Interview with national champion Veronique Fortin

We caught up with Canadian road cycling champion Veronique Fortin, who won the title Friday night. You can watch the video interview with her below and read the full story on how the championship was won further down.

Grey skies and unseasonably cool weather served as the perfect backdrop for the Women’s Road Race portion of the 2011 IMMUNITY-FX Canadian Road Championships, held Friday near Milton, Ontario. Coming home with the gold in a time of 3:04:09 was Quebec’s Veronique Fortin. Second place went to Team Juvéderm’s Lex Albrecht, with Victoria’s Erinne Willock placing third.

An early lead was established by Whitehorse’s Moriah “Mojo” MacGregor, who held the top spot for seven of the eight 12.8 kilometre laps, at one point sustaining a more than four minute lead over the peloton. “We wanted to animate the race a little bit, take pressure off the girls who we figured would have a good chance at this type of a finish, so that’s what we did and I’d say it was successful,” she said.

Teammate and second place finisher Lex Albrecht concurred, claiming it was MacGregor’s early and sustained lead that positioned her to take the number two spot. “Having Mojo out there made a huge difference, changed the race absolutely. We didn’t have to do any work, it was up to the other teams to bring her back.”

But in the end, brute strength won the day with Fortin capitalizing on her skills as a climber and pushing hard on the final leg past Rattlesnake Point Park to claim the number one spot. “I was really worried about that break. I didn’t know if we would catch up or not, but (teammate) Sue Palmer-Komar did so great. She pushed so hard on the last loop, and then I could save my legs for the final climb. I just pushed harder on the hill. I looked behind and there was nobody so I was like ‘cool.’ I was feeling really strong and hills are my thing.”