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Joelle Numainville crowned Canadian Elite women’s road race champion after powerful photo finish

For the third time in her career, Joelle Numainville of Team Bigla Pro Cycling has been crowned the Elite women's road race champion, taking the Red and White jersey by a hair's breadth ahead of defending titlist Leah Kirchmann.

Joelle Numainville at the 2010 UCI Road World Championships in Melbourne, Austrailia.For the third time in her competitive career, Joelle Numainville of Team Bigla Pro Cycling has been crowned the Elite women’s road race champion, taking the Red and White jersey by a hair’s breadth ahead of defending titlist Leah Kirchmann, riding for Optum p/b Kelly Benefits Strategies.

One second after Kirchmann, Rice Racing p/b Cyclepath Woodbridge’s Jamie Gilgen crossed the line in third.

Numainville’s photo finish followed a long see-saw battle throughout the race. Most successful breakaway attempts came early, with the first from Trek Red-Truck p/b Mosaic Homes’s Leah Guloein. After surging ahead into a solo ride for two laps, Guloein’s lead was caught by a group of 30 riders, changing the dynamic of the race. It was then 2012’s Canadian Champion Denise Ramsden who attacked, sailing into a solo ride for 20 km.

With 5 km left, though, it was once again anyone’s race as the main group caught up. Numainville’s victory came with a sprint in the final stretch, powering uphill to the finish. Her win put her across the line in 3:10:22, with her speed throughout the 108.5 km course averaging 34.2 km/h.

It’s the second time Numainville has won the course in St.-Georges, Que., with a 2010 win in Edmonton rounding out those three career wins thus far. It also tops a recent second-place finish at the 2015 Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau.

Podium ā€“ Elite Women ā€“ Road Race
1. NUMAINVILLE, Joelle (Bigla Pro Cycling) 3:10:22
2. KIRCHMANN, Leah (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) Same Time
3. GILGEN, Jamie (Rise Racing p/b Cyclepath Woodridge) +0:01

U23 Ranking
1. PILOTE FORTIN, Gabrielle (Equipe du Quebec) 3:10:25
2. OUELLETTE, Catherine (Equipe du Quebec) Same Time
3. BRIEN, AlizƩe (Team TIBCO-SVB) +0:19