Adam de Vos ends the U23 phase of his career on a top-10 high note at the UCI road world championships
For Adam de Vos, Friday was exactly the kind of day he was hoping for. Competing in his final race as a U-23, de Vos continued to get better as most others got worse during the UCI Road World Championships in Richmond.
by Dan Dakin
For Adam de Vos, Friday was exactly the kind of day he was hoping for.
Competing in his final race as a U-23, de Vos continued to get better as most others got worse during the UCI Road World Championships in Richmond. He went on to finish ninth in the 162.2 km race, making him the top-finishing Canadian on the day.
“There wasn’t one moment where I made up a lot of spots, it was just that I had legs and other guys didn’t at the end,” said de Vos, who races for the H&R Block Pro Cycling Team. “There were a lot of guys going backwards and I kept telling myself ‘wow I’m feeling good’”
The Victoria, B.C. native said the Top 10 result was a confidence booster for next year.
“I’ve done a lot of races in the States, but to perform on an international level like that is really a bonus for me,” he said.
Asked about the Richmond course, de Vos gave it high marks.
“It’s definitely a worthy-worlds course. Coming in I didn’t really expect it to suite my style, but as the race went on I started getting more comfortable and finding more lines. In the end it actually did suite me a lot more than I thought,” he said.
While de Vos ended up near the front, St. Catharines, Ont. rider Ben Perry spent much of the day there as he tried to stay out of trouble on a technical Richmond course.
He ended the day somewhat frustrated after finishing 26th.
“I can take some positives and negatives from it. I’m not happy with my result, but I’m happy that I felt good the whole day,” said Perry. “I ended up being behind the split. It’s my own fault for not being in the right position. I should have taken more risks on the last lap.”
Rounding out Canada’s results in the race were Alexander Cataford and Nigel Ellsay, both of whom didn’t finish.
France had a fantastic day at the U-23 race, placing two riders on the podium. Kevin Ledanois won the race, beating out Italy’s Simone Consonni for second and countryman Anthony Turgis for third.
Junior Women
Earlier in the day, Team USA made the hometown crowd happy when Chloe Dygert and Emma White finished first and second, respectively, in the junior women’s road race. Dygert opened up a big gap early on and never looked back, beating her teammate by one minute, 23 seconds.
Katherine Maine was the top Canadian finishing 13th. Gillian Ellsay finished 42nd, Anna Gabrielle Traxler was 60th and Emeliah Harvie was 66th.
