May 14, 2007 (Bear Mountain, New York) — For the second week in a row the Volkswagen/Trek Team based in Montreal, Quebec doubled up on podiums.

The weekend started off with a windy 19.2km time trial in Granby, Quebec. It was Greg Reine, Canadian cyclocross champion and newest addition to the Calyon/Litespeed team who took the victory in a time of 24:02. Close behind was VW-Trek veteran Alex Cloutier at 24:20 followed by team mate Ryan Mckenzie in third twelve seconds behind. Fourth and fifth were rounded out by William Goodfellow, also a member of the VW-Trek squad, and David Veilleux (Jittery Joes), 2006 Canadian National Espoir TT and RR Champion.

With some podium spots in hand, the team of eight riders and junior Guillaume Blais-Dufour along with team manager, Josee Robitaille, jumped in their Passats and drove 500km south to race in the 100-mile Bear Mountain Classic. The course is rated among the country’s best with two solid 5km climbs per lap (7 laps) along with a mix of crosswinds, fast descents and winding New York state park roads that allow for plenty of action.

No more than two minutes into the race, last year’s Bear Mountain Classic winner, Jittery Joe team member, David Veilleux, broke away from the pack with VW-Trek’s Ryan Mckenzie on his wheel. The two rode a steady tempo trying to gain as much time before the pack woke up. Their leash was kept short and the two marked men were brought back around the 40km mark.

The counter attacks flew until a group of eight broke away. Among those included were again Mckenzie joined by comeback kid Keven Lacombe (VW-Trek). Small groups bridged up from the field bringing up another new addition to the VW-Trek team, Nick Rowe and the lead group now totalled 18. Lacombe was unable to recover quickly enough from a mechanical at the base of one of the climbs to rejoin the lead pack, leaving McKenzie to cover attacks from TargetTraining, RiteAid and Sakonnet among the rest of Northeast’s strongest squads.

Just before the start of the 4th lap (3/70km to go) McKenzie made another split of six riders who quickly gained 1:30 on the chase group. The leaders worked well together with hopes of making it to the line. Meanwhile small chases and groups brought Lacombe back in the race where he picked away at the shattered peloton.

Mckenzie was patient and followed the attacks up the final climb until launching one of his own at the 5km mark only to be followed by only one of the other five, out-sprinting him at the line and putting the W (for win) back in VW-Trek and another notch on his bike. Lacombe was also relentless and managed to chase down the lead riders that Mckenzie left behind to sprint in for third. Nick Rowe made it a sprint hat-trick winning the field sprint to take 14th on the day.

Lacombe and Mckenzie couldn’t ask for their form to come at a better time. The two teammates will head to Valencia, Venezuela in the next couple weeks to represent Canada at the 2007 Pan American Road and Track Cycling Championships.