July 3/10 22:40 pm - Road Nationals - Junior Road Races full results and report

Posted by Editoress on 07/3/10
 

The best junior cyclists had an extra adversary during the title races at the  2010 Canadian Road Cycling Championships in Devon, Alberta: the wind. The top junior cyclists in the country met on Saturday to compete on a relatively flat but blistery course.
 
In the women’s race, an early attack by Veronique Drapeau-Zgoralski (Team Quebec) was reeled in and Annie Ewart (Cycling BC) tried her hand at soloing off the front, a next to impossible feat because of the strong wind in the town south of Edmonton.
 
It was finally a group sprint that decided the three podium spots with Drapeau-Zgoralski winning the top honour. Elodie Gillard (Atrium-CC2R) and Elisabeth Albert (Team Quebec) completed the women’s podium in second and third. (Note: Jasmine Glaesser of Germany was the first rider across the line, but could not win the national title)
 
"I tried a break away early on the main climb and to my surprise gained a lot of time. They reeled me in a bit later when the tailwind started," commented Drapeau-Zgoralski "Once I saw the line, I looked for an opening and there it was on the right. This title is amazing. I still can't believe it!"
 
On the men's side, a breakaway that took off 45 minutes into the race had the Canadian champion within its ranks.
 
Eight riders distanced the main group, at one point stretching their lead to over six minutes. On the last climb, 25 kilometres from the finish line, Ryan MacDonald (Atrium-CC2R) broke away from the break to cross the line first and win the Canadian title. Only Frederic Poisson (Team Quebec) kept him in sight.
 
At the finish line, MacDonald looked over his shoulder to see Poisson take second and Devan McClelland (Cycling BC) crossed the line in third, one minute, 24 seconds behind the winner.
 
"The winning break got away in a peculiar way, we attacked and the peloton just sat up.  I guess they thought it was just another false alarm," said  MacDonald. "As a breakaway group, we worked very well together ... But I saw everybody waning at one point and that is where I attacked...The lessons from our national team development camps in Europe really paid off today," added MacDonald.

CCA report