07.28.10 - Tour Féminin en Limousin Race Report

Canadian National Team Project

(July 28, 2010) The Race: A four day, hilly, technical stage race comprised of three road races and one TT in the Limousin region of France for Elite women. The field contained 180 starters in 30 teams representing 15 countries.

Our Team: Lex Albrecht, Véronique Drapeau-Zgoralski, Julia Garnet, Cara Gillis, Leah Guloien, Moriah MacGregor.

Day 1: A technical 4 x 9.5 km circuit, followed by a 62 km loop.

The race started with a narrow, winding descent. The inevitable crashes immediately ensued. The first QOM saw many riders getting shelled but Julia Garnet, Lex Albrecht, and Leah Guloien held good positions up the climbs, with Moriah MacGregor, Cara Gillis, and Véronique Drapeau-Zgoralski moving up consistently. Interestingly, the main selection happened after all the QOMs, thanks to the Australian teams constant pressure at the front. Although none of us made the front group everyone worked hard to keep the gaps small. At the end of the day Ruth Corset, Australian National Team was in yellow.

Day 2: (Leah’s birthday) A twisting, hilly 17 km loop on narrow roads that passed through several small villages.

Although TT race reports are always exciting, the crux of the matter is that everyone did relatively well. Julia, although quite sick, got in some good preparation for worlds. The rest of us managed to more-or-less remain in the same GC spots. Edwige Pitel, took the win and Ruth Corset held on to yellow.

Day 3: Quite the opposite of day 1: a hilly technical 65 km loop, followed by two 22 km circuits with a steep pitch, narrow winding roads, and some very tight descents.

The race started off at a reasonable speed, but because the first sprint came early the pace quickly picked up. We all finished the large loop in good position; however, as we hit the steep QOM on the circuit gaps started opening. Lex made it into the front selection, Moriah stayed in the second, and Leah suffered a bit in the heat. Cara encountered some difficulties in a corner and ran into a wall (a quick trip to the ER and 6 stitches saw her patched up). Véro rode in with the grupetto. After not feeling well the day before, Julia helped out in the feed zone. Grete Treier, from the Michela Fanini Record Box team won and took yellow by nine seconds.

Day 4: A 50 km loop with 2 second category QOMs, 3 first category QOMs, and 3 sprints followed by 4 laps of a 13 km circuit that continued the premise of twisty, technical, and hilly.

After a presentation for the “prettiest rider” (which none of us won, surprisingly) the race stared up a punchy little climb. More twisty, hilly, technical riding ensued. This seems to be a theme in the pastoral French region of Limousin. Eventually, when the figurative dust settled, Leah was in the front group and Moriah, Lex, Cara, and Véro were in the second group. Carlee Taylor took the stage and Grete Treier won the overall. Canadian Julie Beveridge, riding for Vienne Futuroscope, took the Best Young Rider jersey. Everyone finished safely and we headed back to Belgium.

-- Canadian Cycling Association --

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