BERGEN & ZUKOWSKY WIN CRITERIUM CHALLENGE TITLES

Held on a 1.6 kilometre circuit, the course was more physically challenging than in the past, finishing at the top of a steep climb. The men and women each raced for 60 minutes plus three laps.

Rally dominated the women’s race, sending off a series of attacks and chasing down moves by danger riders Leah Kirchmann (Team Sunweb) and Alison Jackson (Tibco-SVB). Bergen soloed off the front in the final ten minutes of the race, after an attack by Jackson was brought back, and came close to lapping the field. Kirchmann attacked the group to chase, but was marked by Bergen’s team mate and new Road champion Katherine Maine, who outsprinted Kirchmann for second.

Photo Rob Jones/Canadian Cyclist (All Rights Reserved)
Media: Please contact Karine Bedard for image use.

“It’s been a great week,” said Bergen, “and a huge shoutout to all of my team mates.  We were definitely eager to go for the win, and we respect the other riders are strong, but we were confident in the legs we had. Alison came back from a go and Leah put in a dig, so I knew that was the time to go, after that came back. When you feel the worst, that’s the time to go and I felt pretty terrible, so it was time to go!”

The men’s race was dominated by Silber, with 12 riders in the race. The team sent off waves of attacks, with Rally Cycling’s Adam de Vos and Nigel Ellsay, and others, chasing down the Silber riders repeatedly, until Zukowsky was able to make a move stick. de Vos set off in pursuit, marked by Silber’s Ryan Roth, but was unable to make a dent in Zukowsky’s lead. Roth took second, while a third Silber rider, Pier-Andre Cote, grabbed the final podium spot.

Photo Rob Jones/Canadian Cyclist (All Rights Reserved)

“The plan was to be super aggressive because we had 12 guys in there,” said Zukowsky. “We always had numbers up the road and put pressure on the strong guys, like Rally and [Alex] Cataford from UHC.  We were aggressive and it paid off pretty good. I just followed de Vos’ move and Ryan [Roth] bridged up to us and Ryan told me to go, so I went and didn’t look back. I still can’t believe it worked out.”
 
About Cycling Canada
Cycling Canada is the governing body for competitive cycling in Canada. Founded in 1882, Cycling Canada aims to create and sustain an effective system that develops talented Canadian cyclists to achieve Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championship medal performances. With the vision of being a leading competitive cycling nation by 2020 celebrating enhanced international success, increased national participation and world class event hosting, Cycling Canada manages the High Performance team, hosts national and international events and administers programs to promote and grow cycling across the country. Cycling Canada programs are made possible through the support of its valued corporate partners – Global Relay, Lexus Canada, Mattamy Homes, Louis Garneau, lululemon, 4iiii, Argon18 and Bear Mountain Resort – along with the Government of Canada, Own The Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

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