At the finish line, it’s sprinter Pierrick Naud who won the race, while the Canada Games Time Trial Champion Matteo Dal-Cin took the silver. In the sprint for the bronze medal, James Piccoli of Team Quebec outsprinted the small group of chasers to capture his second medal of the Canada Games, and Team Quebec’s fifth of six medals available at the road races.
“I know the strength of Matteo. He won the time trial race on Monday and he is a specialist in solitary effort. I knew that I sprint better than him, so I didn’t really want to take any chances by attacking and wasting my strength,” said Naud, the Criterium Canadian Champion. “With such a steep course, the selection was to be made naturally. I came here with the intention of winning. It’s not necessarily self-pressure, but it was in my objective, and I had confidence.”
The race of 44 cyclists started with a very quick pace, and a few unsuccessful breakaway were attempted. In the second lap, just like Alizée Brien did in the morning in the women’s race, Adam DeVos of Team British Columbia took off in a solo attack.
Soon after, a chase of very good riders formed with Pierrick Naud and James Piccoli of Team Québec, Matteo Dal-Cin and Ryan Aitcheson of Team Ontario and Andrew L’Esperance of Team Nova Scotia.
Throughout the race, the chase group continued to work like clockwork, working together exchanging leads. Ultimately, they decided to leave DeVos at the front while controlling the gap at no more than two minutes. As the race progressed and with a melting lead, DeVos was eventually caught in the eighth lap, losing lots of energy.
“Matteo and I raced into the same teams, and we are good friends. Cohesion in the break between us was very good,” admitted Naud.
With two laps to go and the solo break caught, Pierrick Naud of Team Québec and Matteo Dal-Cin of Team Ontario both attacked, and with an exhausted DeVos and the lone Nova Scotia rider Andrew l’Espérance, the bridge proved to be impossible to close.
“There were several of us in the chase group, and I felt that some began to be exhausted after a while. The breakaway was formed a little weird. Matteo gained distance a little bit on the descent, and I jumped to his wheel. We looked back, and no one joined. So we decided to work within us,” added Naud.
The men completed 11 loops the 10.46km course, featuring a few punchy climbs at 10% grades.
Results
1. Pierrick Naud (Quebec) 11:53.0
2. Matteo Alexander Dal-Cin (Ontario)
3. James Piccoli (Quebec) 14:34.0
4. Ryan Aitcheson (Ontario) 14:38.0
5. Adam deVos (British Columbia) 14:56.0
6. Andrew L’Esperance (Nova Scotia) 15:40.0
7. Jordan Harris Cheyne (Ontario) 17:34.0
8. Stuart Matthew Wight (New Brunswick)
9. Emile Jean (Quebec) 23:26.0
10. Chris Prendergast (Manitoba) 23:26.0
11. Kyle James Buckosky (British Columbia) 23:43.0
12. Elliott Doyle (Quebec) 25:55.0
13. Joel Taylor (British Columbia) 25:58.0
14. Julien Roussel (New Brunswick)
15. Etienne Moreau (Ontario) 26:27.0
16. Connor Wilson (Alberta)
17. Willem Boersma (Manitoba)
18. Kurt Hauser (Saskatchewan)
19. Neil Symington (New Brunswick)
20. Tyler Brendan Derek D’Arcy (Nova Scotia)
21. Michael van den Ham (Manitoba) 26:30.0
22. Dennis Cottreau (Nova Scotia) 28:53.0
23. Jordan Duncan (British Columbia) 31:19.0
DNF Kevin Massicotte (Ontario)
DNF Colter Young (Alberta)
DNF Ty Andrews (Alberta)
DNF Marc Evers (New Brunswick)
DNF Ryan Shaun MacDonald (Nova Scotia)
WDW Matthew Barry (Newfoundland and Labrador)
WDW Dylan Thomas (Newfoundland and Labrador)
WDW Jordan Baird (Newfoundland and Labrador)
WDW Jordan Brochu (Quebec)
WDW Trevor John Pearson (British Columbia)