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Interview with Cycling Canada’s Head Coach HP Jacques Landry at Rio 2016 on the Road Races

by pedalmag.com
Team Canada RR (l-r) Hugo Houle, Mike Woods, Antoine Duchesne, Tara Whitten, Leah Kirchmann and Karol-Ann Canuel.  ©  Cycling Canada
August 05, 2016 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) – The Rio 206 Olympic Games kick off on Aug. 6 with the 237.5km Men’s Road Race at 9:30am local time (8:30am EST) in Fort Copacabana followed by the women’s 136.9km competition on Aug. 7 at 11:15am local time (10:15am EST). Canada has a strong contingent of three riders racing in the men’s race with Mike Woods (Ottawa, ON), Hugo Houle (Ste-Perpétue, QC) and Antoine Duchesne (Chicoutimi, QC). For the women it’s Leah Kirchmann (Winnipeg, MB), Tara Whitten (Calgary, AB) and Karol-Ann Canuel (Gatineau, QC).

Rio Road Map  ©  Rio2016

The course includes the Grumari Circuit with four laps for men and three for the women and two climbs – a narrow climb and descent in a forested area which averages 7% over 1.2km with a maximum gradient of 13% and the Grota Funda climb which averages 4.5% over 2.1km with a maximum gradient of 6%; the circuit also includes a cobble stone section of 2km. Next up is the Canoas/Vista Chinesa Circuit (one for women and three for men) with an 8.9km uphill followed by a technical descent of 6km. Then it’s back to the start/finish – read more here.

Earlier today we caught up with Jacques Landry, Cycling Canada High Performance Director, Head Coach, for his take on the weekend of racing ahead.

“Everybody is doing fine here in Rio,” said Landry. “For tomorrow’s men’s race the main objective is to protect Mike Woods and keep him out of trouble throughout the race while keeping our wits about us and watching to making sure any opportunities are taken advantage of. It’s going to be a long one… about 6.5 hours. The weather is supposed to be nice around 30-31 degrees.

“All the guys are feeling fit. Hugo Houle did the Giro and had a strong ride at Beauce while Antoine Duchesne just finished the Tour de France. Woods has recovered well from his injury back in April, and while there’s pressure to preform he’s ready for it. Depending on how things go they’re all capable of having a good day.

“With a maximum of five riders per team, everybody has to be careful and keep an eye out to make sure to capitalize on opportunities while trying to prevent any moves from getting away.

“For the women we’re going to take a slightly different approach with various strategies depending on how things unfold. It’s not necessarily a climber’s race – the women do three laps and the men do four – but everybody is feeling strong so we’ll wait and see how things unfold,” said Landry. We also chatted with Landry at the Rio 2016 Barbeque send off and he feels good about the riders, and the team behind the team…

 





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