A collision followed by a fall tarnished the day of Quebecers Olivia Baril and Simone Boilard, Sunday, during the women’s road race disputed at the end of the Glasgow World Cycling Championships.
The incident occurred shortly after halfway, on the second of six laps on the final circuit of the event, as the peloton sought to close the gap on a group of five competitors at the front. Accidental contact caused the fall of the two compatriots, taking with them the Briton Anna Henderson.
If Baril and Boilard were able to resume their journey without breaking, the damage was already done. They tried somehow to climb the slope, without ever being able to get back in the game.
“I fell to the ground and slid right into the barrier. By the time I got up, put my chain back in place, I knew it was pretty much over. On a circuit like that, if you have bad luck, you can’t really come back. It’s bad luck, it’s part of the race,” commented Baril after the 154 kilometer race.
In the end, the cyclist from Rouyn-Noranda (13 minutes 47 seconds) covered the distance in 34th place, finishing alongside her teammate Alison Jackson, 33rd of the day. Just ahead of the general classification, Simone Boilard finished 32nd, 9 min 11 s behind the winner, Lotte Kopecky (4 h 2 min 12 s).
The Belgian sniffed the right shot at the very end of the race, launching numerous attacks to exhaust her closest rivals. She finally managed to outrun them less than five kilometers from the finish to race to victory in solo and the first rainbow jersey of her career on the road.
Not far behind, Demi Vollering of the Netherlands (7 seconds) won the sprint for second place against Denmark’s Cecillie Uttrup Ludwig.
“It’s a shame, but these are things that happen,” Baril continued. We had a good start to the race and, personally, I had good legs, I was well positioned. It’s a race to forget, but we’ll have the chance to recover. »
Note that four other athletes from La Belle Province cycled during the closing weekend of the Glasgow Worlds. Philippe Jacob, of Granby, took part in the under-23 road race on Saturday, where he finished 58th.
For their part, Thessalie Bruneau (junior), Thomas Jodoin (U23) and Riley Meyer-Clément (elite) were the last events contested in BMX. They finished 30th, 45th and 54th in their respective categories after the repechage races.