Quebec, British Columbia claim big wins in team relay at the Canada Summer Games

Tuesday’s mountain bike team relay events at the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg saw both women and men competing in their respective competitions, and for athletes from Quebec and British Columbia, the day was a strong one—resulting in Quebec’s second victory in the women’s race, and British Columbia’s first win for the province’s men’s team.

At the start of the day’s competition, though, it didn’t appear that either provincial team would prevail, amounting to a come-from-behind performance for both.

As the first lap in the women’s competition kicked off, national under-23 champion Jenn Jackson gave Ontario the lead, followed closely by Nova Scotia and Quebec. Though Marine Lewis, riding for Quebec, managed to edge into the second position of the race, Ontario maintained its lead going into the second lap, led by Dana Gilligan. Handing off to Soren Meeuwisse, Gilligan finished her powerful, near-explosive start to the race, while cross country Quebec titlist Anne-Julie Tremblay succeeded Lewis as anchor rider as the second lap began.

Clocking one of the competition’s fastest lap times, Tremblay’s ride was more than enough to give Quebec its second title, having overtaken Meeuwisse. In the women’s race, British Columbia took bronze.

“I just wanted to go consistently, without a lot of stress,” Tremblay said. “I rode like I did in the XCO. It was a big gap [to Meeuwisse at the start of the lap] but when I came to the climb I saw her and I knew the gold medal was possible.”

The day’s men’s competition resulted in Quebec taking an early lead on the opening lap, with British Columbia and Ontario close behind. Powering ahead, Quebec continued to lead on the second lap with a cosy 16 seconds as the final lap kicked off, led by Felix Longpre. British Columbia’s third rider, though—Sean Fincham, the recently crowned Under-23 national champion—clocked the fastest lap time of the day, putting Longpre behind him and giving British Columbia the win. Ontario, meanwhile, took bronze.

“I didn’t have a strategy,” Fincham said, looking back, “but I saw that we were about 15 seconds back. My plan was to try in each section to get a second here, a second there, and slowly work my way up. I think I did exactly that; I didn’t go too fast and burn out. I caught him, sat behind for a little bit, and then attacked.”

“I got a gap and then just knew I had to hold it to the line,” Fincham added.

Cycling Canada officials were pleased with the heated tempo of the day’s competition. “Today went very well,” said Josh Peacock, the organization’s competitions co-ordinator. “We knew it would be a battle between B.C., Ontario and Quebec, and it certainly was. The teams fought the whole way and we had exciting finishes in each race, and that’s all you can ask for.”