September 29, 2018 (Innsbruck, Austria) – Karol-Ann Canuel from Gatineau, Quebec raced to a stellar 6th-place finish for Team Canada after challenging for the bronze medal in the grueling 155.6km Elite Women’s road race at the 2018 UCI Road World Championships on Saturday.

The Canadian women had one of their strongest performances in two decades in the Elite women’s road race as Sara Poidevin from Canmore, Alberta, came back from a crash to finish 14th, and Leah Kirchmann of Winnipeg, Manitoba finished 25th, to put three Canadians in the top-25, confirming Canada’s stature as one of the top cycling nations

Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) attacked on the penultimate climb and never looked back taking a decisive victory for her first Road Worlds title with Amanda Spratt (Australia) claiming the silver and Tatiana Guderzo (Italy) the bronze.

The 155.6 kilometre race began in Kufstein with an 80 kilometre run into the final 24 kilometre circuit in Innsbruck, which the women rode three times. At the 60 kilometre mark, the riders faced the first significant climb of the day, the Gnadenwald, however, a crash on the early portion of the climb took down Poidevin, along with time trial world champion Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands. Poidevin made it back to the bunch, joining Alison Jackson, Kirchmann and Canuel.

Anna van der Breggen attacked on the second lap and powered away to win her first world title ahead of Australia’s Amanda Spratt. Behind, Canuel powered a chase with Tatiana Guderzo (Italy), who broke clear to win the bronze medal, while Canuel sprinted for fourth with Emilia Fahlin (Sweden) and Malgorzata Jasinska (Poland), finishing sixth.

“It was a long race and hard,” said Canuel, who was eighth earlier in the week in the time trial and won silver in the Team Time Trial. “I had trouble following attacks, but I could hold my pace. In the last climb I was able to get away with two other girls, and it worked for me to get my best [Worlds road race] result.”

“This was my first Elite Worlds road race,” said Poidevin. “I got unlucky with the crash, but I was with two really strong Dutch riders, so I knew their team would keep the pace slow in the pack and I was able to chase back conservatively, and try not to burn too many matches getting back to the group. There were a lot of attacks on the climb and it was super fast on the descent, so I just tried to position myself well, with lots of help from my team mates. I’m just happy to come away with a good result.”

Zach Bell, manager for the women’s race, said “We started today with a lot of good options for different parts of the course. After some hiccups with a crash early on, the team did great damage control. Sara [Poidevin] did well to climb with front group, and Karol-Ann and Leah did great work on the circuit to take advantage of tactical moves. The whole team rode at a world class level, and Karol-Ann finished it off with a great aggressive move. Anna [van der Breggen] was just so strong today, and a big congrats to her. Overall, I think this is a big step for Canada, and a clear demonstration that our women are at a world class level on the most challenging courses.”

Alison Jackson from Vermilion, Alberta finished 51st, Sara Bergen of Coquitlam, BC was 74th and Katherine Maine from Ottawa, Ontario at her debut road worlds did not finish.

*with files from Cycling Canada

Results

1. Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) 4:11:04
2. Amanda Spratt (Australia) 3:42
3. Tatiana Guderzo (Italy) 5:26
4. Emilia Fahlin (Sweden) 6:13
5. Malgorzata Jasinska (Poland)
6. Karol-Ann Canuel (Canada) 6:17
7. Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands) 7:05
8. Amy Pieters (Netherlands)
9. Lucinda Brand (Netherlands) 7:17
10. Ruth Winder (United States Of America)
11. Rasa Leleivyte (Lithuania)
12. Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Poland)
13. Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy)
14. Sara Poidevin (Canada)
15. Anastasiia Iakovenko (Russian Federation)
16. Megan Guarnier (United States Of America)
17. Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (South Africa)
18. Clara Koppenburg (Germany)
19. Margarita Victo Garcia Cañellas (Spain)
20. Erica Magnaldi (Italy)
21. Katharine Hall (United States Of America)
22. Jolanda Neff (Switzerland)
23. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark) 7:22
24. Lucy Kennedy (Australia) 7:31
25. Leah Kirchmann (Canada) 8:18
26. Danielle Rowe (Great Britain)
27. Arlenis Sierra (Cuba)
28. Sofie De Vuyst (Belgium)
29. Stine Borgli (Norway)
30. Polona Batagelj (Slovenia)
31. Coryn Rivera (United States Of America)
32. Hanna Nilsson (Sweden)
33. Urska Pintar (Slovenia)
34. Eider Merino Cortazar (Spain)
35. Shara Gillow (Australia)
36. Sina Frei (Switzerland)
37. Annika Langvad (Denmark)
38. Edwige Pitel (France)
39. Yevgeniya Vysotska (Ukraine)
40. Julie van De Velde (Belgium)
41. Sophie Wright (Great Britain) 8:36
42. Kelly van Den Steen (Belgium) 9:00
43. Ingrid Lorvik (Norway)
44. Chantal Blaak (Netherlands)
45. Hannah Barnes (Great Britain) 0:10:58
46. Liane Lippert (Germany)
47. Georgia Williams (New Zealand) 0:11:01
48. Grace Brown (Australia)
49. Omer Shapira (Israel) 0:11:14
50. Githa Michiels (Belgium) 0:12:32
51. Alison Jackson (Canada) 0:12:48
52. Blanca Liliana Moreno Canchon (Colombia) 0:13:01
53. Ane Santesteban Gonzalez (Spain)
54. Brodie Chapman (Australia)
55. Maria Novolodskaya (Russian Federation) 0:13:10
56. Olga Shekel (Ukraine) 0:13:46
57. Lorena Llamas Garcia (Spain) 0:14:05
58. Elena Pirrone (Italy)
59. Angelika Tazreiter (Austria) 0:14:26
60. Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) 0:14:29
61. Juliette Labous (France)
62. Fernanda Yapura (Argentina)
63. Sofia Bertizzolo (Italy)
64. Danielle Christmas (Great Britain) 0:14:51
65. _pela Kern (Slovenia)
66. Grace Anderson (New Zealand)
67. Ur_ka _igart (Slovenia) 0:14:55
68. Anna Plichta (Poland) 0:16:05
69. Janneke Ensing (Netherlands)
70. Diana Klimova (Russian Federation) 0:18:04
71. Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark)
72. Soraya Paladin (Italy)
73. Audrey Cordon Ragot (France)
74. Sara Bergen (Canada) 0:18:20
75. Stephanie Subercaseaux Vergara (Chile) 0:18:44
76. Paula Andrea Patiño Bedoya (Colombia)
77. Natalya Saifutdinova (Kazakhstan)
78. Caroline Bohé (Denmark)
79. Eri Yonamine (Japan) 0:20:47
80. Jeanne Korevaar (Netherlands) 0:22:33
81. Sarah Rijkes (Austria) 0:23:06
DNF Marta Lach (Poland)
DNF Alice Sharpe (Ireland)
DNF Tayler Wiles (United States Of America)
DNF Lisa Brennauer (Germany)
DNF Anna Henderson (Great Britain)
DNF Anabelle Dreville (France)
DNF Sara Penton (Sweden)
DNF Ana Maria Covrig (Romania)
DNF Mónika Király (Hungary)
DNF Antri Christoforou (Cyprus)
DNF Pernille Mathiesen (Denmark)
DNF Mikayla Harvey (New Zealand)
DNF Katherine Maine (Canada)
DNF Yixian Pu (People’s Republic of China)
DNF Amiliya Iskakova (Kazakhstan)
DNF Trixi Worrack (Germany)
DNF Elena Cecchini (Italy)
DNF Charlotte Becker (Germany)
DNF Eugénie Duval (France)
DNF Aude Biannic (France)
DNF Leah Thomas (United States Of America)
DNF Lotta Pauliina Lepistö (Finland)
DNF Jelena Eric (Serbia)
DNF Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru (Ethiopia)
DNF Kathrin Hammes (Germany)
DNF Varvara Fasoi (Greece)
DNF Anna Potokina (Russian Federation)
DNF Katarzyna Wilkos (Poland)
DNF Alicia Gonzalez Blanco (Spain)
DNF Thi That Nguyen (Vietnam)
DNF Aurela Nerlo (Poland)
DNF Emma Cecilie Norsgaard Jørgensen (Denmark)
DNF Nicole Hanselmann (Switzerland)
DNF Hiromi Kaneko (Japan)
DNF Vita Heine (Norway)
DNF Susanne Andersen (Norway)
DNF Tereza Medvedova (Slovakia)
DNF Claire Faber (Luxembourg)
DNF Teniel Campbell (Trinidad & Tabago)
DNF Wing Yee Leung (Hong Kong, China)
DNF Ana Cristina Sanabria Sanchez (Colombia)
DNF Miyoko Karami (Japan)
DNF Faina Potapova (Kazakhstan)
DNF Anne-Sophie Harsch (Luxembourg)
DNF Rotem Gafinovitz (Israel)
DNF Alice Cobb (Great Britain)
DNF Maja Perinovic (Croatia)
DNF Cristina Martinez Bonafe (Spain)
DNF Tatiana Jaseková (Slovakia)
DNF Sarah Roy (Australia)
DNF Tiffany Cromwell (Australia)
DNF Alexis Ryan (United States Of America)
DNF Tetiana Riabchenko (Ukraine)
DNF Katrine Aalerud (Norway)
DNF Martina Ritter (Austria)
DNF Kseniia Dobrynina (Russian Federation)
DNF Tereza Korvasová (Czech Republic)
DNF Viivi Puskala (Finland)
DNF Kaat Hannes (Belgium)
DNF Camila Coelho Ferreira (Brazil)
DNF Clemilda Fernandes Silva (Brazil)
DNF Valerie Demey (Belgium)
DNF Christa Riffel (Germany)
DNF Elné Owen (South Africa)
DNF Jeydy Pradera Bernal (Cuba)
DNF Mosana Debesay (Eritrea)
DNF Hoi Wah Leung (Hong Kong, China)
DNF Rudina Baku (Albania)