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Contenders for Team Canada’s women’s road at the Rio Olympics

We weigh in on which women will represent Canada in the road race and ITT at the Rio Olympics

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Karol Ann Canuel Worlds9

RELATED: The men’s contenders for Team Canada’s Olympic road cycling team

Cycling Canada will announce the selection of the Olympic roster at the end of the national road championships which take place in Ottawa between June 25 and 29. The Olympic courses are tough featuring punchy short ascents and longer climbs in both the road race and individual time trial.

Canada have three spots to fill in women’s road race and two in the individual time trial. The riders selected for the time trial must also race the road race. Here is our assessment of the women who are in contention to race in the colours of Team Canada in Rio.

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Olympic women’s road race: August 7

The women’s road race is 130-km and features two separate circuits. The Grumari circuit is done twice and features two climbs. The Grumari climb is a narrow climb in a forested area which averages 7 per cent over 1.2-km with a maximum gradient of 13 per cent. The Grota Funda climb is longer at 2.1-km at 4.5 per cent with sections at 6 per cent. The circuit also includes a cobbled section of about 2-km.

The race then heads along the coast to the Canoas and Vista Chinesa circuit for a single lap. That section of the course starts with the short Canoas climb and then goes up the 8.9-km Vista Chinesa climb that averages 5.7 per cent. However a 1-km descent in the middle of the climb means that the gradients are actually steeper than the average suggests.

Rio Olypics Road Cycling Road Race Course

Olympic women’s individual time trial: August 11

The women’s time trial is 29-km long and does one lap of the Grumari circuit. This will make it an extremely challenging effort because of the challenging climbs the riders will tackle. The organizers plan to pave the cobbled section that featured in the road race ahead of the race against the clock. The winner will have to gauge their effort carefully over the courses climbs.

Rio Road Cycling Time Trial

Team Canada

Canuel

Karol-Ann Canuel, Amos, Que., is defending national time trial champion and has a good chance of retaining that title in 2016. Following a spring classics campaign with her dominant Boels-Domans team, Canuel returned to north America to held her teammate Megan Guarnier win the Tour of California and the Philedalphia Cycling Classic, both WorldTour races. Canuel came close to winning a stage of the Bira in April after a long solo effort but was caught in the closing kilometers. She was second overall at the 2015 Internationale Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen stage race taking the stage win on the final day. Canuel is a strong climber and an excellent time-trialist helping her trade team win the world team time trial championships two years in a row. Canuel continues to progress every year and should have the opportunity to prove herself in both the road race and time trial at the Olympics.

RELATED: Canuel, “The Rio TT is the hardest thing I have ever seen.”

Kirchmann

Leah Kirchmann, Winnipeg, has had a very impressive first season with Liv-Plantur. Racking up top-10 results in WorldTour races, a solid spring classics campaign that included one win and impressive consistency, Kirchmann looks to be a lock for the Olympics. Currently sitting 11th in the UCI ranking, Kirchmann is also a top contender for the Canadian national road title which she won in 2014. She is also strong against the clock, second at the Chrono Gatineau in 2014 and national champion that year as well.

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Numainville

Joëlle Numainville, Montreal, will be defending her Canadian national championships jersey in Ottawa on June 25 and was 11th at the 2015 world championships in Richmond. Numainville is a powerful rider, in 2012 she finished third at the Tour of Flanders. The following year she suffered a concussion that took seven months to get diagnosed and in 2015 she joined Bigla (now Cervelo-Bigla). Numainville has proven herself on the international stage and should be considered a strong contender for a spot in Rio.

RELATED: For Joëlle Numainville, recovery after her Gila concussion is yielding ever-stronger results

glaesser_featured

Jasmin Glaesser, Vancouver, is developing into a strong rider on the road. Her ambitions for Rio however are on the track, specifically in the team pursuit. Already an Olympic bronze medalist in London, Glaesser and the Canadian women’s pursuit squad are once again in contention in the team pursuit in Rio. Third overall at the Tour of Gila, Glaesser took her first UCI stage win at the race and the 23-year-old looks to be progressing through the ranks. With her track background she is a strong time trialist  and we won’t be surprised if she is one day representing Canada on the road.

2012 Olympic Games

Tara Whitten, Calgary, came out of retirement in 2015 in order to make it to Rio after completing her PhD. Second at the Chrono Gatineau in 2016, Whitten has had a decorated career on the track and road. She was fourth at the 2011 world time trial championships and has been world champion in both the omnium (twice) and the points race. She also took home Olympic bronze in the team pursuit in London.

RELATED: GP Gatineau gives Ellen Watters and the Cyclery-Opus the opportunity to prove themselves against the best

Ramsden wins Gastown Grand Prix. Photo Credit: Greg Descantes.
Ramsden wins Gastown Grand Prix. Photo Credit: Greg Descantes.

Lex Albrecht, Montreal, is a strong climber and is racing in Europe with BePink in 2016. Alison Jackson, Vermilion, Alt., is only competing in cycling on the road for only a second season but earned her first top-10 WorldTour result at the Philedalphia Cycling Classic this year. Denise Ramsden, Vancouver, was 2012 national road champion and represented Canada in the road race and TT at the London Olympics. She also won the GP Gatineau in 2014. She is now studying law at UBC while also racing for Trek Red Truck,