Road races showcased as Championships continue in Beauceville

(Beauceville, QC – July 4, 2014) The 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships continued Friday in Beauceville with the presentation of the road races for all women master and the men master 40 years old and above.

Five Red and White jerseys were awarded on Friday. In the women’s races, Zeina Loutfi (Acquisio) (30-39) and Brenda Sonnenberg (Orthocare Cycling Team) (40+) both won their race. The men’s races, Jean-Francois Blais (Trek-Fiera) (40-49), Jon Gee (Ride with Rendall) (50-59) and Charlie Squires (Team London) (60+) all ended their respective road races on top of the podium, earning the coveted Canadian titles.

The 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships continues tomorrow with the presentation of the road races for the junior categories, men and women, and the Master Men 30-39 category. The fast-paced criterium races will all take place on Sunday.

For additional information on the event, please visit www.championnatscanadiensroute.com

RESULTS – ROAD RACES – GLOBAL RELAY CANADIAN ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS

MASTER MEN 40-49 (B)

1. BLAIS, Jean-François (Trek-Fiera) 2:52:26

2. JEAN, Michel Sports GTH) ST

3. McKEOWN, Brian (Radical Edge) +0:02

Full Results

MASTER MEN 50-59 (C)

1. GEE, Jon (Ride with Rendall) 3:02:14

2. SANCHEZ, Miguel (Sports Maguire) +0:32

3. SULE, Robert (Erace Cancer Cycling Team p/b Bicicletta) +0:33

Full Results

MASTER MEN 60+ (D)

1. SQUIRES, Charlie (Team London) 2:28:45

2. LAIRD, James (Independent) ST

3. L’ECUYER, Pierre (Independent) +0:56

Full Results

MASTER WOMEN 30-39 (E)

1. LOUTFI, Zeina (Acquisio) 2:11:54

2. GOSSELIN, Chantal (Les Rouleurs de L’Outaouais) ST

3. MCKIBBON, Danielle (Orthocare Cycling Team) ST

Full Results

MASTER WOMEN 40+ (F)

1. SONNENBERG, Brenda (Orthocare Cycling Team) 2:11:54

2. VANIER, Carole (La vie Sportive-Apogée) ST

3. ANGELES, Robyn (Independent) ST

Full Results

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.

Follow Cycling Canada on Twitter at @CyclingCanada and on Facebook at @CyclingCanada.

Hamilton Road Foundation continues tradition of support to development road cyclists.

The Hamilton 2003 Road Cycling Foundation was established to support programs regarding long term development of young road athletes from junior ranks to road professional teams and to support national talent identification of young road athletes.

Over the past five years the Foundation has assisted numerous riders through carding and support of the national programs for development riders.   Athletes such as David Veilleux, Hugo Houle, Antoine Duschesne, Julie Beveridge, Joelle Numainville and this year’s Elite triple crown winner of the 2014 Canadian Road Cycling Championships, Leah Kirchmann, were beneficiaries of a carding program over recent years that assisted their establishment on pro teams.

As a result of discussions between the Hamilton Foundation Board and Cycling Canada we are pleased to announce that the Foundation will be supporting the 2014 Junior World Championships program for those athletes selected to it through the process outlined in the 2013-14 Road & Track Programs posted on the Cycling Canada website.  One of the key events contributing to selection will be the Canadian Junior Road Cycling Championships to be held in Beauceville, QC from July 2nd to 6^th.

The programs for Junior Women and Men differ but each include a European pre-Worlds training camp  in August – September leading into the World Championships which will run from September 20 to 28 in Ponferrada, Spain.   

Linda Jackson is the Chair of the Hamilton 2003 Road Cycling Foundation.  The former Olympian, multiple National Champion and World Championship Medalist and now Women’s Team Founder (TIBCO) has continued to contribute to the sport long after her retirement from competition.  She joins former CCA President Brian Jolly, Maxime Vives, Steve Bauer, Pierre Hutsebaut and Greg Mathieu on the Foundation Board.  “When the Board reviewed the plan for the 2013-14 Road & Track Programs we were pleased to see the depth of the program to be offered and to know that many up and coming Junior riders will be involved;” said Jackson.  “At the same time we are also aware of the substantial costs that face families when their daughters or sons are selected to development level projects.  For that reason we are pleased to support this program and look forward to a great season for the young riders selected.”

Athletes selected to the program will receive a letter from the Hamilton Foundation outlining the specific amount of support they will receive for their involvement in the Junior World Championships program.

Four Canadians earn ticket to Challenge Sprint Pro during WorldTour week

(Lac Mégantic, QC – June 29, 2014) Rémi Pelletier-Roy of Québec, QC and Leah Kirchmann of Winnipeg, MB are the newest Canadian Criterium Champions, winning the men and women titles on a gorgeous day to close the 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships in Lac Mégantic.

In the men’s race, Rémi Pelletier-Roy of Québec, QC (Garneau-Quebecor) won the top honors in the men’s race, edging at the finish line Ryan MacDonald (Team H&R Block) in second and Dustin Andrews (Trek Red truck Racing) in third.

“At the beginning of the year, Louis [Garneau] named me captain of the team, and he told me he wanted a criterium team. This is what was built. It would have been disappointing for us not to win the of Canadian championships title, as Pierrick had won last year. That was the goal this year, so mission accomplished, said Remi Pelletier-Roy.

A small group of four riders left early in the race, and managed to keep their 30-second gap throughout the race, making it through to the finish line. In the last few laps, the large peloton accelerated and slowly reduced the gap, but these efforts were not enough to close the gap.

“Pierrick and I are very good friends off the bike. Whether it was him or me, we would have been happy. The goal was for me to take part in the breakaway and make other teams work. Pierrick would have a good chance of winning in a bunch.”

The top two finishers of the fast-paced race, Pelletier-Roy and MacDonald, also earned their ticket to the 2014 Challenge Sprint Pro, which will take place during the UCI WorldTour Grand Prix cycliste de Québec, on Thursday September 11.

“The Challenge Sprint Pro runs at the same time as the UCI Track Pan-American Championships. We’ll have to look potential scheduling conflicts. It is certain that I would love to be present and race in Quebec, since it is a very sentimental race to me, since I live in Quebec,” concluded Pelletier-Roy.

LEAH KIRCHMANN COMPLETES THE TRIPLE CROWN

In the women’s criterium races, it’s Leah Kirchmann of Optum-Kelly Benefits who managed to cross the finish line in first place in a bunch sprint. With the victory Kirchmann secured the triple-crown, winning the titles in the time trial, road and criterium races at these 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships.

The race was dominated by the Optum-Kelly Benefit team, with all of its members taking off in a breakaway. “It was our plan to try to get a breakaway like that with as many of us in it. I was pretty excited when all of my teammate were in it,” admitted Kirchmann. “Unfortunately for us, the peloton behind us was pretty organized. It was also windier than we thought, which made it hard to keep the pace up. We stayed there for as long as we could.”

The race ended in a bunch sprint, and with two powerful teammates in Annie Ewart and Denise Ramsden, Kirchmann made no mistake in the final stretch. “Once we got caught, we were still pretty involved. Coming in the final lap, I stayed on Annie’s wheel on the decent. Denise then took over and set a fast pace. Annie carried me away to the final stretch to launch the sprint.”

The defending champion, which now has won the last four Canadian Championships races, edged at the finish line Joanie Caron of Garneau-Factory and Jamie Gilgen of RealDeal-Gears.

With the triple-crown, team Optum-Kelly Benefits swept the women’s races at these Championships, the second consecutive time this feat is accomplished.

CANADIAN ROAD SPRINTING AT ITS BEST

In addition to the criterium races, the exciting Canadian Sprint Challenge was held on this last day of the first weekend of competition at the 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Championships. Cody Canning of Team Accent Inns/Russ Hay’s p/b Scotiabank made it all the way to the finals in a convincing way, and won the ultimate race of the day.

In the fight for second place, a photo finish was needed to determine the winner of the race. At the end, a late push helped Geoffroy Dussault of Garneau-Quebecor edge Elliot Doyle of Silber Pro Cycling.

The top 2 finishers of the Canadian Sprint Challenge, Cody Canning and Geoffroy Dussault, will also race the Challenge Sprint Pro.

The 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships continue from Thursday to Sunday in Beauceville with the time trial, road and criterium races for the junior and master races.

PODIUMS – CRITERIUM – GLOBAL RELAY CANADIAN ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS

MEN

1. PELLETIER-ROY, Rémi (Garneau-Québécor) 59:35

2. MACDONALD, Ryan Shaun (Team H&R Block) ST

3. ANDREWS, Dustin (Trek Red Truck p/b Mosaic) ST

FULL RESULTS

WOMEN

1. KIRCHMANN, Leah (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit) 57:24

2. CARON, Joanie (Garneau-Factory) ST

3. GILGEN, Jamie (RealDeal/Gears p/b WaspCam) ST

FULL RESULTS

PODIUMS – CHALLENGE SPRINT – GLOBAL RELAY CANADIAN ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS

MEN

1. CANNING, Cody (Accent Inns/Russ Hay’s p/b Scotiabank)

2. DUSSAULT, Geoffroy (Garneau‐Québécor)

3. DOYLE, Elliott (Team Silber Pro Cycling)

4. VARABEI, Anton (Jet Fuel Coffee/Norco Bicycles)

FULL RESULTS

WOMEN

1. FOREMAN‐MACKEY, Annie (Stevens‐The Cyclery)

2. FLYNN, Emily (Stevens‐The Cyclery)

3. WATTERS, Ellen (Stevens‐The Cyclery)

4. ALBERT, Élizabeth (Equipe du Québec)

FULL RESULTS

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.

Follow Cycling Canada on Twitter at @CyclingCanada and on Facebook at @CyclingCanada.

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.

Follow Cycling Canada on Twitter at @CyclingCanada and Facebook at @CyclingCanada.

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

FULL RESULTS

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

FULL RESULTS

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.