June 13, GP Cycliste de Gatineau: 99.2km
Joelle Numainville (Webcor Builders) won the first edition of the Grand Prix Gatineau on Sunday in a crash-filled sprint. Numainville avoided the crash in the final 500 metres and held off late efforts by Jo Kiesanowski (TIBCO) and Modesta Vzesniauskaite (Colavita Baci) to win the UCI 1.1 race in her home province.
"Riders were going down beside me and behind me, but I was okay," explained Numainville. "It was a lot harder out there than we thought it would be, because there were many attacks and there was not much chance to rest. This is a really big win, to win this, the biggest race in Canada is pretty special."
The 99.4 kilometre race saw the riders make eight laps of a 12.4 kilometre course. Incorporating the start and finish of the previous day's time trial, riders also went through part of the Gatineau national park, with one small climb. Although the circuit did not feature any significant climbs, strong winds in the open sections and temperatures approaching 30 Celsius (85 F) took their toll on the field.
To read more of the CyclingNews.com article by Rob Jones, click here
Photo: © Rob Jones
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