GPCQM Sprint Challenge

And then the icing on the cake was going to my gate and seeing Garmin's Peter Stetina waiting to board! I couldn't resist and showed him my sign, of which he approved, and then he told me to make sure I cheered loudly for them at the races in Quebec. Clearly he doesn't follow my blog (yet), but I assured him that would not be a problem! When the flight boarded, I spotted former Canadian national road champion Ryan Roth also on the plane, but I wasn't able to grab an opportunity to talk to him.

A mixture of jet lag and excitement woke me up hours before my alarm (and sunrise) and I found myself waiting by the finish line for today's event: The Sprint Challenge. This is a great race format. Each of the 21 participating teams has 1 rider compete in a 4 man sprint, with the 2 fastest advancing to the next round until 1 rider wins.

But before the Sprint Challenge began, much of the peloton went for their daily ride on the course. My Russian speaking Uzbek friend, Sergey Lagutin, rode with Katusha.

Twenty five year old David Veilleux announced yesterday that he will retire from professional cycling after this season to spend time with his family and work on his mechanical engineering degree. I'm happy for him that he's accomplished so much in cycling and is eager for a new chapter in his life but I'm thrilled that I'll get to see him ride a couple more times before he calls it a day. It was nice to see that my cheers for David still resulted in a big smile from him.

It was too rainy for me to have brought along my newest Garmin sign but I managed to get Fabian Wegmann's attention regardless.

Lots of riders responded positively when I cheered for them but Francois Parisien and Marcus Burgardt both recognized me immediately and said his they contained their warm ups. There was also a funny moment when Andrew Talansky, who recognized me from the Tour de France, and Peter Stetina rode by together. When I yelled for both of them, they both said a familiar, “Hey!” and then looked at each other as if to say, “Wait, how do you know her?”

As luck would have it, the rain let up for the Sprint Challenge and Hermano showed up in time for the race despite a delayed flight.

Heat 1: this one wasn't even close. First was Remi Pellitier-Roy and Rollin was second.

Heat 2: Alexi Tsatevitch was first and Luka Mezgec was second.

Heat 3: Bryan Coquard was first and Matteo Trentin was second.

Heat 4: Giacomo Nizzolo was first and Alexey Lutsenko was second.

Heat 5: Zack Bell was first and Moreno Hofland was second.

Heat 6: Jens Debusschere was first and Geoffroy Dussault was second.

Round 2; heat 1: Pellitier-Roy won with Nizzolo in second.

Round 2; heat 2: Zach Bell over Alexey Lutsenko.

Round 2; heat 3: Hofland beat Coquard.

Round 3; heat 1: Coquard was first with Lutsenko in second.

Round 3; heat 2: Hofland edged out Nizzolo.

The final: this was a good match with lots of track cycling tactics being played out. In the end, Bryan Coquard crossed the finish line first, with Nizzolo in second, and Hofland taking third.

The 3 looked relaxed waiting to be called to the podium.

Coquard shook Hofland's hand as Nizzolo checked out the podium girl.

The victors.

Hermano and I noticed the riders heading to the hotel next door and we were able to catch Hofland for an autograph. We headed in and watched a bit of the press conference but it was awfully boring so we scooped up the race guide and found Remi Pellitier-Roy near the merchandise tent. He posed for a photo with Hermano before signing my flag.