In crowning seven 2018 Global Relay Canadian Road Race Champions at Saturday’s Motus Design Classic in Metchosin, the strategy that seemed to work was to outlast, rather than outrace the others.
Montreal’s Dominic Chalifoux, racing for Trek-GPL, claimed the Men’s 40-49 with a “lot of patience” and help from Langlois and Pender Racing p/b Bicicletta riders. “They are very strong teams so I stuck with them,” he said. The Quebecois won his second Masters title in a row and thoroughly enjoyed the Metchosin gruelling terrain.
“I came here four weeks ago so rode a few laps and knew it was a really tough course,” he said. “It’s a beautiful course.”
“My strategy was to survive,” said Anne-Julie Dudemaine of Banff, Alberta, who won the Womens Masters 30-39 70-kilometre race in 2:28:46. “I wanted to keep at the front and respond to any attacks.”
The course’s unrelenting and unyielding hills has made this second leg of the Robert W. Cameron Law Cycling Series p/b Jim Pattison Lexus infamously known as a race of attrition.
Carolyn Russell, racing for Vancouver’s Pender Racing p/b Bicicletta, won the 40-49 Women’s Masters, working with team mate Richele Frank, to get the win. “It’s a real technical course,” said Russell, who also took the 2017 Global Relay Canadian Masters Cycling Championship title in Vancouver. “We tried to stay at the start of the pack and just tire people out. Riders just started dropping out.”
Victoria Breakaway Cycling Club’s Andrew Neale claimed the 60+ Men’s title. He fed off Robert Anderson throughout the race then broke off at the end to take the win. Neale just started racing last year – picking up fifth in the nationals last year and winning last weekend’s 2018 BC Time Trial title. Testament to the culture of the sport that you can excel at any age at any time.
While the morning wave of racing featured riders getting a little help from their friends, the afternoon’s Men’s 30-39 and 50-59 races (110-kilometre and 90-kilometre, respectively) featured brotherly love.
Squamish’s Jamie Sparling won the Men’s 30-39 Masters title, but used some family team work from his younger brother Jeff who stayed with him most of the race.
Sparling made his move right near the 100-Kilometre mark. “I knew that the other guys wanted medals, so I took advantage of this dynamics and left them (to fight it out).
In winning the 50-59 Men’s Master, Hewdog Racing’s Chris Worsfold, kept a low profile until the very end. “I wanted to mitigate my efforts and try to be invisible the whole way so I could wait for the sprint.”
The Robert W. Cameron Law Cycling Series p/b Jim Pattison Lexus and the 2018 Global Relay Canadian Masters Road Cycling Championships continued Sunday with the Russ Hay’s Grand Prix circling the Legislature Building criterium course. Sunday’s action also includes elite and junior racing, the ever-popular, “too cute for words” Tim Hortons Timbit Challenge and the rogue-ish “let’s lose the gears and the brakes” Broad Street Cycles Fixed Gear Criterium.
Motus Design Classic / Global Relay Canadian Masters Road Championsips Results (Top Three)
Women’s 30-39 70-K
• Ann-Julie DUDEMAINE, Rundle Mountain Cycling Club 2:28:46
• Kendra FERGUSSON, Watt Riot Cycling 2:29:40
• Lianne LEBLOND, Gastown Cycling Association 2:32:56
Women’s 40-49 70-K
• Carolyn RUSSELL, Pender Racing p/b Bicicletta 2:26:40
• Richele FRANK, Pender Racing p/b Bicicletta 2:33:10
• Haley BLOCK, Cycledelia 2:42:38
Women’s 50+ 70-K
• Dawn HEINEMEYER, Calgary Crankmasters Cycling Club 2:37:36
• Lorrie BAILDHAM, MIVA 2:37:38
• Elka STROSCHEIN, Juventus Cycling Club, 2:37:40
Men’s 30-39
• Jamie SPARLING, Tantalus Bikes P/B Toby Fanny Pack Racing, 2:57:05
• Andrew DAVIDSON, The LEAD OUT PROJECT 2:57:57
• Richard COSTELLO, Steed Cycles 2:57:57
Mens 40-49 110-K
• Dominic CHALIFOUX, Trek-GPL 3:00:51
• Jon BULA, Pender Racing p/b Bicicletta s/t
• Steve McKEE, Wheels of Bloor / Autostyle Collision s/t
Men’s 50-59
• Chris WORSFOLD, Hewdog Racing, 2:36:32
• Mark SHERMAN Langlois Brown Racing s/t
• Steve BACHOP, Victoria Breakaway Cycling Club s/t
Mens 60+
• Andrew NEALE, Victoria Breakaway Cycling Club, 2:15:27
• Robert ANDERSON, CAL-NAT’s Racing Team 2:16:31
• Horacio CHAVES, Independent 2:20:42
Race results are posted to Facebook.
cvanreeuwyk@oakbaynews.com
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