New course record at Mardis-Lachine

On Tuesday evening, Simon Lambert-Lemay (Garneau-Quebecor) won the final round of the Mardis-Lachine series. Not only did he win the final stage, he also won the series overall and set a new course record. The Garneau-Quebecor team simply dominated the series’ final evening. They were on the front for the entire race and swept the podium.

Lambert-Lemay stopped the clock in 58:14 which smashed the previous record of 58:52, set by Guillaume Boivin in 2009. As a team, Garneau-Quebecor was on a  mission. Even the appearance of WorldTour superstar David Veilleux (Europcar), the first Quebecer to race the Tour de France, could not falter a seemingly unbreakable Garneau-Quebecor lead-out train. In the race’s finale, Veilleux launched a powerful attack with one lap remaining, hoping to spoil the party for his former team. However, his efforts were to no avail.

The special podium ceremony and team celebration for Garneau made Tuesday’s capped the evening. Adam Farabaugh, who was an integral part of Lambert-Lemay’s lead out, exemplified the team’s all-for-one approach in a recent Facebook post. “We crushed the course record at the Tuesday Lachine in Montreal last night with an average speed of 51.3 km/h!” he wrote.

Lambert-Lemay won the overall series and surpassed his own teammate Pierrick Naud, who placed second. Third overall went to Stephen Keeping (Stephen’s Racing present by The Cyclery). Full results can be found on the Mardis-Lachine website.

As a 36-year-old criterium series has served as a starting point for some of Canada’s top professionals, including David Veilleux, perhaps it is only a question of time until a new record is set. Nonetheless, given the names and riders who have competed over the years, Simon Lambert-Lemay is now among an elite class.