08.12.07 - Road Cycling – Junior World Championships - Canadian cyclists satisfied with World juniors competition in Mexico

Smitheman takes advantage of Boivin’s abandon to attain the best Canadian Men’s ranking.

August 12, 2007 – The World Junior Cycling Championships came to a close this Sunday in Aguascalientes, Mexico. On the last day of competitions, Canadian riders Denise Ramsden and Danielle Kenney shone during the road race, earning the ranks 18th and 24th respectively.

Ontario native Ramsden, aged 16 years, finished the 80.35k road race in the secondary peleton which crossed the finish line at 1 min 23 sec from the main pack and Italian winner Eleonora Patusso.

‘I am really satisfied with my performance today.’ underlined Ramsden. ‘It’s true that anything can happen in a race with a sprint finish, and certainly I would have prefered to have stayed with the main pack, but I gave my all today and tried to be as agressive as possible whilst racing.’ concluded Ramsden. Alberta’s Danielle Kenney also finished with the secondary pack in 24th place.

In Thursday’s Time Trial, Kenney and Ramsden placed 11th and 24th respectively in times of 21 min 52.66 sec and 24 min 17.900 sec. Australian rider Josephine Tomic won the event in a time of 20 min 38.150 sec.

In Men’s racing, Albertan cyclist Spencer Smitheman earned the best Canadian result of 44th;
58 seconds from winner Italian Diego Ulissi. After first riding for Quebecois cyclist Guillaume Boivin, Smitheman found himself alone in the pack due to Boivin’s unfortunate flat tire, which forced Boivin to retire from the race in the second to last lap. Fellow Quebecois rider Stéphane Cossette and British Columbia native Matthew Potma were also forced to abandon the race.

‘It was a good race for me today and I’m very happy with my result. It was very fast and very demanding – I would define it as a race of following. I found myself in the third group after the separation in the first moments of the race, but we maintained at least one minute from the lead pack, after which I got to the first peleton after the climbing sections. I am convinced that there was not a huge difference between myself and the riders on the podium today.’ stated Smitheman. This Junior World Road and Track Championships was the 17 year old athlete’s first participation

‘It was a bonus for Spencer to ride in support of Guillaume today,’ mused Luc Arsenault, Head Coach at the National Cycling Centre in Dieppe, New Brunswick. ‘When he realized that Guillaume was no longer in the race, he took the initiative and fought for a better position. He attacked roughly one kilometer from the finish in order to have a better result, but the pack caught him at 200 meters to the line. He would have certainly been able to finish in the top ten if he had been able to win the pack sprint.’

Earlier this week in the Time Trial competition, Potma earned the 22the place in 39 min 46.020 sec, whilst Boivin earned 42th place in 41 min 35.780 sec. The winner of the event was American rider Taylor Phinney who competed the course in 37 min 28.010 sec.

The objectives for this Championships were relatively flexible, but in the end I think that this week’s results indicate very satisfactory performances from our athetes. The week started with Monique Sullivan’s Bronze medal on the track, which in and of itself is the first World Juniors Track medal since Geneviève Jeanson. Stéphane Cossette also established a new Canadian record in the Kilo which was also an excellent result; as well the girls posted solid results in the Time Trial. In comparison to last year’s World Junior Championships, it has been a very successfull Championships.’ concluded Arseneau.