June 25, 2017 (Ottawa, ON) – Matteo Dal-Cin (Rally Cycling) was clearly on mission as he claimed the biggest win of his career with a gutsy final attack on the penultimate lap in horrific rainy conditions to win the Elite Men’s road race title on Saturday at the 2017 Global Relay Road Nationals p/b Lexus.

Marc-Antoine Soucy (Garneau Quebecor) was the only rider who could stay with Dal-Cin finishing second to take home the U23 Men’s crown as well. Silber’s Pier-Andre Cote won the bunch sprint to land third on the podium and second in the U23 Men’s race, with Thierry Kirouac Marcassa (QC) Equipe du Quebec capturing the final podium spot.

The victory was redemption for Dal-Cin, who hails from Ottawa and suffered a fateful crash in the final corner on the same course   last year while leading the race. This time he was more than ready battling a stacked field and Mother Nature as well to secure the coveted Elite Men’s road race Maple Leaf jersey.

“This year I decided not to be so zealous, try not to force anything, follow some wheels and get up the road to play my part in the team’s plan,” said Dal-Cin. “The team did a good job of covering moves all day and was well represented in every break that went up the road. In the finale, I wasn’t super confident in my sprint, but I have been working on it for the past year, and it paid off. It was incredible to return the team’s hard work with a win.”

The 160km competition featured 16 laps that saw Rally pushing from the start with Rob Britton and Adam de Vos stretching their legs early. By the fourth lap dark clouds had moved in and as Dal-Cin and Silber’s Nicholas Zukowsky had a gap of 20 seconds a mad storm was unleashed with thunder and lightning that forced officials to neutralize the race.

A twitchy peloton resumed after a 10-15min impasse as attacks began but nothing would stick until Lap 11 when Svein Tuft (Orica-Scott) took to the front and put the hammer down. Back in 2015 he escaped with a similar move and won the title but not this time.

As the rain returned seven riders including defending champ Bruno Langlois (Garneau-Quebecor) and Ryan Roth (Silber) got up the road but Tuft led the charge and they too were reeled in. The beleaguered pack was now reduced from 141 starters to less than 60 riders and split in two main groups.

In pouring rain half way through Lap 15 Dal-Cin made his move taking Soucy with him and soon the duo had 20 seconds on the chasing pack as Roth and James Piccoli (QC) Independant tried to bridge in vain while the chasing pack was in disarray.

The two leaders forged ahead as Dal-Cin let Soucy take the final corner first before attacking and dropping him to secure a well-earned victory. Soucy earned top honours as the top U23 rider for the biggest win of his career as well.

Last year Dal-Cin became the first Canadian to win the Redlands Bicycle Classic in its 32-year history and this year he claimed stages at the Tour of the Gila and the Tour de Beauce leading up to the road nationals.

Full results here
Interview with Dal-Cin here.