June 07, 2019 (Gatineau, Que.) – Team Canada’s Leah Kirchmann took home her second consecutive podium racing to a silver performance in the women’s 17.3 km Chrono Gatineau ITT won by former world champion Amber Neben (Cogeas Mettler Look) of the United States. Tayler Wiles (USA) Trek Segafredo finished third.

Kirchmann won the GPC Gatineau road race on Thursday in front of an international field. “I’m very happy with my performance in Gatineau. It’s a race I look forward to every season, and can’t believe that I’ve now taken part in 9 of the 10 editions,” said Kirchmann.

Three other Canadians finished in the top-10, with Gillian Ellsay (Rally UHC) fifth, Annie Foreman-Mackey (The Cyclery) sixth, and Marie Soleil Blais (Team Canada) eighth. Ellsay was 23rd here last year marking a strong improvement.

“I have been battling this Gatineau Park course for a couple years now so to finally put in a well-rounded effort and result is definitely a personal victory for me. But my coach and I have put in a lot of time and effort into time trials this year, so I put pressure on myself to perform here. I am happy with how it went,” said Ellsay.

“I have felt really strong in training these past few weeks, so it is nice to achieve results that reflect that feeling in both the road race and TT. I felt really well supported by national team teammates and staff all week, and they also deserve credit for helping me achieve these results,” explained Kirchmann.

“There was a strong field lined up for the TT. I knew Amber Neben would be the favourite to beat as a past World champion and multiple time winner of the race. Taylor Wiles has also won the race in the past and has been riding very strong this season,” she added.

“The course was very similar to past years, with a tough climb up to Pink lake in Gatineau park, then a fast descent back down and a few technical corners in a fast lead in to the line. I paced the first half of the race really hard, and gave everything to the finish which was enough for second place. This was my first time trial of the season, so I am very happy with my ride,” Kirchmann concluded.

Results here.