Veilleux claims elite men's criterium title

David Veilleux (Europcar) took a closely contested men's Crit title at the Immunity-FX Canadian Road National Cycling Championships. The Criterium championship was contested as a Points race this year, with sprints every five laps [5-3-2-1], and double points for the final sprint. Derrick St-John (Ride with Rendall) took an early lead and managed to keep it for much of the race, but Veilleux was always staying within reach by points.

The 1.1 kilometre circuit was very tight and narrow, and there were a number of crashes, particularly in the large men's field. Keven Lacombe (SpiderTech) went down in the first corner about halfway into the men's race, and hit his face on the pavement, suffering facial injuries. He was taken to hospital, and has lost at least one tooth, with either a fractured or dislocated jaw. National TT and Road Race champion Svein Tuft (SpiderTech) also crashed, and needed stitches to his chin.

The final double point sprint proved to be crucial, with St-John tiring and unable to match Veilleux's speed. Veilleux took second in the final sprint, and it was enough to move him one point ahead of St-John for the title, with 22 points. Ben Chaddock (Team Exergy), by winning the final sprint, jumped into third, at 20 points.

"I knew that I was close to Derrick [St-John], but I wasn't sure how close I was," explained Veilleux. "Even though this is not the usual type of race that I do in Europe, I wanted to finish these championships with a strong performance."