Jérôme Gauthier wins Canadian junior men’s road championship
The 17-year-old Team Quebec cyclist is the new junior men national champion
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Cycling Canada
Just like the junior women’s road race of the day before, the men’s junior national road race was dominated by Quebecois cyclists who took four of the top six positions. Jérôme Gauthier (Team Quebec) was the winner at the 2021 Canadian national road championships in Beauce, Qc., followed by teammate Charles Duquette (Team Quebec) in second and Luke Hubnes (Cycle BC) in third.
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Fifty-six junior men lined up for this year’s Canadian national road championships. The field rode a 114.6-kilometre course, which included 1,256m of elevation and two laps of an 18-kilometre circuit.
Junior men
Within the first eight kilometres of the race, Charles Bergeron (Team Hamilton) had a gap on the field, but he was reabsorbed into the bunch before the 20 km mark, right after a crash in the bunch at 18 kilometres in took down some of the riders.
Leonard Peloquin (Team Quebec) launched an attack on the St. Benjamin climb and managed to hold off the bunch until the circuit. Emile Doyon (Espoirs Quilicot) and Roughan Gaetz (NL) attempted to bridge up to Peloquin on the first of two laps of the 18km circuit but were unsuccessful.
By the end of the first lap, Peloquin had a two-minute gap on the peloton, but that time was soon reduced down by efforts from Team Hamilton.
Eighty kilometres in Peloquin was still comfortably out with a fifty-second gap when he was joined by Clovis Roy (ZVP Opto-Reseau) and Jerome Gauthier (Team Quebec), who managed to bridge up to the race leader.
The junior riders completed the second loop of the circuit and Roy eventually dropped out off the front, followed by Peloquin. Gauthier raced the last thirty kilometres of the course solo and the 17-year-old crossed the line 1:39 ahead of the peloton.
1. Jérôme Gauthier (Team Quebec)
2. Charles Duquette (Team Quebec)
3. Luke Hubner Cycling BC)
4. Samuel Couture (Espoirs Quilicot)
5. Sasha Renaud Tremblay (Espoir Laval Plante Courrier)
6. Luca Veeman (Team Sask)
7. Charles Bergeron (Team Hamilton)
8. Luke Valenti (Toronto Hustle)
9.Wesley Hill (KW Cycling Academy)
10. Campbell Parrish (Cycling BC)
