Gallery: Challenge Sprint Pro kicks off Canadian World Tour events

As a prelude to the upcoming round of World Tour races in Canada, Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Montréal, the Challenge Sprint Pro pitted riders against each other in a 1km long 4-man sprint competition. One rider was selected from each of the 24 teams competing in the two World Tour races.

At the end of the evening it was Zachary Bell (Spidertech) who won the four-man final ahead of Rémi Pelletier-Roy (Canadian National Team), Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) and Michael Matthews (Rabobank).

"You had to push it to whole [time] in front of a tough field. To come here in front of such a great crowd in such a fine setting is just brilliant," said London Olympian Bell.

"If Challenge Sprint Pro becomes a regular thing, for me it’s obviously a good race," he said.

Bell, riding for the Canadian-bred Spidertech team recently finished 7th in the omnium at the London Olympic Games. After being knocked out in the opening round of the Challenge Sprint Pro in last year’s event, a determined Bell blitzed through the heats by winning each of his rounds.

The 29-year-old was not originally included in his team’s line up but now finds himself ready for his first World Tour race of the year at the GP de Québec which begins tomorrow.

 

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