2018 Global Relay Canadian Road Championships

Most everyone in the lower mainland are gearing up for the upcoming BC Superweek held on the streets of various communities in the lower mainland, with the start being in Delta.

The event will be televised on Delta TV for both Friday and Saturday the first two, with the third day gathering footage, which will be aired as a full package.

With this around the corner the one front and center now is the 2018 Global Relay Canadian Road Championships p/b Quebecor for Para, Junior, Under-23 and Elite riders held in the Saguenay region of Quebec.

Riders from across Canada and the World will compete in the Time Trial, Road Race and Criterium events for the maple jersey that is awarded to the winners in each of the categories..

First event is the Individual Time Trial that has riders racing against the clock on a rolling course (north of Chicoutimi) over distances ranging from 11.02 kilometres to 37.2 kilometres.

Riders to be aware of will be Para World Champion Shelley Gautier (women’s T1), three-time Elite women’s Team Time Trial World Champion Karol-Ann Canuel and Langley’s Svein Tuft in the Elite men.

He (Tuft) is going for a 11th National title in this being his final year of racing before retiring from professional competition and I for one am hoping he turns to coaching or developing with the National program.

The Para and Junior men and women will compete in their respective Road Race events on a 15 kilometre circuit in and around the town of La Baie, that will see them complete between two and eight laps, depending on category.

The Under-23 and Elite categories for women and men follow the next day as they compete in their Road Races that has the women complete eight laps (120.8 kilometres) while the men 12 laps (181.2 kilometres).  

The women’s field has pro-riders such as Leah Kirchmann (Team Sunweb), Karol-Ann Canuel (Boels Dolman), Kirsti Lay (Rally Cycling), Sara Bergen (Rally Cycling), Alison Jackson (Tibco-SVB) and Annie Foreman-Mackey (The Cyclery).

The men’s race could be a battle between the two North American-based professional teams – Silber Pro Cycling and Rally Cycling.

Don’t count out the European-based professionals of Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ) and Svein Tuft (Michelton Scott) that could be a factor of contention for the others.

The Championships conclude Sunday with the Criterium Challenge, that is a fast-paced fan favourite that will take place on a 1.6 kilometre circuit through the streets of Chicoutimi.

Junior and Elite (including Under-23) women and men will race for between 30 and 60 minutes that has the finish being a high speed mass sprint for the line.

Thanks to Karine Bedard for the photo

Cycling Canada  (438) 884-8771