With the pair of Grand Prix races starting tomorrow, today saw the 4th annual Sprint Challenge. It’s a fun concept: each team fields one rider for the 1k course in a knockout tournament. Understandably, some riders take it more seriously than others but it’s still a fun warm up race to the upcoming main events. Here’s a quick report of the sprint!
A handful of cyclists opted to ride the course ahead of the race. Below: Jaun Jose Lobato.
Laurent Pichon.
2013 champion Bryan Coquard.
Ryan Anderson, the best Canadian at last week’s Tour of Alberta.
Thierry Hupond and Geoffrey Dussault.
Aussies Steele Von Hoff and CJ Sutton.
New Zealand champion Hayden Roulston.
Aleksei Tsatevich warmed up on a trainer.
Qualification round
Group A result: Bryan Coquard and Jusn Jose Lobato advanced while Ryan Anderson and Manuele Mori did not.
Cannondale staff watching the race.
Group B result: Steele Von Hoff and Geoffrey Dussault advanced over Thierry Hupond and Jay McCarthy.
Group C result: Ryan Macdonald and Borut Bozic moved on while Jens Keukeleire and Tsatevich were out.
Group D results: Dennis Vanendert and Eliott Doyle advanced ahead of Amaël Moinard and Nick Van Der Lijke.
Group E result: Cody Canning and Laurent Pichon moved on ahead of Hayden Roulston.
Group F result: Hugo Houle and CJ Sutton advanced, but Jean Marc Marino and Anton Varabei, who unfortunately came unclipped in the final meters, did not.
Quarter finals A result: matched up against three Canadians, Bryan Coquard won his heat along and advanced along with Eliott Doyle.
Quarter finals B result: won by Steele Von Hoff with Cody Canning in second place.
Quarter finals C result: Juan Jose Lobato and Borut Bozic moved on.
Semi finals A result: Bryan Coquard came out ahead of Cody Canning.
Semi finals B result: Steele Von Hoff took a flyer and even had time to ease off before crossing the finish line well ahead of Eliott Doyle.
The final match!
Steele Von Hoff beat him in the quarter finals and Bryan Coquard out sprinted him in the semi finals, but Cody Canning out sprinted the field to claim the overall victory!
The emcee interviewed fourth place finisher Eliott Doyle while waiting for the podium ceremony to begin.
The podium: 1st Cody Canning, 2nd Bryan Coquard, and 3rd Steele Von Hoff.
With the Quebec course featuring some decent climbs and the Montreal race even hillier, I’m guessing these sprinters will be pretty quiet over the weekend. We’ll find out tomorrow…