LEAH KIRCHMANN TRIUMPH IN ROAD RACE AT CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Kirchmann of Optum-Kelly Benefits wins second race at Global Relay Canadian Road Championships
(Lac Mégantic, QC – June 27, 2014) Canada’s top cyclists converged on the roads of Lac Mégantic on Friday night to crown a new champion at the 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships.
Without its reigning champion, the peloton of 57 women started the 119 km road race in downtown Lac Mégantic, then rode to the Mont Morne circuit. The group rode five laps of the loop prior to its return to Lac Mégantic.
Earlier in the race, two cyclists broke away together until the first climb of the Mont Morne, a two-kilometer wall with a maximum slope of 11%. Early in the first ascent, the two-girl breakaway was quickly reduced to a single woman, Megan Rathwell, who stayed alone at the front until the fourth lap of the circuit. Rathwell, after a tremendous solo effort, was brought back at the 72nd kilometer.
Leaving the circuit, and with 20 kilometers to go in the tough race, only about 20 cyclists were left in the at the front of the race. Then, several unsuccessful attacks were repeated mainly by Team Optum-Kelly Benefits and Team TIBCO-To-The-Top. The group remained together until 500m to go.
The sprint was launched about fifty meters before the finish line, and it’s Leah Kirchmann of Team Optum-Kelly Benefit that was the first to cross the finish line with two seconds ahead of teammate Denise Ramsden, the 2012 Canadian Champion. Leah Guloien of Trek Red Truck team crossed the line in third place.
The road race title is Kirchmann’s second win of the week, and third consecutive title with the criterium title in 2013. “I couldn’t have asked for a better Nationals so far. I’ve surprised myself every day. Obviously, I’m going for a third win on Sunday.
« We were comfortable with the race coming to a bunch sprint. My team has a lot of faith in my sprinting abilities. We did expect a finish with a smaller group, given the difficulty of the climb.I think winning helps taking away some of the fatigue that I felt today, laughed Kirchmann. The team, myself included, did a lot of work today, so I was feeling it on the run in.”
In U23 category, it is Gabrielle Pilote-Fortin of Team Quebec who was the first to complete the course, in fifth place of the elite race. Jasmin Glaesser of Tibco-To-The-Top finished second of the U23 standings, followed in third by Kinley Gibson of Trek Red Truck Racing.
The women will take part in the criterium on Sunday to close 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships.
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PODIUMS – ROAD RACE – GLOBAL RELAY CANADIAN ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS
WOMEN – ELITE
1. KIRCHMANN, Leah (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit) 3:47:13
2. RAMSDEN, Denise (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit) +0:02
3. GULOIEN, Leah (Trek Red Truck Racing) +0:04
WOMEN – STANDINGS U23
1. PILOTE-FORTIN, Gabrielle (Equipe du Québec) 3:47:17
2. GLAESSER, Jasmin (TIBCO/To the Top) ST
3. GIBSON, Kinley (Trek Red Truck Racing) ST
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.
