GIBSON AND PERRY TAKE CRITERIUM CHALLENGE TITLES
(Ottawa, ON – June 29, 2016) The 2016 Global Relay Canadian Road Championships p/b Lexus concluded on Wednesday with the Canadian Criterium Challenge. Four titles were awarded – Junior Men and Women, and Elite Women and Men. The competition was held on a short and technically challenging 1.4 kilometre course in Aylmer, Quebec.
Maggie Coles-Lyster of Maple Ridge, BC, took the first Criterium title in the Junior Women’s race, beating Simone Boilard of Quebec, and Erin J. Attwell of Victoria, BC. In the Junior Men, Kurt Penno of Winnipeg, MB, was the winner, in a closely fought sprint. Tristan Guillemette of Trois-Rivières, Québec, finished second, followed by Charles-Étienne Chrétien of Amos, QC in third.
After an intermission to introduced Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic cycling team, the action resumed with the Elite races, which ran for one hour plus three laps.
Kinley Gibson of Edmonton, AB, became the women’s Criterium champion, beating Justine Clift of Surrey, BC, and Ellen Watters of Sussex, NB.
“I was able to get up the road with Justine (Clift), she worked really hard and made an impressive effort. Justine went first on the final sprint, but I was feeling really good and was able to come around her to win. A really strong team effort today,” said winner Gibson.
The Championships concluded with the Elite men’s competition, where Ben Perry of of St Catharines, Ontario, defended his 2015 title as he out sprinted Kris Dahl of Calgary, AB, for the win. Marc-Antoine Soucy of Amos, QC, took third.
“I’m really happy to defend my title. I didn’t come here feeling too hot, I skipped the time trial because I’m still sore from the crash on Sunday. I just had the right luck, good team mates and good legs,” said Perry.
Mathieu Boucher, Director of Performance Development at Cycling Canada, said “We are really satisfied with the execution of the event, the level of support we received from the organizing committee, the volunteers and the partners. This is the first of two years in the Ottawa-Gatineau region, and we expect even greater success next year.”
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