Quebec City resident Simone Boilard won Canada’s first medal of the 2018 Road World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria in the Junior Women’s road race.
She finished third in a four rider sprint for the title and this is Canada’s first medal in the Junior women’s category since Victoria’s Clare Hall-Patch won Bronze in 2000, ironically the same year that Boilard was born.
Featuring two long climbs the 71.7 kilometre race split the field and on both occasions Boilard (Canadian time trial champion) was among the leaders.
Much of the field managed to regroup following the first climb, but the second climb saw multiple attacks that managed to narrow the lead group down to three, who ironically were Austria’s Boilard, Laura Stigger and Italy’s Barbara Malcotti.
The long descent saw Boilard drop a couple of times by the other two riders on the long descent, but always fought back to the leaders. Coming into the final two kilometres, Marie Le Net (France) bridged across, making four for the final sprint.
Stigger, who recently won the mountain bike world title, attacked with 100 metres to go, holding off Le Net at the line, with Boilard coming in at the same time for third.
Boilard told the media “I was happy with my ride in the time trial [where she finished fifth], but I knew I could do better, “so I really wanted this medal today. Stigger’s attack was really decisive, and I saw the Italian following her, and I thought, ‘this is it, I have to push’. I had to push really hard to catch them because it was a big gap to close. So it was three of us and then the French girl came back, and I thought ‘I want a medal so I have to do something’. I was cramping, but I gave everything I had to win this medal.
In other Canadian results, Magdeleine Vallieres Mill was 38th, despite riding with a broken thumb from a crash in the time trial, Kaitlyn Rauwerda was 48th and Elizabeth was 73rd.
About Cycling Canada
Cycling Canada is the governing body for competitive cycling in Canada. With the vision of becoming a leading competitive cycling nation, Cycling Canada manages the High Performance team, hosts national and international events and administers programs to promote and grow cycling across the country.
Cycling Canada programs are made possible through the support of its valued corporate partners – Global Relay, Lexus Canada, Mattamy Homes, Louis Garneau, lululemon, 4iiii, Argon18 and Bear Mountain Resort – along with the Government of Canada, Own The Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
