McGill Cycling Criterium 2011

On Saturday May 28th, McGill Cycling hosted it's second McGill Cycling Criterium. This year's edition was held on a new, wide and fast course. The 1.3km loop saw racers of every category go by, including a university women and university man peloton.

Photos can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcgillcycling/. I also have many more. Contact me (Jonathan ) for more or full size copies. Results are on the FQSC site, available at http://www.fqsc.net/route/resultats-mcgill.

First, and foremost, we'd like to thank all the riders who showed up and made the event a great success. While it is only the second year McGill Cycling holds a race, we are learning a lot, and every year our vision grows. While there is nothing definitive yet, we hope to organize more races next year, potentially, a series of races. The Université de Montréal club has also shown interest in hosting races, and we are looking forward to having a serious collegiate circuit in Quebec, or even eastern Canada. This year, we were happy to see riders from the following universities and CEGEPs come to our race:

• McGill
• Université de Montréal (UDM)
• ÉTS
• UQAM
• Queen's
• University of Ottawa
• Stevens Institute of Technology
• Cegep Édouard-Montpetit
• Université de Sherbrooke

If you are interested in helping the collegiate circuit develop in Quebec, give us a shout, we are looking forward to a busy 2012.

This event could not have taken place without the dedication of many members of the McGill Cycling Team, and Adam Bouchard (who's birthday it was), Dave Gruber, Scott Loong, Andrew Gallai and many others took great care in organizing the event. Thanks also to the many volunteers who showed up and helped secure the course, route traffic, drove the pace car, entertain the crowds, and so on.

Once again, the FQSC officials were of invaluable help, their experience and friendliness keeping the ball rolling.

Thanks also to all our sponsors, without whom we would be unable to organize events such as these. Have a look at the bottom of the page for a list of them!

And now, the race report:

The day started out quite gloomy, and by the time the masters C and D racers attacked the course, it was raining. Nonetheless, they gritted their teeth and raced on. Pierre L'Ecuyer (FADOQ) took a victory in master D race, while Gilles Bélanger (Jean-Coutu/CIBC Wood Gundy) won the master C's.

The rain did not relent when the masters B riders started. It did not stop riders from trying to break away, and while one group after another tried their luck, it was finally a 6 man break that made it to the finish with over a minute on the pack. Steve Hoather (monster.ca) got the best of his fellow break-away riders.

Next to leave where the women, with a combined group of Juniors, seniors, and masters. While the rain was relenting, it was not over, and it was another wet race. The relatively small pack finished together, with an unstoppable Geneviève Thisdel (La Cordée) winning yet another sprint. The first senior to cross the line was Annick Dufour (Stevens Racing p/b The Cyclery), with McGill's Ruth McLean finishing second. The junior race was won by Audrey Labrie (Piste.ca).

With the weather clearing up and the roads drying off, the master's A pack took off, with a four man break-away quickly forming. The quick pace of the leaders turned the four man break-away into a trio of racers who stayed away for good. François Doyon (Qulicot-Rackultra) was the fastest man at the end.

Due to the small size of the groups, the university men 1-2 and 3 left together, with a three man break-away wrecking havock in the field from the first lap on. After a hectic first lap, Scott Loong (McGill) chased back onto the break, while Julien Lépine was absorbed back into the peloton. Brandon Tulloch (McGill) and Mathieu Fradet (UDM) where the other strong men in the break. Despite an intense chase, often led by their own teammates, they came in with Scott Loong in first place. First place in university 3 went to Laurent-Charles Pelletier (UDM) who won the sprint. Special mention goes to the Stevens institute of technology riders who drove down from the US for the race.

The women's university scene in Quebec does not yet have the attendance of the ECCC, but the seven women who started kept a high pace up, with regular attacks. The sun was shining on Ruth McClean (McGill) as she won the race, collecting her second medal of the day.

After the university races were over, the junior men and senior 3 riders where let loose. Czeslaw Lukaszevicz (Prud' Homme- IGA) won the senior race, showing that years of experience and strong legs can still vanquish men half his age, while his teammate Jasmin Houle won the junior race.

Last to go where the senior 1-2 men. Once again, many attacks where launched, and finally, with a few laps to go, Dominic Chalifoux (Trek-bontrager) and André Tremblay (Nativo/Devinci) got away for good, with Dominic Chalifoux taking the victory and ending the day.

Once more, thanks to everyone who made this possible, and we hope to see you and many of your friends at next year's third edition!