exciting Points Criterium races end road cycling on a beautiful day.

(Sherbrooke, QC – August 17, 2013) The last road cycling races at the Canada Games were held Saturday on a gorgeous sunny day in Sherbrooke, with Annie Foreman-Mackay of Ontario and Pierrick Naud of Québec each winning their second gold medals of the week.

The race, which awarded points at every five laps to the first four riders crossing the line, was different than the typical criterium race where the first crossing the line wins.

The men travelled 30 laps of the 1.8-kilometer course, and the pace was fast right from the start of the race. Team Quebec took control of the race from the sound of the whistle, placing both the Canadian Criterium Champion Pierrick Naud and Elliot Doyle in the points. After the first three laps, Naud and Doyle were alone at the top the 14 points, while Kris Dahl of Alberta and Andrew L’Espérance of Team Nova Scotia scoring seven points.

A small break comprised of the two-time Canada Games medallist Matteo Dal-Cin of Ontario, Adam de Vos of British Columbia and Chris Prendergast of Manitoba took off, and managed to get a lead of 17 seconds over five laps. The break forced Team Québec to stay at the front of the peloton and dispense significant energies to keep the gap to a controllable distance. The controlled break was eventually captured after just one sprint, or five laps, and did not impact the race leaders.

With five laps to go, in the sprint lap, Doyle squeezed in to take the five points and the solid lead in the race. But with double points awarded at the finish line, many scenarios remained possible. With a few break attempts that were easily controlled, Naud initiated the sprint and crossed the finish line with two arms up, taking the 10 points and the victory with a total of 25 points. Doyle, with his fourth sprint and 19 points already banked, was second. Dahl, with 10 points, finished third for the bronze medal.

“It’s a sense of mission accomplished,” said Pierrick Naud, of Team Quebec and member of the Garneau-Quebecor professional cycling team. “I had pretty high goals coming here, and I wanted to win two gold medals. My physical condition was very good. The team did a great job today, and we worked very well as a team.”

Asked if the points format was different from regular criterium races, Naud mentioned it didn’t change the way he raced: “We’re a little familiar with sprints for points. The Mardi Cycliste is a bit the same way. We knew we were going to be doing well,” said Naud, who will represent his team at the Tour of Alberta in early September.

In the women’s race, Annie-Foreman-Mackey of Ontario (Stevens p/b The Cyclery) won the points race scoring 15 pts in the five sprints throughout the 25-lap race, taking her second gold medal of the week.

“When I saw Alizée go up the road and Tessa joining, I thought there would be a pretty good chance that the break could stay away. Tessa and I were working the break the most, and we know each other, so we were cheering each other on. I think we both know that, should we win some sprints, we would have a chance to be on the podium.”

“[The second gold medal] is better than I could ever had imagined. I haven’t done too many crits, so this was very unexpected. This was my very first points race, even on the track, so yesterday we did a Points 101 course to learn how everything works. It was actually a lot of fun, just using strategies of the race.”

To start the race, Adriane Provost of Quebec managed to win the second sprint, for five points, and the third sprint, worth ten points, to take the early control of the race with 15 laps to go.

But an important three-woman break comprised of Foreman-Mackey, Alizée Brien of Quebec and Tessa Pinckston of British Columbia immediately changed the outcome of the race, with Foreman-Mackey scoring the some critical big points. This break, which would last until the very end, proved to be a critical mistake for Team Québec, leaving Foreman-MacKey alone in the break. The individual time trial gold medallist and powerful sprinter scored 11 points in the break to win the race with 15 points.

Adriane Provost did not score any points after her two winning sprints, and finished in second place for the silver medal with 15 points, while Tessa Pinkston scored points in the last two sprints to take the third place with 10 points.

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RESULTS – POINTS CRITERIUM – CANADA GAMES – SHERBROOKE, QC

Road cycling – Points Criterium, Men

1. Elliot Doyle (QC) 25 pts

2. Pierrick Naud (QC) 19 pts

3. Kris Dahl (AB) 10 pts

Road cycling – Points Criterium, Women

1. Annie Foreman-Mackey (ON) 15 pts

2. Adriane Provost (QC) 15 pts

3. Tessa Pinckston (BC) 12 pts

Matteo Dal-Cin and James Piccoli win second medal in Sherbrook

(Sherbrooke, QC – August 14, 2013) Pierrick Naud of Team Quebec won the men’s road race at the Canada Games in a two-man sprint of the breakaway, locking the second gold medal for Team Quebec in the road races at the Canada Games.

At the finish line, it’s sprinter Pierrick Naud who won the race, while the Canada Games Time Trial Champion Matteo Dal-Cin took the silver. In the sprint for the bronze medal, James Piccoli of Team Quebec outsprinted the small group of chasers to capture his second medal of the Canada Games, and Team Quebec’s fifth of six medals available at the road races.

“I know the strength of Matteo. He won the time trial race on Monday and he is a specialist in solitary effort. I knew that I sprint better than him, so I didn’t really want to take any chances by attacking and wasting my strength,” said Naud, the Criterium Canadian Champion. “With such a steep course, the selection was to be made naturally. I came here with the intention of winning. It’s not necessarily self-pressure, but it was in my objective, and I had confidence.”

The race of 44 cyclists started with a very quick pace, and a few unsuccessful breakaway were attempted. In the second lap, just like Alizée Brien did in the morning in the women’s race, Adam DeVos of Team British Columbia took off in a solo attack.

Soon after, a chase of very good riders formed with Pierrick Naud and James Piccoli of Team Québec, Matteo Dal-Cin and Ryan Aitcheson of Team Ontario and Andrew L’Esperance of Team Nova Scotia.

Throughout the race, the chase group continued to work like clockwork, working together exchanging leads. Ultimately, they decided to leave DeVos at the front while controlling the gap at no more than two minutes. As the race progressed and with a melting lead, DeVos was eventually caught in the eighth lap, losing lots of energy.

“Matteo and I raced into the same teams, and we are good friends. Cohesion in the break between us was very good,” admitted Naud.

With two laps to go and the solo break caught, Pierrick Naud of Team Québec and Matteo Dal-Cin of Team Ontario both attacked, and with an exhausted DeVos and the lone Nova Scotia rider Andrew l’Espérance, the bridge proved to be impossible to close.

“There were several of us in the chase group, and I felt that some began to be exhausted after a while. The breakaway was formed a little weird. Matteo gained distance a little bit on the descent, and I jumped to his wheel. We looked back, and no one joined. So we decided to work within us,” added Naud.

The men completed 11 loops the 10.46km course, featuring a few punchy climbs at 10% grades.

The men will next race the spectator-friendly criterium on Saturday.

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RESULTS – ROAD RACE – MEN – CANADA GAMES – SHERBROOKE, QC

Men

1. Pierrick Naud (QC) 3:11:53.00

2. Matteo Alexander Dal-Cin (ON) 3:11:53.00

3. James Piccoli (QC) 3:14:34.00

4. Ryan Aitcheson (ON) 3:14:38.00

5. Adam deVos (BC) 3:14:56.00

6. Andrew L’Esperance (NS) 3:15:40.00

7. Jordan Harris Cheyne (ON) 3:17:34.00

8. Stuart Matthew Wight (NB) 3:17:34.00

9. Emile Jean (QC) 3:23:26.00

10. Chris Prendergast (MB) 3:23:26.00

Brien wins in solo attack, Provost chases for second while Albert takes bronze in sprint

(Sherbrooke, QC – August 14, 2013) The Quebec cycling team took the first four places of the women’s road race at the Canada Games, with Alizée Brien largely dominating the race, launching herself into a solo attack that lasted the last five of seven laps of the 10.46 km urban circuit in Sherbrooke, QC.

Brien, who won the silver medal in the individual time trial earlier on Monday, crossed the finish line with two arms up with a time of 2:17:23, showing a gap of 9:09 over her teammate of Team Québec Adriane Provost.

“Yeah, I can’t believe it. It’s crazy, even spectators who did not know me were encouraging me. I do not believe it. We [Team Quebec] wanted to destroy everyone. It was not necessarily me that was dedicated as the leader today. The goal was to work as a team and to be on top of the podium,” said Alizée Brien, who rides for the professional cycling team GSD Gestion – Kallisto.

The race started with a few attacks that proved unfruitful, until Brien went in a solo attack after a few laps. Brien maintained her gap to about one minute until the fifth lap, and then exploded to gain a maximum gap of 5:15 by the sixth lap. In the last lap, Brien managed to maintain her momentum towards the finish line for the victory.

“I left early, and my advance quickly rose to a minute. I lost a little time in the following lap, but I was able to push and gain it right back. I think the girls in the pack were working for me, to keep ahead. I did not really want to believe in the win too early, and lose all my gap. Even at the end, I thought Adriane was much closer,” added Brien. “The hill was hard, but I love to climb at my own pace, and I today I had the chance to ride at my pace and not to take the shots in the bunch.”

Provost launched her attack with two laps to go, and quickly gained a gap of over two minutes on the disorganized peloton, which put all the pressure on Team Ontario to dispense all their energies at the front of the peloton. With 200m to go, Elizabeth Albert of Team Quebec launched the sprint for the bronze, and had plenty of energy left to grab that lost podium spot.

Pascal Choquette, head coach of the Team Québec road cycling team, was obviously pleased with the podium sweep: “Yes, we are very happy. I must say congratulations to the girls. They worked well and they adhered to the plan we had set before the race. The plan was to take control of the race, and force other provinces to work hard early in the race, even if we had to burn ourselves. We had the team for that strategy.”

Choquette praised the efforts deployed by Brien, but also of the four other cyclists in Team Québec. “For Alizée to ride solo five laps is an outstanding effort. Alizée is excellent in the time trials, so she had a good chance to make it to the line. We knew that others from the team would have a chance to make it as well, in the event she would not have been able to make it. We knew that the other provinces would lose all their cartridges chasing after Alizée, of course to our advantage.”

The women will next race the spectator-friendly criterium on Saturday.

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RESULTS – ROAD CYCLING – ROAD RACE – CANADA GAMES – SHERBROOKE, QC

Women

1. Alizée Brien (QC) 2:17:23

2. Adriane Provost (QC) 2:22:15

3. Elisabeth Albert (QC) 2:23:30

4. Anne-Marie B. Morin (QC) 2:23:30

5. Annie Foreman-Mackey (ON) 2:23:30

6. Karlee Gendron (MB) 2:23:30

7. Gabrielle Pilote Fortin (QC) 2:23:33

8. Tessa Pinckston (BC) 2:23:49

9. Gillian Ellsay (BC) 2:25:46

10. Brenna Keeley Pauly (BC) 2:25:46