Epic solo ride brings Svein Tuft his second Canadian road race title, second double
In an extraordinary show of power and stamina, Svein Tuft (Orica-GreenEdge) soloed for 120 km on a hot day in Lac-Mégantic, QC to win his second Canadian road race title. With the victory, Tuft also takes his second double championship, first achieved in 2011, having won his ninth elite men’s time trial title Thursday. On Friday, Leah Kirchmann (Optum) also achieved the double. 2012 champion Ryan Roth (Silber) was runner up and Tuft’s teammate Christian Meier, the 2008 champ, came third.
Svein Tuft won’t be the only one on the podium at #GRCanRoadChamps. @christianmeier takes the bronze medal in third.
— ORICA-GreenEDGE (@ORICA_GreenEDGE) June 28, 2014
After a moment’s silence for the victims of last summer’s train derailment, 129 riders set off on a 175 km course. After a few failed attacks on the 20 km of road that led to the first of nine 15 km circuits, the decisive escape formed. Among the 17 riders were Tuft, Meier and Roth, along with Ryan Anderson and Will Routley (Optum), Rob Britton and 2013 champion Zach Bell, and ProTour men like Antoine Duchesne (Europcar), Hugo Houle (Ag2r) and Guillaume Boivin (Cannondale).
On the second lap Tuft attacked on Mont Morne in the sizzling heat and took the lead that he would never relinquish. As the laps ticked off more and more riders fell off the back of the chase group as dozens of riders behind climbed off their bikes. Meier never had to work and survived every sifting of the chase group until it consisted of himself, Roth and Michael Woods, who only very recently joined 5-Hour Energy.
Roth and Woods tried desperately to close the gap – 1:30 with 15 km to go – and Meier tried to squirt away to take second place, but he was pulled back. In the end, Tuft won by a minute. Benjamin Perry (NCCH presented DEC Express) placed 8th to take the U23 title.
It has been a memorable season for Tuft, who wore the pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia in May. Recently named to the Canadian Commonwealth Games team, Tuft has yet to be included in Orica-GreenEdge’s Tour de France squad.
2014 elite and under-23 men’s Canadian road cycling championship race results
| Place | Name | Team | Category | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Svein Tuft | Orica-GreenEdge | Elite | 04:27:51 | 00:00:00 |
| 2 | Ryan Roth | Silber Pro Cycling | Elite | 04:28:51 | 00:01:00 |
| 3 | Christian Meier | Orica-GreenEdge | Elite | 04:28:51 | 00:01:00 |
| 4 | Michael Woods | 5-hour Energy presented by Kenda | Elite | 04:29:09 | 00:01:18 |
| 5 | Guillaume Boivin | Cannondale Pro Cycling | Elite | 04:32:02 | 00:04:11 |
| 6 | Antoine Duchesne | Team Europcar | Elite | 04:32:02 | 00:04:11 |
| 7 | Hugo Houle | Ag2r-La Mondiale | Elite | 04:32:02 | 00:04:11 |
| 8 | Benjamin Perry | NCCH presented by DEC Express | Under-23 | 04:32:02 | 00:04:11 |
| 9 | Bruce Bird | Wheels of Bloor/Graywood | Elite | 04:45:09 | 00:17:18 |
| 10 | Geoffroy Dussault | Garneau-Québécor | Elite | 04:45:30 | 00:17:39 |
| 11 | Kristofer Dahl | Team SmartStop | Under-23 | 04:45:31 | 00:17:40 |
| 12 | Jay Lamoureux | NCCH presented by DEC Express | Under-23 | 04:45:31 | 00:17:40 |
| 13 | Nigel Ellsay | Cycling BC | Under-23 | 04:45:31 | 00:17:40 |
| 14 | Leandre Bouchard | Transports Lacombe/Devinci | Under-23 | 04:45:31 | 00:17:40 |
| 15 | Julien Gagne | Equipe du Québec | Under-23 | 04:45:31 | 00:17:40 |
| 16 | Robert Gutgesell | Jet Fuel Coffee/Norco Bicycles | Under-23 | 04:45:34 | 00:17:43 |
| 17 | Stuart Wight | Team H&R Block | Under-23 | 04:45:39 | 00:17:48 |
| 18 | Derrick St-John | Silber Pro Cycling | Elite | 04:45:56 | 00:18:05 |
| 19 | William Elliott | NCCH presented by DEC Express | Under-23 | 04:45:56 | 00:18:05 |
| 20 | Peter Disera | Jet Fuel Coffee/Norco Bicycles | Under-23 | 04:51:41 | 00:23:50 |
| 21 | Christopher Prendergast | Team H&R Block | Under-23 | 04:51:46 | 00:23:55 |
| 22 | Bailey Mcknight | Trek Red Truck presented by Mosaic | Elite | 04:51:46 | 00:23:55 |
| 23 | Stephen Keeping | Transports Lacombe/Devinci | Elite | 04:51:50 | 00:23:59 |
| 24 | Jean-Francois Girard | La Vie Sportive-Apogée | Under-23 | 04:51:50 | 00:23:59 |
| 25 | Jordan Landolt | IRC presented by Robert Cameron Law | Elite | 04:51:50 | 00:23:59 |
| 26 | Aaron Fillion | Ride With Rendall presented by Biemme | Elite | 04:51:51 | 00:24:00 |
| 27 | Derrek Ivey | Wheels of Bloor/Graywood | Elite | 04:51:51 | 00:24:00 |
| 28 | Brandon Spencer | VC Pays de Loudeac | Under-23 | 04:51:51 | 00:24:00 |
| 29 | Ben Andrew | Stevens-The Cyclery | Under-23 | 04:51:53 | 00:24:02 |
| 30 | Jérémy Martin | Rocky Mountain Factory | Under-23 | 04:51:55 | 00:24:04 |
| 31 | Dylan Cunningham | Accent Inns/Russ Hay’s | Elite | 04:52:14 | 00:24:23 |
| 32 | Gaelen Merritt | Wheels of Bloor/Graywood | Elite | 04:52:16 | 00:24:25 |
| 33 | Benjamin Martel | Vélo Station | Elite | 04:52:20 | 00:24:29 |
| 34 | Alexis Cartier | Transports Lacombe/Devinci | Elite | 04:59:38 | 00:31:47 |
| 35 | James Piccoli | Amore&Vita-Selle SMP | Elite | 04:59:49 | 00:31:58 |
| 36 | Marc-Antoine Soucy | Transports Lacombe/Devinci | Under-23 | 05:00:06 | 00:32:15 |
| 37 | Dylan Davies | Accent Inns/Russ Hay’s | Elite | 05:00:56 | 00:33:05 |
| 38 | Kevin Massicotte | Jet Fuel Coffee/Norco Bicycles | Elite | 05:04:12 | 00:36:21 |
| 39 | Jack Burke | NCCH presented by DEC Express | Under-23 | 05:09:03 | 00:41:12 |
| DNF | Zachary Bell | Team SmartStop | Elite | ||
| DNF | Rob Britton | Team SmartStop | Elite | ||
| DNF | Bruno Langlois | 5-hour Energy presented by Kenda | Elite | ||
| DNF | Jordan Cheyne | Accent Inns/Russ Hay’s | Elite | ||
| DNF | Cody Canning | Accent Inns/Russ Hay’s | Elite | ||
| DNF | Curtis Dearden | Accent Inns/Russ Hay’s | Elite | ||
| DNF | Ryan Aitcheson | Astellas Pro Cycling | Elite | ||
| DNF | Joshua Krabbe | Edmonton Road & Track Club | Elite | ||
| DNF | Benjamin Chaddock | Garneau-Québécor | Elite | ||
| DNF | Pierrick Naud | Garneau-Québécor | Elite | ||
| DNF | Rémi Pelletier-Roy | Garneau-Québécor | Elite | ||
| DNF | Jean Francois Racine | Garneau-Québécor | Elite | ||
| DNF | Olivier Lavigueur | Guru Racing Team | Elite | ||
| DNF | Jean-Roch Marion | Guru Racing Team | Elite | ||
| DNF | Michael L. Rossignol | Independent | Elite | ||
| DNF | Anton Varabei | Jet Fuel Coffee/Norco Bicycles | Elite | ||
| DNF | Rob Hargrove | Musette Racing | Elite | ||
| DNF | Charlie Gorman | Nine2FivePro.com Cycling | Elite | ||
| DNF | Andrew Lees | Nine2FivePro.com Cycling | Elite | ||
| DNF | Samuel Blanchette | Norco Bicycles Premier Tech | Elite | ||
| DNF | Logan Cornel | Norco Bicycles Premier Tech | Elite | ||
| DNF | Joel Desgreniers | Norco Bicycles Premier Tech | Elite | ||
| DNF | Étienne Samson | Norco Bicycles Premier Tech | Elite | ||
| DNF | Ryan Anderson | Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies | Elite | ||
| DNF | William Routley | Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies | Elite | ||
| DNF | Larbi Benhabib | RealDeal/Gears presented by WaspCam | Elite | ||
| DNF | Grahame Rivers | RealDeal/Gears presented by WaspCam | Elite | ||
| DNF | Ed Veal | RealDeal/Gears presented by WaspCam | Elite | ||
| DNF | Justin Purificati | Ride With Rendall presented by Biemme | Elite | ||
| DNF | Casey Roth | Ride With Rendall presented by Biemme | Elite | ||
| DNF | Rémi Grégoire-Jacques | Specialized Québec | Elite | ||
| DNF | Alexandre Ricard | Specialized Québec | Elite | ||
| DNF | Braydon Bourne | Stevens-The Cyclery | Elite | ||
| DNF | Garrett Mcleod | Team H&R Block | Elite | ||
| DNF | William Blackburn | Silber Pro Cycling | Elite | ||
| DNF | Matteo Dal-Cin | Silber Pro Cycling | Elite | ||
| DNF | William Goodfellow | Silber Pro Cycling | Elite | ||
| DNF | Jean-Michel Lachance | Silber Pro Cycling | Elite | ||
| DNF | Robert Ralph | Silber Pro Cycling | Elite | ||
| DNF | Jean Sébastien Perron | Stevens-The Cyclery | Elite | ||
| DNF | Antoine Matteau | Transports Lacombe/Devinci | Elite | ||
| DNF | Dustin Andrews | Trek Red Truck presented by Mosaic | Elite | ||
| DNF | Chris Freeland | Jet Fuel Coffee/Norco Bicycles | Elite | ||
| DNF | David Boily | Independent | Elite | ||
| DNF | Nicholas Hamilton | Jelly Belly presented by Maxxis | Elite | ||
| DNF | Ugo Lapierre | Acquisio-ACQ | Elite | ||
| DNF | Fabien Lemaire | Acquisio-ACQ | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Edouard Tougas | Acquisio-ACQ | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Mackenzie Garvin | Cyclemiesters/Bow Cycle | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Frederic Cossette | Equipe du Québec | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Edouard Duma Longpre | Equipe du Québec | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Emile Jean | Equipe du Québec | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Olivier Brisebois | Equipe du Québec | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Simon-Pierre Gauthier | Garneau-Québécor | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Willam Laurie | Holiday Inn (Calgary Airport) | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Brandon Etzl | Jet Fuel Coffee/Norco Bicycles | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Travis Samuel | Jet Fuel Coffee/Norco Bicycles | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Vincent Désile Jacob | La Vie Sportive-Apogée | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Nicolas Ducharme | La Vie Sportive-Apogée | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Simon Ouellet | La Vie Sportive-Apogée | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Julien Roussel | La Vie Sportive-Apogée | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Charles Fortier | Lessard Bicycles Performance | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Simon Fothergill | NCCH presented by DEC Express | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Eric Johnston | NCCH presented by DEC Express | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Martin Rupes | NCCH presented by DEC Express | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Aaron Thomas | NCCH presented by DEC Express | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Luke Vanlauwe | NCCH presented by DEC Express | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Tyler D’Arcy | O’Regans Subaru Cycling | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Sean Mackinnon | Racer Sportif/Mattamy Homes | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Kiernan Orange | Ride With Rendall presented by Biemme | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Conor O’Brien | Stevens-The Cyclery | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Kyle Buckosky | Team H&R Block | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Adam De Vos | Team H&R Block | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Ryan Shaun Macdonald | Team H&R Block | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Stephen Welsh | Team RACE | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Benjamin Chartrand | Silber Pro Cycling | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Olivier Delaney | Silber Pro Cycling | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Elliott Doyle | Silber Pro Cycling | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | David Onsow | Silber Pro Cycling | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Jules Cusson-Fradet | Véloselect | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Hendrik Pineda | T-Palm Pole Continental | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Samuel Gagnon | Transports Lacombe/Devinci | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Yohan Patry | Transports Lacombe/Devinci | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Henri De Boever | Trek Red Truck presented by Mosaic | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Michael van den Ham | Trek Red Truck presented by Mosaic | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Felix Cote Bouvette | Véloselect | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Marc-Antoine Noel | Véloselect | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Mitchell Macdonald | O’Regans Subaru Cycling | Under-23 | ||
| DNF | Connor Wilson | Juventus | Under-23 | ||
| DNS | Philippe Allard | Guru Racing Team | Under-23 |
