Tour de Gatineau road race: Paternoster powers to win

Sarah Van Dam top Canadian in third, Skyler Goudswaard takes intermediate sprints

Photo by: Grégoire Crevier

Matt Hansen September 23, 2024

On Saturday, Letizia Paternoster (Liv AlUla Jayco) won the Tour de Gatineau road race. Riders covered 117.7 km, starting from Gatineau and completing 12 laps of a 10 km circuit with total ascent of 900 metres.

Cuba’s Marlies Mejias Garcia (Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24) came in second, while Sarah Van Dam of DNA Pro Cycling was the top Canadian, finishing third.

The road race was the second day of competition. On Friday, riders participated in the time trial, where German rider Franziska Brausse of Ceratizit – WNT Pro Cycling Team won the women’s UCI race, a 20 km time trial. Completing two laps of the course, Brausse finished 4 seconds ahead of Nadia Gontova from DNA Pro Cycling, with her Polish teammate Marta Jaskulska securing third place.

The road race concluded with a sprint finish, as Paternoster outpaced Mejias Garcia and Van Dam. The course also featured three intermediate sprints, with Skyler Goudswaard of Cyclery Racing excelling in that classification.