Canadian women finished fourth and eighth in the Elite women’s time trial on Tuesday, Sept.25, 2018 at the Road World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria. Leah Kirchmann of Winnipeg was just 1.62 seconds off the podium in fourth place, while Karol-Ann Canuel of Gatineau, Quebec, was eighth. Dutch riders swept the top three spots, led by Annemiek van Vleuten, the defending champion.
Kirchmann finished the 27.7 kilometre race with a time of 35 minutes and 52.17 seconds, one minute and 26.81 seconds behind van Vleuten. Canuel finished two minutes and 15.86 seconds behind van Vleuten.
Photo Rob Jones/Canadian Cyclist (All Rights Reserved) – Leah Kirchmann
“I think it was the best time trial of my life,” said Kirchmann, “so I’m super happy with that. It’s always hard to come fourth and be so close to a podium position. At the same time, it’s motivating; I showed today that I have the ability to be there and be competitive, so I’ll use that when I’m targeting future time trials. This result opens up options for me, and looking forward to the Games in 2020, they are definitely a goal, so maybe my focus will turn a little more to the time trial.”
“I’m so happy,” said Canuel, “I knew coming into this race that I could be top-10, so I’m really pleased with the result. This course was definitely a challenge for me, because technically I still have some improvement to do, plus I only saw the course yesterday so I only had a short time to prepare. The focus in the past few weeks has been on the TTT [Team Time Trial, where Canuel’s team Boels-Dolmans was second]. I think under the circumstances, this was the best I could do today.”
In the Junior men’s time trial, Canada’s Connor Martin of Kelowna, BC, was 25th, finishing three minutes and 35.94 seconds behind winner Remco Evenpoel of Belgium. Canadian champion Ben Katerberg of Courtenay, BC, did not finish after crashing.
About Cycling Canada
Cycling Canada is the governing body for competitive cycling in Canada. With the vision of becoming a leading competitive cycling nation, 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, lululemon, 4iiii, Argon18 and Bear Mountain Resort – along with the Government of Canada, Own The Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.