Yesterday the Junior National Road Championships kicked off with the Junior TT Race. The course was a technical with three relatively large climbs, followed with some big descents. Yesterday’s weather presented some strong winds, but prime racing temperatures. The junior women started off the day with one lap of the 14 km TT course. A big congratulations goes out to Gillian Ellsay for capturing the 2015 Junior National TT Title and Erin Attwell, a second year cadet, capturing the bronze medal at her first National Road Championships.
My last year at Nationals as a junior could not of started out better as I finally took the top step of the podium. I have learned some very valuable lessons from the last two years so this win is even more welcomed. Of course this wouldn’t of been possible without the dedicated support from Cycling BC, all of their sponsors and supporters, my coach, family and the NextGEN Program. THANK YOU
– Gillian Ellsay
I felt pretty honored to be able to stand on the podium with such strong, amazing athletes and women. Coming into the race with no expectations, only to get a feel of how my competition was doing so far; it felt pretty surreal. I think no matter what happens, a mechanical, being the youngest athlete, I learnt that looking past all that; getting into the zone and thinking that I belong here helped me maintain my focus to get on the podium. This is where I want to be. I think this was a great first impression, things leading up to the start might not have gone exactly to plan but being able to work around all the hiccups has made me a more knowledgeable and experienced athlete.
– Erin Attwell
The mens race wrapped up the day in the afternoon under cloudy skies and cool temperatures. The men raced the same course as the women, but for a total of 28km, 2 laps. The men saw a lot of passing, especially into their second laps, costing the riders some time as they dodged the riders in front of them, trying not to get caught in their drafts (and be DQ’d). There were some high speeds being hit out there and some impressive times laid down by many. BC’s own, Joel Taylor, narrowly missed the podium with a fourth place finish, and Fergus Horrobin placing eleventh, just three seconds out of the top ten.
For my final year as a junior, I was really motivated to get the best result possible in the time trial. I was confident in my form and ready to execute what would be one of my best TT’s to date. The effort required was easily the longest and hardest 40mins of my life; on the way home I was running on fumes and struggling to put down the power. Nonetheless I was able to hold on until the end for a bitter sweet 4th place, finishing just 4 seconds off the podium. Thank you to Cycling BC and all there sponsors as well as Trek Red Truck for all the support .
– Joel Taylor
Today the athletes went for a light spin with NextGEN coach Jeff Ain and Cycling BC president Brett Boniface in the morning, an afternoon Anti Doping workshop put on by Cycling Canada and finally a Road Race course recon before heading home for dinner and some rest in preparation for tomorrow’s Road Race.
For more information on Cycling BC’s Anti Doping Policy click here: https://cyclingbc.net
/high-performance/resources/
Jr. Women Results: http://www.cyclingcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2015-RoadNat-ITT-JF.pdf
Jr. Men Results: http://www.cyclingcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2015-RoadNat-ITT-JH.pdf
Master A Results: http://www.cyclingcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2015-RoadNat-ITT-MA.pdf
