June 21/15 21:19 pm - Preston Street Criterium: First Timers Take Wins

Posted by Editoress on 06/21/15
 

It was a year for first-timers at the 43rd edition of the Preston Street Criterium presented by eQ Homes in Ottawa on Father's Day Sunday.

The victors in the elite women's and elite men's events had never raced  Preston Street before, and they both came out on top of the strongest fields in years.

But the biggest winners were the spectators who turned  out in force for  the elite races as the sun came out after a wet start to the day and  were treated to an exciting day of racing.

Elite Women
The elite women's race was stacked with talent. The Cyclery-Opus, which  has won the event for the last five years running, lined up with 2013  and 2014 champion Annie Foreman-Mackey backed up by talented teammates  including Ellen Watters, Emily Flynn and Ariane Bonhomme.

They faced a field with plenty of out-of-town riders on their way to the  Canadian Championships next week. These included Vancouver's Trek Red  Truck Racing (Leah Guloien, Kinley Gibson, Sarah Coney, Sara Bergen and  Suzanne Hamilton), Montreal's SAS-Mazda-Macogep-Specialized, 2014 world  team time trial champion Karol-Ann Canuel (Velocio-SRAM) and 2012  Olympian Joëlle Numainville (Bigla Pro Cycling Team).

The racing was aggressive from the start. The riders from The Cyclery-Opus had clearly been given instructions to go on the attack to  try to avoid a field sprint and they started launching moves from the  first lap. Catherine Dessureault of SAS-Mazda also initiated several  breakaway attempts and Canuel got in the mix too, but nothing was able  to stay away for more than a lap as the high pace took its toll on the  field, whittling the main group down to fewer than 20 riders going into  the final laps.

Numainville, who struggled in 2014 with a lingering concussion, has  returned to top form recently, finishing second in the Grand Prix  Cycliste de Gatineau two weeks to go. She was clearly the sprinter to  beat but spent much of the race chasing primes, so the big question on  the final lap was whether she had anything left for the finish. But she  erased any doubts by coming around Jamie Gilgen (Rise Racing p/b  Cyclepath Woodbridge) after the final corner to take the win.

Independent rider Rebecca Beaumont was third, Canuel finished fourth and Guloien fifth.

"I'm really happy that I came - I didn't expect such a strong field and  so many spectators," said Numainville. "This gives me lots of confidence  that I have good form going into the national championships."

Elite Men
The men's race had almost as much depth as the women's, with strong  contingents from Team NCCH p/b DEC Express, Ride With Rendall p/b  Biemme, Sante Universelle/Marin Bikes and H&R Block Pro Cycling Team,  along with smaller entries from Garneau Quebecor, Silber Pro Cycling,

Transports Lacombe/Devinci and, racing on his own, heavy hitter Pierrick Naud of Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies.

The attacks started almost as soon as the flag dropped. Adam de Vos and  Bailey McKnight of H&R Block both made several attemps, as did Jack  Burke and Brandon Etzl of NCCH, Ben Andrew of Santé Universelle and  Matteo Dal-Cin and Derrick St. John of Silber Pro Cycling.

But nothing stuck until a group of nine riders moved slightly off the  front after about 50 minutes of racing. St-John used this as a launch pad for a solo move that quickly gained 10 seconds on the peloton.

Recognizing the danger, the riders in the pack stabilized the gap, and  it stayed the same for the next 10 laps. St-John has won Preston St.  from this position before - in 2009 - but it was not to be this year as  he was brought back with five laps to go, setting up a bunch sprint won  by Australian Jason Lowndes of Garneau Quebecor, just ahead of Naud and  Etzl.

Lowndes, 21, came to Canada to join his new team this March, bringing  with him a reputation as a sprinter. He came through today, winning the  $1,000 top prize and his weight in Kichesippi beer.


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