Chernove, who had earlier in the week won the C2 time trial title, took the road race title in a three up sprint after 60.7 kilometres of racing. He finished ahead of Darren Hicks (Australia) and Francois Lacroix (France). Tristen initiated the winning move and led the winning break for most of the race. This is his sixth title in six world championship events (4 Track, 2 Road) since he started racing two years ago.
“It’s been a dream come true kind of a season,” admitted Chernove. “Even leading up to the Rio Paralympics [where Chernove won gold, silver and bronze], and repeating [as champion] both years at Track Worlds … This was my first Road Worlds and I had high expectations. I’ve worked really hard since Rio without taking a break, training and racing, and came here more relaxed and prepared, and it paid off. Today was a great race; I did a lot of extra work trying to keep the pace high and it seemed to work. It’s my sixth rainbow jersey and I can’t get the smile off my face.”
In other Canadian road race results, Marie-Claude Molnar of St Hubert, Quebec, took sixth in the women’s C4 category, Nicole Clermont of St Denis de Brompton, Quebec, was seventh in women’s C5, the women’s tandem team of Shawna Ryan (Saskatoon, SK) and Joanie Caron (Rimouski, QC) was sixth, and the men’s tandem team of Matthieu Croteau Daigle (Sherbrooke, QC) and Benoit Lussier (Montreal, QC) were tenth.
Sebastien Travers, Para Head Coach at Cycling Canada, summarized the project: “It’s been a very successful world championships – obviously on results, but also on all performances. Our main goal was to evaluate where we stood against our competitors, and this was very positive. We have athletes who are stepping up their games, and we have athletes coming out of a post-Paralympic season and getting their groove back together. So I cannot be more happy than with what we achieved here. The most positive aspect is that our team is very cohesive, which is what we have been aiming for.”
Cycling Canada is the governing body for competitive cycling in Canada. Founded in 1882, Cycling Canada aims to create and sustain an effective system that develops talented Canadian cyclists to achieve Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championship medal performances. With the vision of being a leading competitive cycling nation by 2020 celebrating enhanced international success, increased national participation and world class event hosting, Cycling Canada manages the High Performance team, hosts national and international events and administers programs to promote and grow cycling across the country. Cycling Canada programs are made possible through the support of its valued corporate partners – Global Relay, Lexus Canada, Mattamy Homes, Louis Garneau and Bear Mountain Resort – along with the Government of Canada, Own The Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.