April 19, 2007 (Mer-les-Bains, France) – Keven Lacombe (Canadian national team) finished the 180km Cote Picarde in 17th position, 51 seconds behind Simon Spilak (Slovakia) on Wednesday. The race was the second stage in the under 23 (U23) Coupe des Nations. Spilak finished the race 11 seconds ahead of second place rider, Hyun Wook Joo of Korea (China, Colombia, El Salvador, Korea, and Moldovia have mounted a joint team).

Christian Meier had the best performance on the Canadian team, finishing 16th, 40 seconds back. Another Canadian, David Veilleux, finished 78th, 1:25 back.

Many breaks were attempted at the start of the race, but each one was swallowed by the pack. The winning break only formed in the last laps of the road circuit.

“I was hoping that the pack would catch the break. I felt in super great form for the final sprint, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to catch them,” commented Lacombe.

Meier was not able to catch the breakaway group either.

“There was no wind, so it was really easy. We rolled along at close to 43 km/h,” explained Lacombe, “and the pack didn’t really separate, despite the eight mountain sprints that were at stake.”

“There is a high calibre of cyclists here; many of them already have a professional contract in their pocket. One thing is sure – it’s looking good for this Saturday’s race because I am feeling in very good shape.”

Saturday will see Lacombe, Veilleux and Jean Sebastien Perron at the starting line of Liège-Bastogne-Liège Espoirs in Belgium. The Sportcom story, which focuses on Quebec athletes, did not indicate if Meier will be there.