July 2/09 22:29 pm - Para-cycling National Time Trial Championships

Posted by Editoress on 07/2/09
 

Paralympian Rico Morneau (HC B) took a fifth title at the time trials held today during the Canadian Road Championships in Saint-Georges-de-Beauce.  Morneau had the best time in the handcycling event. His teammate on the Quebec team, Mark Beggs (HC B), had the second best time.

“I felt in good shape and I was confident. A few weeks ago I participated in the Marathon in Switzerland, where I came in fourth. It was a difficult race because the best were there”, said Morneau, who is looking for his fourth Canadian title in the road race.

The Quebec tandem team made up of Daniel Chalifour (B&VI) and Alexandre Cloutier took their third consecutive victory at these national championships. A team from British Columbia, Brian Cowie (B&VI) and Devon Simbert, finished second.

“It was a difficult course. There were a lot of hills. They weren’t too steep, but they were pretty long. In addition, I must mention that tandem climbs are harder. In short, I think that we were able to take advantage of the route," said Chalifour.

Still with the paracyclists, Marie-Claude Molnar (CP 3-4) and Mathieu Parent (LC 1-4), both from Quebec, took the titles in their respective categories.

In the junior category, Antoine Duchesne, from Quebec, was the Canadian champion in this individual event. He has had an excellent season, and covered the 20 kilometres 52 seconds faster than second-placed Matteo Dal-Cin of Ontario.

“I came here with the goal of winning”, Dechesne confided, who marked his tenth junior victory in 2009. “Since the beginning of the year, things have been going well for me. Last year I was the best rookie with a seventh place finish. So I knew I had the potential to win.”

In the women’s category, it was Julia Garnet from Saskatchewan, who gave the best performance. She beat last year’s winner, Adriane Provost of Quebec.

“I was hoping to win because I trained a lot for this race. I was betting on the time trials. On the road race, I plan to try a couple of tactics depending how things go.” declared Garnet, the only representative from her team this weekend.

Friday, the masters’ category cyclists will take part in the road events. They will cover a 28.5-kilometre circuit two to four times, depending on their age group.

LC : Locomotor disabilities
CP : Cerebral Palsy
HC : Handcycling
B&VI : Blind and visually impaired

Courtesy CCA