Cycling Canada  – WINNIPEG, August 2, 2017 – After a one day break, mountain bike competition resumed on Tuesday at the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the Team Relay events for women and men.  Quebec added their second victory in the women’s event, while British Columbia took their first cycling win in the men’s race.  Teams consisted of two or three riders, with each rider handing off to the next after doing a lap of the cross-country course.

Ontario took the lead on the first lap of the women’s race, with national Under-23 champion Jenn Jackson followed by Nova Scotia and Quebec.  Quebec’s Marine Lewis managed to move into second place before handing off to their next rider, however, Ontario’s Dana Gilligan extended her province’s lead on the second lap.  Gilligan handed off to Soren Meeuwisse, with Quebec having Anne-Julie Tremblay, the winner of the XCO title, as their anchor rider.  Tremblay set one of the fastest lap times of the race to overtake Meeuwisse and give Quebec their second title.  British Columbia took bronze.

“I just wanted to go consistently, without a lot of stress,” explained Tremblay.  “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 men’s race saw Quebec take the lead on the opening lap, followed by British Columbia and Ontario.  Quebec continued to lead on the second lap, extending their lead to 16 seconds as they began their final lap with Felix Longpre.  However, BC’s third rider was Sean Fincham, the recently crowned Under-23 national champion, who set the fastest lap time of the day, overtaking Longpre to give British Columbia the win. Ontario took the bronze medal.

“I didn’t have a strategy,” admitted Fincham, ” 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.”

Josh Peacock, Competitions Coordinator at Cycling Canada, said, “today went very well.  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.”
 
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 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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Source: Cycling Canada 
Information:
Karine Bedard l Cycling Canada l 438-884-8771 l karine.bedard@cyclingcanada.ca