September 29, 2009 (Victoria, B.C.) – Canada’s Erinne Willock of Victoria, B.C. scored a career-high 7th place as the top North American in the Elite women’s 124.2km road race in Mendrisio, Switzerland on Saturday won by Itay’s Tatiana Guderzo . It was her best placement at the Road Worlds since 2007 in Stuttgart where she was 16th. We caught up with her after she returned home to find out more about her fine performance, the course itself, and her thoughts on the men’s ProTour coming to Canada in 2010.

Congrats on your 7th place finish – how were you feeling out there today?
Erinne Willock: Well to be honest it was a really hard day and a fast pace from the get go. I’m not sure if I ever felt good out there, but that’s not because I was having a bad day. I was really happy with the way I felt and that I was healthy and on form. I had had mono back in July so after being sick and taking a little time off I was unsure of how my fitness would be by the time of Worlds. But, my coach and I just kept an careful eye on my fatigue and trained really hard and it all came together in time. I’m incredibly happy that it all worked out well.

Did you like the course and was it as tough as predicted?
EW: The course was tougher than predicted and tougher than I expected even after pre-riding it. The hills were brutal, especially the first steeper climb and with the descent being technical and wet the group kept breaking apart and the descent didn’t end up being the ‘recovery section’ as expected. But in the end I have to say that I liked the course because it was hard and we all raced hard – those are the best kind of events for me.

You and Tara Whitten were together up front – what was the strategy?
EW: Our team of five riders had great synergy and in our meetings I was designated as the captain and team leader. The plan was to have the squad help me in case of any mechanicals or crashes, and to stay near me in case I needed help. Tara and Joelle did a great job of staying close by, and it was a nice reassurance with all the crashes happening to know that I would have a tow if anything happened. Tara rode a great race and at one crucial point when I got gaped over the steep hill she helped tow me back up to the lead group and that was one of the major splits.

What’s on tap now – is this your final race of the season?
EW: Yep, that was my final race this year. I just arrived back home to Victoria last night. I’ll be taking some time off in October and then I’ll meet with my coach, Houshang [Amiri] to plan my training and schedule for the 2010 season. Next season I’ll be racing with Webcor Builders again and of course the Commonwealth Games will be a big focus.

Tell us about the final part of the race as the finish approached and what you were thinking.
EW: As the final hill was approaching my group of 11 riders was re-grouping. The four riders up the road were out of sight and nobody was putting in a big chase to catch them. Instead, there were many attacks up the hill and over the top. I was being conservative and following wheels when over the top I felt a lull in the attacks and decided to try one myself. I got a small gap but like all the other attempts I was caught.

At the 1km to go banner the group was passing me on my left with Diana Zilute’s teammate Edita giving her a leadout. I knew Zilute was by far the strongest sprinter in the group and so I immediately swung over and fought for her wheel. The group was pretty strung out so I just stayed on Zilute’s wheel and Ardnt was the only one able to come around. I’m not known to be a great sprinter so I knew I had to find that good position and wheel…but then again when you’re sprinting out of a group of a bunch of climbers it a bit easier than with a whole field.

The men’s ProTour is returning to Canada with two races in 2010 – any comments to share with readers on this?
EW: Yes, it’s very exciting to have a ProTour race in Canada and it will hopefully bring more interest to the sport and help to develop and inspire our young Canadian guys. On the other hand I have heard rumours that one or more of the Montreal Women’s races may be in jeopardy and I’m really hoping that’s not the case and that these top level events for women continue as well as there are so few UCI women’s events in North America.