December 4/13 13:13 pm - CanAmQue Challenge at FCV, report and results

Posted by Editoress on 12/4/13
 

What an event the FCV put on this past Saturday night (November 30th).  The CanAmQue Challenge lived up to the billing as the biggest race of the year at the Forest City Velodrome.  Six riders ventured to the Great White (green) North from the United States, Five riders from Quebec, and 51 eager Ontario riders were on hand to compete for the five podium spots in the eighth edition of the Challenge.

Organizers had to add an extra Heat with so many riders entered in the event; each Heat could have been a feature race on any Saturday night race night during the year at FCV.  During the Heats the riders had to finish in the top 6 to move to the next round .... the drama began early as a couple of riders tried to figure out who the competition would come from.  The racing was tight and fast, and the eliminations in the five heat races were made .... with the top riders on to the Semi-Final.

Names like Veccio, Rupes, Byway, Schiller had to use up energy that they would need later in the Final, however, everyone was feeling the pressure of the quickness of the racing so far.

The field is set with 14 of the top racers at the FCV getting ready for 138 laps of hair raising fun on the tight 138m Velodrome.  Two of the youngest riders to make the field for the Feature CanAmQue Challenge were 14 years old - Jordan Jones and Lucas Taylor raced hard all night and finished sixth and seventh in the final run down.

The Challenge was fast from the opening whistle, with many attacks stringing the field out for the first 25 laps.  A touch of wheels caused one of the favourites in the race, Connor Byway, to hit the deck and take out Quebec rider Thierry Kirouac; both riders were OK, however, neither could continue.  After track repairs, the field picked up the pace with Jordon Broad attempting to take the $100 (Lap the field) Preem. Broad came close and was with five metres of the back of the field when his legs gave out and lungs burst, and a nice smooth pedal cadence turned into "the square pedal stoke from Hell" Broad said after the race, with a smile.

With 60 laps to go the pressure was on and the field broke apart. Four riders were off the front on their own (Martin Rupes, Martin Veccio, Simon Fothergill and Jeff Schiller), and stayed that way to the finish.  The last 20 laps had many attacks, with the four leaders coming back together each time. With less than seven laps to go Rupes buried himself in an attempt to break the other riders.  Unfortunately, the strategy did not work and Schiller put in the final attack with three laps to go. Both Fothergill and Veccio were on the rivet and had nothing left to challenge the local London rider in the end.

Challenge Finals, 138 Laps
1 Jeff Schiller (Aylmer, ON)
2 Simon Fothergill (Hamilton, ON)
3 Martin Veccio (Detroit, MI)
4 Martin Rupes (Toronto, ON)
5 Bailey Simpson (London, ON)
6 Jordan Jones (Hamilton, ON)
7 Lucas Taylor (London, ON)
8 Bailey Simpson (London, ON)
9 James Orton (Hamilton, ON)
10 Logan Cornell (Kingston, ON)
11 Blaine Benson (Detroit, MI)
12 Will Simonds (London, ON)
DNF Jordan Broad (Woodstock, ON)
DNF Connor Byway (Ottawa, ON)
DNS Thierry Kirouac (Montreal, QC)

Full results


Racing continues this Saturday Night (December 7th) with Six Day Madison Nights #2 action, plus all categories mass start racing for your viewing pleasure.

www.ForestCityVelodrome.ca

Report courtesy Rob Good