September 22, 2010 (Toronto, ON) – On Sunday, Sept. 12, the Queen’s Park Criterium returned to the city after a long hiatus. The race brought in some high quality racers from across Canada including National Road Champion, Joelle Numainville (Webcor), two-time National Criterium Champion and Ontario Provincial Champion Merrill Collins (La Bicicletta), Joanie Caron (Nanoblur-Gears) who placed 4th at the 2010 Nationals Road race and has had a successful NRC season with a podium at the Fitchburg Classic Stage Race.

With few large teams represented, the 1.5km non-technical oval course was going to make it difficult for riders to get up the road. Nanoblur-Gears was the largest team present with seven riders and was expected to be aggressive.

Cheryl Rhondeau of Mazurcoaching.com who was racing back in the 90s when the Queens Park Criterium was up and running had this to say about the reincarnation of the race.

“I have made Toronto my hometown for about 20 years now and I’m very happy to race here today! This race was particularly important to me as it was my first race back in 1993 along with Anne Samplonius when we were both new members to the Lakeshore Cycling Club. I was very happy to hear that Hello Velo had chosen to revitalize it and in such a grand way! Quite an ambitious reincarnation to this classic crit given the calibre of cyclists attracted here today. I am thankful to the organizers for this event.”

The women’s 60km race was animated quickly after the neutral start when Krystal Jeffs (Nanoblur-Gears) immediately attacked and brought the pace up to get the race going. With a few counters from Seventh Groove and Nanoblur-Gears the race became strung out single file through the start finish losing a few riders off the back. Typically the field came back together during the lulls – a few more big teams present would have made for faster racing.

Most of the attacks came from team Nanoblur-Gears who used Jeffs, Anne Guzman, Carrie Cartmill and Leigh Hobson for the bulk of the aggressive moves saving other riders for the finish. Alison Lampi (Seventh Groove) was also at the front attacking along with a few from Mazurcoaching.com. Numainville had the hard job of chasing down many of the attacks as she was surely here for the win. Some riders who were not a threat were allowed up the road for a while but any serious attempts were countered quickly by Numainville or Leigh Guloien (Total Restoration). It seemed clear that the game plan for Team Nanoblur-Gears was to try and tire out the other sprinters including Collins.

We caught up with Collins and Veronique Labonte (Nanoblur-Gears) post race who gave us their perspective on the race. Merrill Collins had this to say;

“I thought the race would have been faster,” said Collins. “I guess with few teams out there the speeds were not as high. I knew it would be pretty difficult to get away today on this course. Nanoblur-Gears brought a lot of riders and I knew that would be a challenge with their numbers. Basically I knew what wheel I needed to be on, Joelle’s, and that was my plan for the finish. In the last kilometers of the race Nanoblur-Gears did a great job of organizing a chase to reel in the riders up.”

From another perspective Labonte said, “The race was a good pace, very non-technical, and with the primes it was perfect to animate things. I think it would be great if the organizer invited some other professional women’s teams. With only one big team it is hard to make the race fast enough and to have enough counter attacks to create a split. Especially on a course with no real corners. It’s easy for others to sit in. A few other big teams would really increase the overall speed and not allow for the lulls between attacks – we will be back and we hope the race grows here in Canada. We appreciate the equal prize money from the organizer as well as their time and commitment to bring this race to Toronto.”

During the last seven laps Cynthia Nelson (Seventh Groove) was up the road and Team Nanoblur-Gears came to the front to bring her back. Following this the action began to heat up. With a lead out set up for Caron, her teammates Hobson and Labonte took the front for the last km. Lined up behind them were Collins, Numainville and Guloien ready and hungry for the win – and it was here that the chaos began.

At 100 meters from the finish line there was an unfortunate crash . There were many perspectives on what happened after some aggressive movements and we spoke with Caron, the rider who hit the pavement ending her hopes to podium.

“There are different perspectives about the crash from the cameras vs what people say they saw – I was right there. Basically it was an aggressive finish between three riders at the front – Merrill, Numainville and myself. With 100 meters to go I still had a lot of gas and was moving around Joelle when her bike hit me and I crashed 50 meters before the finish. It was disappointing. When you go into a race with a plan and you do not get an opportunity to finish it, it is never ideal.”

The first rider to actually cross the line was Collins, but later she was relegated for apparently not keeping her line during the final sprint. The win went to second place finisher Numainville while Caron rode in after the crash out of the podium. We spoke with Collins for her perspective on the finish.

“I started my sprint and I made it clear of the other two sprinters in contention – Joelle and Joanie. Apparently Joelle says I chopped her. It was her reaction to me starting the sprint. I was clear and they said I didn’t keep my line. It’s amazing how many people supported me when they heard that and I appreciate everyone’s support. I protested but the commissaires wouldn’t hear it. It was unfortunate that the opinions of others including myself were not even considered in the protest.”

It’s never ideal to have a race end in a protest. However as many will say “that’s bike racing” as anything can happen.

Overall the Queen’s Park GP was a success bringing out some top calibre riders from all across Canada. Despite finishing off the podium Collins loved it. “It was GREAT! One of the best events I have done in a long time! It was so great that the organizers treated us equally with the prize money. It was very well organized. It’s really nice to have such a wonderful race right here on home turf.”

Hopefully this race will grow to become a premiere event in the city of Toronto!