Beacon Festival Racing

The Beacon Cycling Festival ended with the Canadian team of Daniele Defranceschi, Jean-Michel Lachance, Adam Thuss, and Stephane Cossette leaving their mark in Trinidad and Tobago. The Canadian racers participated in track races and criteriums during this six day cycling festival.

On April 22nd, the riders raced a technical and hot 50 kilometer criterium. After two laps a group containing Thuss got away. After 10 laps Lachance attempted to bridge up to the group, but the head of the peloton kept him in check. The pace was high throughout the race and half way through, the breakaway had a 1 minute lead and another two riders were 30 second in between. Lachance attacked and bridged to the two chasers, but with a teammate in the lead break he was content to sit in. The leaders lapped the field with Thuss finishing third and Lachance in ninth.

A few days later the athletes lined up at the start line for another criterium in Port of Spain. The Europeans controlled the pace with Andreas Muller and Dan Harm lapping the peloton. The main pack sprinted for third place with Lachance repeating his performance from a few days earlier to finish ninth.

The last day of racing was April 25th with the international field meeting at Pala Seco for the Petrotin Games, featuring five track races on a 500 meter velodrome. The first race on the schedule was the 500 meters where Cossette, Defranceschi, and Lachance all qualified for the final which served as qualifying and seeding for the match sprints. Cossette went on to compete in the match sprints where he made the podium behind Giddeon Massie (USA) and Elisha Green (TT).

The second race on the track was the 3 kilometer scratch race. The pace was high from the start and Lachance saw himself in a good position for the sprint with one lap to go. He sprinted past five time World Champion Franco Marvulli from Switzerland, with Cossette again on the podium in third place. Lachance said “I knew I had good legs with a few laps to go and I was always in the top five, but I did not expect to win such a short race. The sprint is not my specialty.”

Lachance was on the podium again in the elimination race behind the Argentine duo. The evening ended with a 15 kilometer scratch race with another fast start that saw four riders separate themselves from the group, including Franco Marvulli. Several riders tried to bridge the gap with no success, including Lachance who went on to finish in the top 10.

The next project for the Canadian Track Team will be the Pan American Championships in Aguacalientes, Mexico from May 10-16.