Jasmin Glaesser looks ahead to Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau

On June 4, the Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau kicks off in Gatineau, Que., and Canada’s elite women are getting ready to roll. The 108-km road race moves from the streets of Gatineau, which are across the Ottawa River from the nation’s capital, through Gatineau Park and back. It’s a tough, fast proving ground. After the run through the rolling terrain of the park, the riders face the southern circuit six times. It a significant part of the race calendar for Canadian and international riders.

For Jasmin Glaesser, riding with Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies, it’s a high point she’s enjoyed a couple of times already, having competed in both the 2012 and 2014 races. Last year, Glaesser placed third, making the race’s “roll of  honour.” This year, Glaesser returns to Quebec to see if she can top that.

The event bears a good deal of personal significance for Glaesser, being one of her career’s first forays into international road racing. “The racing in Gatineau was one of my first international road events,” Glaesser told Canadian Cycling Magazine, “and my first real opportunity to compete alongside not only Canada’s strongest cyclists, but also some of the top riders in the world. Since then, it’s been a highlight of my season every year and it’s always a race I’m targeting for a good performance.”

She’s certainly been on target—especially last year. In the 2014 race, Glaesser finished just two seconds behind compatriot Denise Ramsden, a podium-earning performance that accelerated the young cyclist’s rise. Two years earlier, Glaesser finished the Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau in 41st place.

So where do things stand for 2015?

Currently training for the Pan Am Games, Glaesser sees connections between Gatineau’s time trial and road races and her work on the track. “I am currently revisiting the track in preparation for this summer’s Pan Am Games,” she said, “but the intensity and time spent in my aero position could be ideal for the short and fast time trial course in Gatineau.” Both, she said, are at the core of her focus for the June event. “Racing as part of Optum Pro Cycling,” she added, “I’ll be looking not just for a strong performance in the time trial, but also to help deliver the team to a win in the road race. With some of the team’s strongest riders in attendance, we will have several cards to play and it will make for a tough and strategic race.”

Keeping her focus in check and balancing out her training, though, is a challenge she anticipates going into the race. “While most of my cycling career, I have focused more on the track,” she said, “I have always been passionate about the road, and it’s a tough challenge to balance both disciplines. By nature I am a bit of a perfectionist, so when trying to train for multiple events at once, it’s hard to reign in the enthusiasm and hold back at times.” But that focus is coming with experience, she said.

“Over time, I’m slowly learning how to become more adaptable to the constant changes in focus and how to use the variability in training to my advantage.”

Like other years, Gatineau is one of the starts to Glaesser’s cycling season, and this year’s promises to be a loaded one. Immediately after Gatineau, Glaesser heads to Philadelphia to ride in her first road World Cup of the season, then dives straight into training for the national championships, happening later in June. Then, of course, there’s the 2015 Pan Am Games. While the squad has yet to be confirmed, Glaesser will likely wear the maple leaf for Team Canada.

“Additionally,” Glaesser said, “with the road world championships taking place in Richmond, Va., this year, I’ll be training hard as part of the Optum Pro Cycling team time trial squad to help build on their fourth place finish from last year.

Only seven days away, though, Gatineau looms large for the 23-year-old athlete, and that trademark enthusiasm of hers rings out as she looks forward to riding alongside cycling’s best. “It’s always a privilege to compete in a world-class peloton on home soil,” she said. “One of my favourite parts is hearing foreign riders comment on how beautiful Canada is. They finally get to see what us Canucks are always bragging about!”

Make sure to catch our live coverage of the Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau road race on Thursday, June 4, at 5 p.m.