Previewing the 2017 Canadian cycling championship road races

On June 24 and 25, Canada’s top junior, elite and under-23 road cyclists will contest the Canadian national championship road races in Ottawa for a chance to wear the maple leaf jersey for the coming year. Last year, Annie Foreman-Mackey took the elite women’s title solo while Bruno Langlois took the men’s title from the breakaway. Despite a flat course with few real obstacles, the big hitters of the men’s and women’s peloton were stifled by aggressive racing resulting in surprise winners in both races. The course is 10 km long with the start/finish line at Tunney’s Pasture. The course is quite flat but wind could be a factor as the course frequently changes direction and is held on exposed roads. The women race 120 km on the course while the men race 160 km.

Men’s elite road race

LIVE COVERAGE: 2017 elite and under-23 men’s Canadian road cycling championship race

Lead by 34-year-old veteran Ryan Roth, Silber Pro Cycling is a young and dynamic squad. They enter the race with perhaps the strongest lineup top-to-bottom. Two stage wins at the Tour de Beauce courtesy of Émile Jean and Alexandre Cowan show the team have the firepower but whether the team favours a sprint for their fast men or a breakaway is hard to say.

With four Canadians on the squad, Rally Cycling have a strong line-up which is spearheaded by Matteo Dal-Cin and Rob Britton who both took stage wins at the Tour de Beauce. Neither pack a strong sprint so it’s likely they will race aggressively. Keep an eye on home favourite Dal-Cin who really came into form in Beauce. Adam de Vos and Piederrick Naud also give the squad options.

Garneau-Quebecor will be looking to defend Bruno Langlois’s maple leaf jersey. The teams biggest result this season was Marc-Antoine Soucy’s win on Stage 4 of the 2017 Grand Prix Cycliste de Saguenay. Sprinter Elliot Doyle gives them options from the peloton while Langlois who was third at the Winston-Salem Classic will look for opportunities from the breakaway.

Ben Perry and Guillaume Boivin of the Israel Cycling Academy have had heavy springs of racing which included WorldTour classics and European stage races. Both have shown form with Perry riding in breaks throughout the season and Boivin finishing on the overall podium and on two stages in Saguenay . Watch for Perry, who was second last year, to infiltrate any move that looks dangerous and Bovin, who was Canadian champion in 2015, to cover moves and wait for the sprint.

Last year it proved impossible for the lives of Svein Tuft, Hugo Houle, Antoine Duchesne and Ryan Anderson to be competitive especially on a flat course in Ottawa because bigger teams would immediately cover their every move. Tuft won his second title in 2014 by simply riding away from the field solo off the front for over 100 km. That course was more difficult but if one of these riders find themselves in the right move they are the strongest and most experienced Canadian road racers so suddenly become a real threat with a chance to win if the teams behind don’t cooperate to reel them in. Another Canadian UCI continental to keep an eye on is H&R Block who have a number of strong riders that could prove dangerous.

Women’s elite road race

LIVE COVERAGE: 2017 elite and under-23 women’s Canadian road cycling championship race

Kirsti Lay is perhaps Rally Cycling’s best option in Ottawa. Lay finished second at the Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau after leading out her teammate and working tirelessly throughout the race. Lay will be able to rely on her teammate Sara Bergen who has raced well during her first year with the team, and Katharine Maine and Sara Poidevin who are both eligible for the under-23 title throughout the race.

Last year the Cyclery-4iiii cleaned up at nationals winning the elite road title with Annie Foreman-Mackey, U23 road and time trial title with Ariane Bonhomme and the elite time trial title with Tara Whitten. They continue to have a deep roster, but this year it is a younger team. No rider stands as a sure favourite but they will race aggressively and look for opportunities. Ariane Bonhomme is defending U23 and Kinley Gibson won the crit title last year so the team has strong options to look to.

Leah Kirchmann, who was Canadian champion in 2014, would be the favourite if she had a team but as the only Canadian rider from Team Sunweb she will need to be creative to have a chance at victory. She showed on Stage 4 at the OVO Tour of Britain that she is more than capable of racing aggressively but as the winner of the GP Gatineau she will be closely watched.

Like Kirchmann, Joëlle Numainville has held the title in the past but her best shot is winning from a sprint. Last year Annie Foreman-Mackey spoiled her title defense with her solo win but a bunch sprint could see Kirchmann and Numainville going head to head.

Annie Foreman-Mackey took an amazing victory last year soloing away from the breakaway to win the title. Her Sho – Air Twenty20 team also includes Canadians Steph Roorda and Jasmin Duehring who will try and set Foreman-Mackey up for a title defense.

Other Canadians to watch are Alison Jackson who is racing in Europe in 2017, Karol-Ann Canuel who is a powerful time trialist and capable climber but may find few opportunities to escape the peloton as her Boels-Dolmans kit will be closely watched. SAS – Macogep are a UCI team in 2017 and have a number of strong Canadians in their lineup. They will rely on strength in numbers to try and set one of them up for the win.