June 28, 2010 (Edmonton, AB) – Under a clear bright blue sky and warm temperatures in Edmonton, the Elite/U23 men set out to conquer the 182km, 14-lap National Championship Road Race. It was apparent right from the start that the men were here to race, and race hard they did, as lap one of 14 was completed at a blistering pace with multiple attacks going off evident by the long, single file line of riders as they passed through the start/finish arch in a wind-whipping single file suffer train.

The brisk pace continued for lap two and in lap three a break finally began to stick with a group of ten men who quickly gained a 30 second gap over the peloton. This group included Jean-Michel Lachance (Nativo-PG-Devinci), Mark Batty (SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy), Andre Tremblay (Nativo-PG-Devinci), Lachlan Holmes (Speed Theory), Bruno Langlois (SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy), Derrick St. John (Garneau-Club Chaussures-Ogilvy Renault), Ed Veal (La Bicicletta Elite Team), Andrew Randell (SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy), Ryan Correy (CMC/Bow Cycle), and Spencer Smitheman (Hagens Berman LLP).

Throughout the middle portion of the race, this lead group bulged and shrank in numbers during the day as some riders bridged up while others dropped off of the lead group.

Without any teammates, race winner Will Routley (Jelly Belly p/b Kenda) made a timely move on lap 5 as he followed an Ontario rider up to the lead group from the peloton. Routley rolled in the lead group for a few laps, conserving energy and planning his remaining race strategy.

The lead group’s advantage grew to over 3 minutes, and did not deviate much from this mark for the remainder of the race. Pro tour riders Dominique Rollin (Cervelo Test Team) and Svein Tuft (Garmin-Transitions) made several attempts to escape the peloton to bridge to these leaders, however both were unsuccessful due to the diligent work by some of the larger teams. “Every time you went somewhere, you had three or four SpiderTech guys with ya,” said Tuft. “It was pretty demoralizing.”

With two laps to go the lead group exchanged blows by attacking and counter attacking each other. “It was kind of a stressful day because the break was really never that well organized…” said Routley. Finally, Andrew Randell (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy) attacked and Routley was able to follow his wheel and the two worked together to build up a 40-second advantage for the final lap.

On the final climb of the day, Routley applied the pressure to Randell and opened a small gap on the top of the Groat Road climb but Randell was strong and responded by closing the gap on the downhill towards Hawrelak Park and the finish line. Routley kept the pace on while still trying to save something for the inevitable two-up sprint for the jersey.

In the end, he was able to stay ahead of the charging Randell on the downhill sprint, winning by little more than half a wheel length. The powerhouse SpiderTech team came up half a wheel short as “…all the pressure was on SpiderTech to do the work, be in the moves and cover everything, so that takes its toll,” said Routley.

The U23 national champion race was won by Arnaud Papillon (Team Quebec) who finished in the first chase group with Jesse Reams (HCycling) winning the bunch sprint out of the second chase group and David Boily (SpiderTech powered by Planet Energy) finishing in 3rd.

When asked how it feels to be 2010 national champion, Routley’s simple response was that “It’s pretty darn good I must say”.

Full results here.

Post Race Win Interview with Will Routley