October 11, 2010 (New Delhi, India) – For Canada’s road cycling team, Sunday, Oct. 10 was the first day of the road events. The women competed first in the 112km road race at Vijay Chowk. Canadian entries included Erinne Willock (Victoria, BC), Joelle Numainville (Laval QC), Julie Beveridge (Calgary, AB), Leah Kirchman (Winnipeg MN), and Anne Samplonius (Oakville ON). Tara Whitten of Edmonton AB also competed, looking to add to her three bronze medals already won in the track events.

It was expected that the flat course in Delhi was suited to the sprinters. Strong entries included 2002 Commonwealth Games road race champion, Nicole Cook of Wales, New Zealand’s Cath Cheatley and Linda Villumson also of New Zealand and the 2010 Road World Championships silver medalist.

The mass start of the 8-lap race included 55 riders representing 16 countries. The pack remained together and the time at the end of the second lap was 41:38. All six Canadian riders were safe in the main pack and by the beginning of the fifth lap, with about 70km remaining, a total of 42 riders remained after a crash in a corner lead to some riders dropping out of the race.

The road course took in some important landmarks in central Delhi including Vijay Chowk, the Parliament House and Rajiv Chowk. At one point the course had the riders turn onto the Rajpath with a view framed by the India Gate.

Lap five was competed in a time of 1:46:47. All Canadians remained with the main group and as the sixth lap began, only 39 riders remained in the race. Towards the end of the sixth lap, the field began to spread out and riders started to ride in single file with Canada’s Willock of Victoria, BC, taking over the lead. At the end of the sixth lap, the lead riders crossed the line with a time of 2:08:57. Ruth Corset of Australia and Willock were trading the lead back and forth with only two laps remaining.

On the penultimate seventh lap, the race for the lead was between Victoria Whitelaw of Australia, Villumsen of New Zealand and Canada’s Willock with the rest of the pack, including all Canadians very close behind. Towards the end of the seventh lap, New Zealand’s Cheatley tried to work her way up through the pack.

On the final lap with less than 14km to go, Willock remained at the front with no riders attempting a break away. As they turned around at the Vijay Chowk for the last time, England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand remained at the front. Then New Zealand’s Katie Boyd attacked but the pack was able to reel her in. With half a lap to go, the entire field still looked strong and were still together. It was anyone’s race with team tactics perhaps set to play a role in the outcome.

As the riders headed to the finish line for the bunch sprint, it would be milliseconds deciding the medals. In the end, Australia’s Rochelle Gilmore won with a time of 2:49:30. The silver went to Elizabeth Armistead of England and Chloe Hosking of Australia claimed the bronze.

Final results for the Canadians included Numainville with the top result in sixth place followed by Whitten in seventh, Willock in 13th, Samplonius placing 15th and Leah Kirchmann in 21st. A total of 38 riders finished the race out of a field of 58 riders.

Men’s Race
For the men’s 168km road race, Canadian entries included 2010 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Zack Bell of Watson Lake YK, Arnaud Papillon (Montréal, QC), Dominique Rollin (Boucherville, QC), Ryan William Roth (Kitchener, ON), and William Routley (Belleville, ON).

Race insiders were expecting the pace to be set by Mark Cavendish of the Isle of Man. Cavendish recently won five stage wins at the Tour de France in July and the Green jersey at the Vuelta a Espana in September. Other favourites included two-time Olympic medalist Hayden Roulston of New Zealand, and Australians Mathew Hayman, the defending Commonwealth Games Champion, and Michael Matthews, who recently won the U23 Men’s Road World Championships in Melbourne.

During the first lap a group of six included riders from Northern Island, New Zealand, South Africa, and Rwanda broke away from the pack and quickly pulled away. The first lap was completed in a time of 18:38 and the peloton followed almost a minute and a half back with Australia leading the chase. The break-a-way group maintained the gap as they finished lap two with a time of 37:28 while the peloton came through in 38:59.

During lap three the Rwandan rider fell back while the Canadians remained at the front of the chasing peloton. The lead group consisted of David McCann from Northern Island, Gordon McCauley, Sam Bewley, and Marc Ryan of New Zealand, and Christoff Van Heerden of South Africa. The leaders crossed the line to start the fourth lap with a time of 56:40 and the peloton followed with a time of 58:15 keeping the gap in check as Australia’s Cameron Meyer and Graeme Hatcher from the Isle of Man rode at the front of the pack.

On lap four McCann broke away from the small lead group taking McCauley with him and the two crossed the line to begin the 5th lap with a time of 1:15:59 and began extending their lead.

Positions remained the same during the fifth lap and the leaders finished with a time of 1:35:11 now 3:02 ahead of the peloton. The peloton behind continued to be led by Meyer and Isle of Man riders. The Canadian riders continued to stay together and were mid-pack in the peloton. The leaders continued to forge ahead and finished the sixth lap with a time of 1:54:36 with the peloton still over three minutes behind. A total of 85 riders remained at the half-way point with six laps remaining in the 12-lap race.

The leaders completed the seventh lap in a time of 2:14:20. When the peloton followed and crossed the start line, Canada’s Papillon and Bell were at the front. If the leaders were not caught the race would be on for the bronze among the 68 riders who remained – but there was still plenty of time to catch the break.

At the end of the eighth lap, Bell pulled away from the pack looking for a chance to make up ground. By the ninth lap, New Zealand riders Jack Bauer and Hayden Roulston joined Bell as they pulled further away from the peloton while making up ground on the leaders now only a minute ahead.

At the beginning of lap ten, the chasers had caught the leaders but the the peloton was closing in on them. With three laps to go, only 51 riders remained. The leader group of five included McCann, McCauley, Bauer, Roulston and Canada’s Bell. The chasers were fast making up ground now only 22 seconds behind.

Just before the 11th lap, Bauer attacked and created a gap as the lead group splintered while the chasing pack continued to gain ground. Bauer completed the tenth lap in 3:12:23 with the others at 28 seconds. During the penultimate lap Bauer tried to maintain his lead as the chasers were joined by Canada’s Rollin. As the last lap approached Bauer’s advantage was fading and he was caught as the peloton came together for the final lap.

The last lap was a race to the finish for the exhausted riders. New leaders traded the lead back and forth towards the half way point of the lap. Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Northern Island, Isle of Man and Canada were all in the race for medals. A sprint to the finish was imminent as Roulston, Millar, McCann and Australia’s Allen Davis were now at the front soon joined by fellow Aussie, Christopher Sutton.

With 200 meters to go Millar broke away first in the sprint to the line on tired legs as the riders battled for one of the top spots. In the end, Davis won the gold with a time of 3:49:48, Roulston claimed the silver and Millar of Scotland took home the bronze.

At the finish the Canadian men’s team said they gave it their all and used team dynamics as best they could to help each other stay at the front of the pack. “Zach worked things perfectly when he made his move,” said Roth. “We rode perfect as a team – we had two guys in every move.”

All Canadians finished the demanding 168km race in a strong field that saw 78 riders drop out with Rollin the top Canadian rider in 6th, Bell in 11th, Routley was 19th, Papillion placed 22nd and Roth finished in 25th.

Full results and more photos here.