Tuesday kicked off with Time Trial (TT), the second race of the 2016 Canadian Road Championships, in Gatineau Park under partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures compared to earlier in the week. Tristen Chernove was first up in the C2 Para category tackling the 16 km out-and-back TT course, adding another National Championship medal and maple leaf jersey to his collection – two-for-two this week for Tristen.
Next up were the Junior women, also tackling the 16 km out and back course. Erin Attwell placed fifth, Maggie Coles-Lyster from TAG cycling seventh, Holly Henry ninth, Holly Simonson 14th and Callie Swan 18th. The junior men’s course was a 26 km out-and-back with James Grant from TAG in 11th, followed by Cam Fitzmaurice in 12th, Mark Grant in 23rd, John Willcox 25th, Erik Diertens 28th, and Adam Attwell in 62nd. Wednesday was the final event, with the criterium taking place under cloudy skies, cooler temperatures and reduced humidity in Alymer, QC. Erik Diertens had this to say about his race:
The time trial went very for me this year; last year’s time trial was a great learning experience so coming into this year’s I felt much better. After a perfect morning, I did my warm up and got ready to race. Cycling BC helped me out a lot by making sure everything was taken care of so I could focus on my race. With Cycling BC cheering and hooking at me from the car, it made it much easier to tackle the hard and hilly course. I was very happy to come away with 28th place, I couldn’t have done it without Cycling BC and I really look forward to next year’s time trial!
The Junior women kicked off the day with a 30 minute + 3 laps on a 1.4 km circuit. There was a three-woman break right from the get go with Erin Attwell, Maggie Coles-Lyster and Quebec. Quebec and Maggie managed to hold onto the lead for the entire race with Maggie capturing the gold, Quebec Silver and Erin with a bunch sprint to take the bronze medal.
In the Junior men’s race, Cameron Fitzmaurice and James Grant had some great positioning into the final lap before a crash took the both out. All in all it was a great week of racing. We’re very proud of the athletes’ accomplishments this week and look forward to taking the junior men on to Abitibi in a few weeks!
