June 30, 2010

Canadian National Championships: the Race of Truth

by Paul Skinner

10:00 a.m., Friday, June 25th Individual Time Trial.

Just southwest of Edmonton, in a town called Devon, on a course so flat that you could see the Pacific Ocean, only the bravest of the brave went to the start line for the "Race of Truth". Conditions were perfect, calm winds, cool temperatures and little traffic. Our pre-race recognisance the day before had discovered the fastest line was a 2 foot wide strip on the right edge of the road, between the painted white line and the gravel shoulder. Here the pavement was silky smooth while the pavement on the main part of the road was pebbly and rough. We thought we'd found an advantage only to find out on race day that everyone was riding the same line! In the women's category 41 courageous racers challenged the clock with Julie Beveridge winning the National Championship in a time of 28 mins and 51 secs. Lea Kirchmann represented Trek Red Truck and put in a solid performance, finishing in a solid time of 31 mins and 23 secs, good enough for 18th place overall and 5th in the Under 23 category.

When the men hit the course at 1 pm it was windy and very gusty. Sixty six men tested themselves against the clock, each other and the winds and to no one's surprise Svein Tuft showed his world class credentials in a winning time of 48 mins and 23 secs, almost 50 kph and a minute and 49 seconds ahead of second place finisher Zach Bell. After coming off a bad crash in Beauce less than a week earlier, Nic Hamilton rode a very strong race to finish in 9th place, just over 3 minutes behind Svein. Boris Martin and Nathan McDonald put in respectable rides but against world class competition they finished in 40th and 44th place respectively.

1. Svein Tuft (Garmin-Transitions) 48:23.1
2. Zachary Bell (Kelly Benefit Strategies) 1:49.2
9. Nic Hamilton (Trek Red Truck p/b Mosaic Homes) 3:28.6
40. Boris Martin* (Trek Red Truck p/b Mosaic Homes) 7:56.4
44. Nathan MacDonald* (Trek Red Truck p/b Mosaic Homes) 8:06.7

With the ITT completed, the team was very happy to have Saturday as a rest day and an opportunity to pre-ride the very twisty-turny road course. Starting in the very beautiful William Hawrelak Park, nestled along the verdant banks of the North Saskatchewan River in downtown Edmonton, the road course looped once around the park before heading out for three short and separate but challenging climbs and four 180 degree turns, with the last turn coming at the top of a climb with 2 kms to go. The team knew that position at the top of this climb was most important as the run in to the finish was all down hill and it would be very difficult to move up in placings. At 13 kms per lap the women would be riding 9 laps for 117 kms with the men doing 14 laps for 182 kms.

Start time for the ladies road race was 8:30 a.m. and once again, weather conditions were perfect, sunny, calm and warm. When racing began the pack was off to a leisurely warm up pace except for a Lex Albrecht of Cascades-ABC Cycles who quickly rode away for the bunch and built up a 3 minute lead 4 laps later. By now though, racing was just beginning and attacks out of the peloton caused the pace to increase and the gap to the suicide attacker to drop quickly. By lap 5 the race was all together but gaining in intensity and speed. Noe, Shonny and Lea were all looking strong and well positioned to react to any dangerous moves which began to occur regularly. With the pack still together on the last lap and heading for the last climb and 180 degree downhill turn for the 2 km run into the finish line, it was impossible to see or know what would happen. When the riders made the last high speed turn into the park for the final 500 metre sprint to the line Noe finished her strong lead out for Lea and Lea surged powerfully towards the front to grab 7th place overall but 1st place in the Under 23 category. That's right, Lea is Canadian National Champion in the Under 23 Category. Congratulations to Lea and thanks to Noe and Shonny for their strong riding in support of this tremendous team result!

The men went to the line for the 1 p.m. start with a stellar list of world class rides in the field: Svein Tuft, Christian Meier, Andrew Pinfold, Dominique Rollin and Charles Dionne just to name a few. The Spidertech team directed by Steve Bauer were the dominant looking team on paper with 12 riders in the field. Immediately after the start, a Spidertech rider attacked and for the first two laps held a 30 second advantage over the pack who were slowly ramping things up. On lap three a group of ten riders went clear by 30 seconds with Zach Bell and Cody Campbell trying to bridge. For the next 7 or 8 laps it was not stop action as riders individually and in groups worked to bridge across to the break. Nic Hamilton was successful in joining what suddenly became the winning break of 26 riders. Unfortunately though, the break contained some very experienced and strong contenders including 3 riders from Spidertech. With three laps to go, the gap to the break was almost three minutes and the pack containing Tuft, Meier, Pinfold and others, quickly realized the race was over so they sat up and enjoyed a leisurely Sunday ride with their good friends. The race truly was up the road and when Will Routley attacked the break with one and a half laps to go only Andrew Randell of Spidertech could follow. Knowing his team (Spidertech) had strength in numbers, Randell sat on Routley forcing him to do all the work for the remainder of the race. The break began to fiercely chase Routley and Randell who maintained a 20-30 second advantage over the break on the strength of Routley's efforts alone.

Summary: Will Routley and Andrew Randell off the front with a 20 second lead over 6 chasers now who have a 1 minute lead over 13 riders including Nic Hamilton, from the original big break. The peloton is riding tempo, six or seven minutes back now, enjoying the beautiful day! At the top of the last climb and final 180 degree turn for the 2 km downhill run into the finish and Will and Andrew still having a slight lead, it was anyone's guess who would be leading coming around the final turn to the finish. When the announcer informed us that the break was breathing down their necks the excitement was incredible. Will Routley suddenly appeared with Andrew Randell on his wheel and the sprint was on. It's Will, he's gonna do it! No, Randell is coming around for the win but can't quite do it and Routley wins by half a bike length! Now the race in on for the final podium spot and Bruno Langlois of Spidertech gets it. Then the remnants of the big break come to the line for the sprint for 9th and Jesse Reams of Cycling BC wins it with Nic getting out of position at the final 180 degree turn and settling for 16th place.

The Trek Red Truck team rode well but didn't get the top ten result they'd aimed for. Nic Hamilton was 16th. Tyler Trace was 57th, just ahead of Svein Tuft, Christian Meier and Ryan Anderson. Nathan McDonald, with an aching hip, managed to hang in there thanks to Coke on the last few laps to finish 62nd. Adam Thuss was having a strong ride and would have earned a high finish had it not been for the combination of a double flat, slow wheel change from a novice guy in the wheel car. Dave Vukets rode strongly too with the peloton only to pull out with two laps to go when the outcome was determined. Boris Martin got off to a strong start but pulled out half way through. That's racing! Dan Skinner went to the start line knowing that the effects of food poisoning the day before meant that his race was really over before it even began...that's racing too!

Nonetheless, the Trek Red Truck riding team represented themselves with pride and distinction and enjoyed another successful road trip.