May 26, 2012 – (Kemptville, ON) – Chloe Black (Trisports Cycle/Eclipse) is the inaugural winner of the Elite women’s 37-lap eQuinelle Grand Prix Crit that took place in Kemptville, ON, on Saturday as part of the annual Dandelion Festival. Black broke away on her own and had a 22-second margin at one point as the pack chased her down.

She was able to hold on for victory by a 5-second margin with Audrey Bernard (Equipe Du Québec) scooping second in the final sprint to the line with Jamie Gilgen (Kallisto Wheels of Oakville) taking 3rd – average speed was 38.7km.

The race was marred by a bad crash on lap 3 involving Laura Haapamaki from PK Express Biemme who was taken away by ambulance as the race was halted for about 30 min – we’ll have an update on her condition shortly.

Men’s Race

Derrick St. John (Stevens p/b The Cyclery) emerged as the winner in the men’s 70-lap contest that featured an average speed of 45.8km/hr. St. John was able to wrestle himself free near the end of the Elite men’s race to claim the win over Anton Varabei (Jet Fuel/La Bicicletta) in second and Chris Firek (Wheels Of Bloor/Graywood Development) in third.

Unofficial (brief)

Elite Women

1. Chloe Black (Trisports Cycle/Eclipse) 57:18
2. Audrey Bernard (FitTime/Powerwatts) 57:23
3. Jamie Gilgen (Kallisto Wheels of Oakville)
4. Heather Sprenger (Team Exergy Twenty12
5. Florence Lamarche-Laplante (Stevens p/b The Cyclery)

Elite Men

1. Derrick St. John (Stevens p/b The Cyclery) 1:31:47
2. Anton Varabei (Jet Fuel/La Bicicletta)
3. Chris Firek (Wheels Of Bloor/Graywood Development)
4. Jean-Samuel Deshaies (Ekoi.com-Gaspesien)
5. Osmond Bakker (OCTTO-Cervelo)