August 20, 2010 (Lachine, QC) – The final Tuesday evening bike race of the 2010 Mardis Cyclistes presented by Saputo season saw Benjamin Martel (Team Spirit/Cannondale) score, stopping the clock at 1:01:12 in the 50km senior men’s event. Following him across the finish were Antoine Duchesne (Cycles Regis) in second and Hugues Lapointe (Nativo-PG) in third.

But it was Jean-François Laroche (Cycles Régis) who was the most jubilant after the final race – his 9th place finish crowned him champion of the 2010 season. “It feels good,” said Laroche. “That makes three times now that I’ve won the title, although not in a row. It was disappointing not to be in the break this evening – but I’m happy. At the beginning of the season, nobody talked about the Cycles Régis team. We’re all just a bunch of amateurs and we won against many pro cyclists! This was a statement that we wanted to make. And I have good team mates; we won because we worked together.” Laroche noted that team mate Pierre-Olivier Boily was absent as he’s attending the 2010 Paracycling Worlds in Baie-Comeau, Quebec.

While Laroche never succeeded in winning a single stage race, takes home the 2010 Pro Elite Saputo Cuphe nonetheless finishing with 834 season points, ahead of Mathieu Roy (Team Spirit) with 697 and Pierrick Naud (Rocky Mountain/CIBC/Wood Gundy) with 647. Naud, who is off in Europe with the Canadian U23 team (to prepare for the UCI Road Worlds in Australia from Sept 29-Oct 3), was represented on the podium by his brother.

Laroche’s coronation was made easier because some of the biggest names were absent in the senior men’s 50km final event. Martin Gilbert (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) and team mates Eric Boily, Guillaume Boivin, Keven Lacombe, and Frank Parisien are all away racing in Europe in preparation for the September ProTour races in Quebec City and Montreal. SpiderTech members will be participating there as part of Canada’s national team.

One crash involving five cyclists on the last corner of the first lap sent Pedal photographer Pasquale Stalteri jumping out of the way. By the time he’d regained his composure, there was no longer a good photo to shoot of the crash.

Among the junior women, it was Élisabeth Albert (Rocky Mtn CIBC) who won both the 24km junior women’s stage race and was crowned champion of the 2010 women’s Shape Cup. This is all the more impressive because Albert, 18, is actually a cadet who was promoted to race with the juniors. “This win was fun for our team,” Albert told Pedal. Her coach, Jean-Yves Labonté, suggested that we keep a close eye on this promising rider. Catherine Couture (Specialized Mazda Samson) finished second in the 2010 Shape Cup, followed by team mate Ariane Patenaude. We spoke to Couture and she echoed Labonté’s advice about watching Albert.

Among those attending the last Mardis Cyclistes race of the 2010 were Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay, Lachine borough Mayor Claude Dauphin, Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau, Claude Pinard of title sponsor Saputo, Monique Depatie of Molson Coors Canada, Gervais Rioux of Argon 18, André Michaud, President of the FQSC, Josée Robitaille of the FQSC, and Edgar Theoret of the Panthéon des sports du Québec.

Theoret spoke to the crowd and told how Tino Rossi, who founded the Mardis Cyclistes races in 1978, will soon be inducted into the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame.

Depatie spoke about how Molson Coors wants to be involved with events that encourage people to be active and stay healthy. Tremblay then noted that Depatie is the first woman to be the honorary president of the Mardis Cyclistes. Mayor Tremblay also spoke about how Montreal is becoming increasingly recognized as a centre for bicycling. He mentioned the Bixis and 600km of bike paths. Then turning to the 83 cyclists amassed on the start line of the senior men’s race, Tremblay acknowledged the contribution of competitive cyclists to promoting the sport. The mayor said, “But if the ProTour race is coming to Montreal on September 12, it is because of you!”

The commentaries and speeches were mainly in French, but much more English was spoken on Tuesday evening than has been the case in the past. The Mardis Cyclistes races are now broadcast on WebTV at www.mardiscyclistes.tv, and announcer Randy Fergusson could often be heard asking his interview subjects for a few words in English for the event’s worldwide audience. In previous years, the event commentary has been entirely in French despite Lachine’s population being described in the 2006 census as 22% English-speaking.

More results and information (in French) click here.

Senior Men’s 50km (brief)

1. Benjamin Martel (Team Spirit/Cannondale)
2. Antoine Duchesne (Cycle Régis)
3. Hugues Lapointe (Nativo-PG)
4. Vincent Quirion (Gaspésien)
5. Mathieu Roy (Team Spirit/Cannondale)
6. Thomas Devisscher (Ride with Rendall)
7. Yannick Bedard (Gaspésien)
8. Pierre-Etienne Boivin (Team Spirit/Cannondale)
9. Jean-Francois Laroche (Cycles Régis)
10. Miguel Agreda Rojas (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy)

Final Standings

1. Jean-Francois Laroche (VC Montreal-Cycles Régis) 834 pts
2. Mathieu Roy (Team Spirit/Cannondale) 697
3. Pierrick Naud (Rocky Mountain-CIBC Wood Gundy) 647
4. Martin Gilbert (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) 627
5. David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit Strategies) 482
6. Hugues Lapointe (Nativo-PG) 438
7. Dominic Chalifoux (Trek-Curaprox) 362
8. Eric Boily (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) 343
9. Vincent Quirion (Gaspésien) 330
10. Francois Parisien (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) 303
11. Pierre-Etienne Boivin (Team Spirit/Cannondaleus Element) 295
12. Antoine Duchesne (Cycles Régis) 294
13. Benjamin Martel (Mazurcoaching/Wheels of Bloor) 289
14. Charly Vives (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) 287
15. Keven Lacombe (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) 271
16. Hugo Houle (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault) 266
17. Thierry Laliberte (Xprezo-Borsao) 263
18. Thomas Devisscher (Ride with Rendall) 263
19. Guillaume Boivin (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) 251
20. Shawn Mcarty (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault) 224
21. David Maltais (VC Montreal-Cycles Régis) 213
22. Aurelien Passeron (Club Chaussure Garneau) 207
23. Michael Joannisse (Nativo-PG) 195
24. Yannick Bedard (Gaspésien) 178
25. Jean-Michel Lachance(Nativo-PG) 173
26. Maxime Vives (cc Powerwatts-Moishes) 158
27. Philippe Lacasse (Rocky Mountain-CIBC Wood Gundy) 156
28. Simon Lambert Lemay (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) 156
29. Daniel Belleville (Paquette Villemure Construction) 151
30. Simon Gagnon-Brassard (Nativo-PG) 115
31. Czeslaw Lukaszewicz (VéloSelect-Prud’Homme-Glasshield) 107
32. Erik Lyman (Team Spirit/Cannondaleus Element) 106
33. Derrick St John (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault) 105
34. Gabriel Michaud (Nativo-PG) 93
35. Francois Doyon (Quilicot-Rackultra) 90
36. Andre Tremblay (Indépendant-RP) 86
37. Miguel Agreda Rojas (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault) 85
38. Felix Cote Bouvette (VéloSelect-Prud’Homme-Glasshield) 84
39. Michael Dalterio (Espoirs Saputo) 75
40. Pierre-Olivier Boily (Indépendant-RP) 75
41. Philippe Leduc (CIBC Wood Gundy-Novabrik) 73
42. Arnaud Papillon (Nativo-PG) 64
43. Sebastien Pilotte (Guru-Cinelume) 63
44. Jean-Sebastien Perron (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault) 62
45. Nicholas Geoffrion (Dynamiks de Contrecoeur) 60
46. Vincent Levesque (VC Montreal-Cycles Régis) 60
47. Alexandre Nadeau (Guru-Cinelume) 58
48. Vincent Veilleux-Lessard (Team Spirit/Cannondaleus Element) 56
49. Raphael Masse-Viau (Rocky Mountain-CIBC Wood Gundy) 50
50. Francois Brunelle (Guru-Cinelume) 49
51. Olivier Delaney (Espoirs Saputo) 47
52. Yorick Caron (Guru-Cinelume) 46
53. Francois Chabot (VC Montreal-Cycles Régis) 46
54. William Blackburn (Rio Tinto-Martin Swiss) 46
55. Antoine Matteau (Gaspésien) 46
56. Christian Deshaies (Mazurcoaching/Wheels of Bloor) 45
57. Maxime Joly-Smith (Rocky Mountain-CIBC Wood Gundy) 42
58. William Goodfellow (Bikereg.com Cannondale) 42
59. Mark Comaniuk (cc Powerwatts-Moishes) 41
60. Simon-Pierre Gauthier (Espoirs Saputo) 41
61. Edward Forest (Iris) 41
62. Laurent Dallaire (Rocky Mountain-CIBC Wood Gundy) 41
63. Cedric Boily (Club Cycliste Gervais Rioux) 40
64. Vincent Courcy (Le Yéti) 40
65. Mathieu Fortier (Guru-Cinelume) 40
66. David Dulude (Nativo-PG) 38
67. Fabien Grignard (Club Cycliste Gervais Rioux) 35
68. Carl Desroches (Rio Tinto-Martin Swiss) 35
69. David Onsow (Rocky Mountain-CIBC Wood Gundy) 35
70. Martin Vinet (Trek-Curaprox) 35
71. Philippe Raymond (Rio Tinto-Martin Swiss) 35
72. Kianoush Missaghi (Dynamiks de Contrecoeur) 35
73. Francois-Charles Malo (Dynamiks de Contrecoeur) 34
74. Francis Martin (Indépendant-RP) 33
75. Jean-Francois Racine (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault) 32
76. Steve Bouvette (VéloSelect-Prud’Homme-Glasshield) 30
77. Carl Vandekerckhove (Club Cycliste Gervais Rioux) 30
78. Matthew Guse (Rio Tinto-Martin Swiss) 30
79. Emile Jean (VéloSelect-Prud’Homme-Glasshield) 30
80. Michel Henri (Iris) 28
81. Joel Dion-Poitras (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault) 27
82. Remi Pelletier-Roy (Dynamiks de Contrecoeur) 27
83. Antoine Malo (Nativo-PG) 26
84. Martin St-Laurent (Guru-Cinelume) 25
85. Sébastien Paquette (Paquette Villemure Construction) 25
86. Joseph Power (C.C. Rossi Lachine) 25
87. Julien Langlois (Espoirs Saputo) 25
88. Martin Ste-Marie (VC Montreal-Cycles Régis) 25
89. Jean-Michel Naud (Rocky Mountain-CIBC Wood Gundy) 25
90. Sylvan Adams (cc Powerwatts-Moishes) 25
91. Stephane Cossette (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) 23
92. Oliva Gomez Everardo Alejandr (Velo Select) 21
93. Jean-Francois Fortin (Quilicot-Rackultra) 21
94. Andres Ivan Ramirez (VéloSelect-Prud’Homme-Glasshield) 20
95. Martin Rooseboom (Indépendant-RP) 20
96. Nicolas Ammerlaan (Le Yéti) 20
97. Howard Berridge (Indépendant-RP) 20
98. Hugo Pelletier (Synergy Cycle-RIIR) 20
99. Mathieu Fleury (Iris) 20
100. Roth Cassey (Ride with Rendall) 20
101. Glen Rendall (Ride with Rendall) 20
102. Carl Grenier (VC Montreal-Cycles Régis) 20
103. Justin-Frederick Hall (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault) 20
104. Andreas Ihm (Rio Tinto-Martin Swiss) 20
105. Aroussen Laflamme (Xprezo-Borsao) 19
106. Philippe Nadon (Rocky Mountain-CIBC Wood Gundy) 19
107. Pascal Bussieres (Team Spirit/Cannondaleus Element) 18
108. Jean-Sebastien Maheu (Indépendant-RP) 17
109. Scott Loong (Cycling@McGill) 15
110. Mathieu Fradet (Le Yéti) 15
111. Gabriel Girard (Nativo-PG) 15
112. Robert Duguay (La Cabosse d’Or chocolaterie) 15
113. Jean-Samuel Deshaies (Rocky Mountain-CIBC Wood Gundy) 15
114. Mathieu Charruau (La Cabosse d’Or chocolaterie) 15
115. Carol Migneault (Gaspésien) 15
116. Eric Moody (Club Cycliste Gervais Rioux) 15
117. Robert Ralph (Rio Tinto-Martin Swiss) 15
118. Frederic Ouellet-Lacroix (Team Spirit/Cannondaleus Element) 15
119. Alexandre Duranceau (Vélo Club Longueuil) 15
120. Jordan Brochu (Nippour/DEVINCI) 15
121. Yann Deville (CIBC Wood Gundy-Novabrik) 15
122. Jonathan Arseneault (CIBC Wood Gundy-Novabrik) 15
123. Blaise Limoges (VeloSelect-Pru’Homme-Glasshield) 15
124. Eric Lemaire (Quilicot-Rackultra) 15
125. Maximilien Benjamin (Rocky Mountain-CIBC Wood Gundy) 15
126. Eric Lemaire (Quilicot-Rackultra) 15
127. Pierre Boilard (Team Spirit/Cannondaleus Element) 12
128. Philippe Brizard (Dynamiks de Contrecoeur) 10
129. Claude Crepeau (Iris) 10
130. Brandon Tulloch (Cycling@McGill) 10
131. Michel Brazeau (Synergy Cycle-RIIR) 10
132. Francis Morin (Indépendant-RP) 10
133. Stephane Tremblay (Gaspésien) 10
134. Nicolas Didtsch (Guru-Cinelume) 10
135. Sebastien Lacroix (cc Haut Richelieu Megavolt/Atac) 10
136. Eric Migneron (Indépendant-RP) 10
137. Antoine Richer (Trek-Curaprox) 10
138. Frederic Vachon (Paquette Villemure Construction) 10
139. James Langedyk (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault) 10
140. Alexandre Mc Duff-Viau (cc Université de Montréal) 10
141. Mateo Dal Cin (Rocky Mountain Bicycles/ProCycle) 10
142. Uemura Ryosuke (VC Montreal Cycles Regis) 10
143. Greg Reain (Ride with Rendall) 10
144. Michael M Taylor (Minimaqx) 9
145. Luc Dionne (CIBC Wood Gundy-Novabrik) 9
146. Giovanni Traina (Marinoni-Cadence) 5
147. Francois-Charles Dumas (Nativo-PG) 5
148. Engel Colin (Indépendant-RP) 5
149. Jonathan Villemaire-Krajden (La Cordée Plein air) 5
150. Laurent-Charles Pelletier (cc Université de Montréal) 5
151. Hugo Champagne (Quilicot-Rackultra) 5
152. Francois Prefontaine (Nativo-PG) 5
153. Alexandre Odulinski (Synergy Cycle-RIIR) 5
154. Keith Selevich (Indépendant-RP) 5
155. Eric Desjardins (Espoirs de Laval) 5
156. Eric Provost (Trek-Curaprox) 5
157. Marc Couture (Lapraicycle) 5
158. Ugo Lapierre (Team CLG) 5
159. Jean-Sebastien Beland (Paquette Villemure Construction) 5
160. John-Christopher Reid (Ride with Rendall) 5
161. Jim Tsilemos (Ride with Rendall) 5
162. Olivier Lalonde (Le Yéti) 5
163. Francis Desbiens (Atrium-CC2R (Junior)) 5
164. Alexandre Mathieu (Rocky Mountain Bicycles/ProCycle) 5
165. Frederic Poisson (Atrium-CC2R (Junior)) 5
166. Marco Viau (VéloSelect-Prud’Homme-Glasshield) 5
167. Joerg Hoffstadt (VéloSelect-Prud’Homme-Glasshield) 5
168. Yves LeFebvre (Trek-Curaprox) 5
169. Alain Grenier (VéloSelect-Prud’Homme-Glasshield) 5
170. Olivier Salmon (CIBC Wood Gundy-Novabrik) 5
171. Gervais Bernier (Club Cycliste Gervais Rioux) 5
172. Mathieu Denis (cc Université de Montréal) 5
173. Francois Desrosiers (La Cordée Plein air) 5
174. Jean-Francois Blais (Trek-Curaprox) 5
175. Luc Blain (La Cabosse d’Or chocolaterie) 5
176. Ofer Pozner (Powerwatts) 5
177. Martin Lamontagne-Lacasse (Sherbrooke (club cycliste)) 5
178. Marc-Andre Daigle (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault) 5
179. Garneau Louis (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault) 5
180. Bernard Vives (cc Powerwatts-Moishes) 5
181. Alexandre Carrier (CIBC Wood Gundy-Novabrik) 5
182. Rene Kopalie Soucy (Indépendant-RP) 5
183. David Barry (Indépendant) 5
184. Pozner Ofer (Powerwatts) 5
185. Stephen Keeping (Kingston International Wheeelers) 5
186. Charles-Andre Bilodeau (cc Powerwatts-Moishes) 5
187. Francois-Michel Deschamps (Quilicot-Rackultra) 5
188. Brandon Sant (cc Powerwatts-Moishes) 5
189. Francois Bernachez (Indépendant) 5
190. David Gagnon (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault) 5
191. Charles Matte (Nippour/DEVINCI) 5
192. Sébastien Cadieux Duval (Indépendant-RP) 5
193. Pierre Louis Chamberland (Indépendant-RP) 5
194. Jason Cheney (Ride with Rendell) 5
195. David Dionne (Xprezo-Borsao) 5
196. Jean-Marc Dulac (Rocky Mountain Bicycles/ProCycle) 5
197. Alexandre Lavallée (Indépendant-RP) 5