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Leah Kirchmann doubles up at the Canadian road cycling championships

June 27, 2014
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The day after Leah Kirchmann (Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Systems) took her first Canadian time trial title, she won her first road race maple leaf jersey in a bunch sprint at the Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championship in Lac-Mégantic, QC. Kirchmann’s teammate and 2012 road race champion Denise Ramsden took the runner-up spot while Leah Guloien (Trek-Red Truck) placed third in a race that was a slugfest between Optum, Tibco-To the Top and Trek-Red Truck.

The course consisted of a 20 km flat stretch of road that led to a 15 km loop. The women were to roll the loop five times, each time assailing Mont Morne, a 3 km climb with a maximum grade of 11.6%. Once the loops were completed, the race headed back to Lac-Mégantic.

The break of the day started with Sarah Coney (Trek-Red Truck) and Megan Rathwell (IRC) attacking on the first circuit, but Coney dropped off on the first ascent of Mont Morne. Rathwell distinguished herself by soloing for 45 km before she was brought back on the penultimate climb of Morne.

After the catch Optum and Tibco started attacking, with Kirchmann, Ramsden and Annie Ewart all digging for Optum, while Anika Todd, third place in yesterday’s time trial, did the yeoman’s work for Tibco. Gillian Carleton (Vanderkitten) and Kinley Gibson (Trek-Red Truck) also tried their luck.

The skirmishing continued throughout the final lap and the route home, with Carleton dropping her chain at an unfortunate time. In the final uphill kilometre, Optum came to the front, Ewart and Ramsden leading out the very strong Kirchmann. Tibco took some consolation from having Jasmin Glaesser take second in the U23 category to champion Gabrielle Pilote-Fortin (Equipe du Québec). Gibson rounded out the U23 podium.

Tomorrow the Canadian men set off of the same course, with the nine loops on tap.

2014 elite and under-23 women’s Canadian road cycling championship race results

Place Name Team Category Time Gap
1 Leah Kirchmann Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies Elite 03:47:13 00:00:00
2 Denise Ramsden Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies Elite 03:47:15 00:00:02
3 Leah Guloien Trek Red Truck Racing Elite 03:47:17 00:00:04
4 Jenny Lehmann Trek Red Truck Racing Elite 03:47:17 00:00:04
5 Gabrielle Pilote-Fortin Equipe du Québec Under-23 03:47:17 00:00:04
6 Jasmin Glaesser Team Tibco Under-23 03:47:17 00:00:04
7 Kinley Gibson Trek Red Truck Racing Under-23 03:47:17 00:00:04
8 Annie Foreman-Mackey Stevens-The Cyclery Elite 03:47:17 00:00:04
9 Carrie Cartmill Stevens-The Cyclery Elite 03:47:17 00:00:04
10 Adriane Provost SAS-Mazda-Macogep Under-23 03:47:23 00:00:10
11 Elyse Nieuwold Holiday Inn (Calgary) Under-23 03:47:25 00:00:12
12 Jennifer Stephenson Holiday Inn (Calgary) Elite 03:47:25 00:00:12
13 Justine Clift Glotman Simpson Elite 03:47:28 00:00:15
14 Annie Ewart Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies Under-23 03:47:28 00:00:15
15 Amie Krasnozon Pain Pathways Elite 03:47:28 00:00:15
16 Alizée Brien Team Tibco Under-23 03:47:28 00:00:15
17 Megan Rathwell IRC Elite 03:47:32 00:00:19
18 Catherine Fleury Independent Under-23 03:47:32 00:00:19
19 Stephanie Skoreyko Java Blend Racing Elite 03:47:32 00:00:19
20 Catherine Dessureault SAS-Mazda-Macogep Elite 03:47:32 00:00:19
21 Anika Todd Team Tibco Elite 03:47:35 00:00:22
22 Shoshauna Routley Trek Red Truck Racing Elite 03:47:39 00:00:26
23 Jamie Gilgen RealDeal/Gears presented by WASPcam Elite 03:55:17 00:08:04
24 Ellen Watters Stevens-The Cyclery Elite 03:55:21 00:08:08
25 Brook Noble Holiday Inn (Calgary) Elite 03:55:22 00:08:09
26 Hélène Pilote-Fortin FS ST Hilaire de Under-23 03:55:22 00:08:09
27 Sarah Coney Trek Red Truck Racing Elite 03:55:25 00:08:12
28 Nancy Labbe-Giguere Quadcycles Elite 03:57:30 00:10:17
29 Isabelle Mayrand Toguri Training Systems Elite 03:57:57 00:10:44
30 Sarah Anne Rasmussen RealDeal/Gears presented by WASPcam Under-23 04:00:42 00:13:29
31 Rosalie Cardin-Houde SAS-Mazda-Macogep Under-23 04:00:42 00:13:29
32 Élizabeth Albert Equipe du Québec Under-23 04:00:42 00:13:29
33 Marie-Eve Poisson SAS-Mazda-Macogep Under-23 04:00:42 00:13:29
34 Roxanne Pepin SAS-Mazda-Macogep Under-23 04:00:42 00:13:29
35 Anne-Marie B-Morin SAS-Mazda-Macogep Under-23 04:00:42 00:13:29
36 Laurence Bourque Dynamiks Under-23 04:00:46 00:13:33
37 Saskia Kowalchuk NCCH presented by DEC Express Under-23 04:00:49 00:13:36
38 Tessa Pinckston Trek Red Truck Racing Under-23 04:04:36 00:17:23
39 Ariane Bonhomme Equipe du Québec Under-23 04:04:36 00:17:23
40 Karine Lebel Acquisio-ACQ Elite 04:04:36 00:17:23
41 Tatjana Zaharova Racer Sportif/ Mattamy Elite 04:08:53 00:21:40
42 Amy Mausser Independent Elite 04:10:44 00:23:31
43 Natascha Piciga Giant Toronto Elite 04:15:11 00:27:58
44 Paolina Allan Holiday Inn (Calgary) Elite
45 Barbie Hope RealDeal/Gears presented by WASPcam Elite
46 Léa Audet Acquisio-ACQ Under-23
47 Rachel Canning Local Ride Racing Team Elite
DNF Natasha Elliott Cycle-Smart Elite Team Elite
DNF Joanie Caron Garneau-Factory Elite
DNF Gillian Carleton Vanderkitten Elite
DNF Josiane Lessard Lux/Specialized Under-23
DNF Madeleine Mcconnell NCCH presented by DEC Express Under-23
DNF Kaitlyn Steeves NCCH presented by DEC Express Under-23
DNF Amélie Bruneau Stevens-The Cyclery Under-23
DNF Emily Flynn Stevens-The Cyclery Under-23
DNF Lindsay Aspen Team Saskatchewan Under-23
DNS Lex Albrecht Twenty16 Pro Cycling Elite