Guillaume Boivin wins Canadian Road title with solo breakaway

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After a two-year hiatus, the Canadian National Road Championship for Elite men returned on Saturday, with Guillaume Boivin (Israel Start-up Nation) winning for the second time after an impressive 50 kilometre solo effort.

Antone Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ) took second and Derek Gee (Xspeed), third in Friday's time trial, took another bronze medal in the road race.

Held for the first time since June of 2019, the 199km men's route saw over two-thirds of the field drop out during the race, the constant rolling hills, rough roads and gusting wind taking its toll on the field. The riders rode 30 kilometres from the start in St-Georges, south of Quebec City, to a 28 kilometre circuit for five laps before heading back to St-Georges.

Boivin was one of three WorldTour riders in the field, joined by Hugo Houle (Astana-Premier Tech), winner of the time trial 24 hours earlier, and Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ).

The pace was aggressive from the start, with a group of nine riders breaking clear in the first three kilometres. By the six kilometre mark they had 50 seconds, and Houle was blowing up the peloton with surging efforts at the front.

Halfway into the first lap, on a long climb that reached 13%, Houle, Boivin, Duchesne, Gee and a few others bridged across to the leaders, while the already much smaller peloton continued to disintegrate. Before the end of the lap, the chasers had caught the lead group, enlarging it to 14 riders. This group was, for all intents and purposes, 'the race'.

The remaining riders rode together until late in the third lap, when inattention on the part of a few riders on a long descent allowed gaps to open. Suddenly, a group of six was clear, with Houle on the wrong side of the gap.

Boivin, Duchesne and Gee were joined by Alexis Cartier (Velo 2000 / Rhino Rack), Paul Blanc Pacque (Cycle Regis / 360 Agency) and a lone Under-23 rider Thomas Schellenberg (TaG Cycling). They quickly extended the gap over their main rival.

Houle managed to hold the deficit at 30 seconds for a while but he had no help in the chase. The gap increased to a minute and then beyond, putting him out of the picture for the national title.

Up front, Schellenberg dropped back to Houle and his Under-23 teammate Carson Miles, leaving five in the break. Miles would eventually take the Under-23 title.

Into the final lap, Duchesne attacked and, when he was brought back, Boivin immediately countered. Over the longest climb on the circuit, he gradually extended his lead to 30 seconds, and then to 50 seconds as he headed back towards St-Georges.

The chase held him for a few kilometres but they were all clearly at their limits, and Boivin was pounding on the pedals, not slowing.

As cracks developed in the chase, the gap started to grow, reaching nearly two minutes in the final 15 kilometres, and 2:24 by the finish line.

Duchesne finally managed to break clear of the other four in the final ten kilometres to take second, while Gee outsprinted the remaining riders for third. Houle finished seventh, ten minutes down.

"It wasn't an easy day out there at all," said Boivin, who previously won the Canadian road title in 2015 as an Elite and in 2009 as an Under-23 rider.

"It was full gas from start to finish, and everybody was on their knees. I just gave it a try and paced myself. I knew if the guys were going to come back they were going to have to work for it, and eventually, they didn't come back.

“Cooperation wasn't so good in the group and guys were skipping pulls, and it was kind of annoying, so I just got a gap and kept the pressure on. For me, it's the continuation of an amazing season."

This is the first Canadian title awarded since 2019 and Boivin is looking forward to wearing it in the professional peloton in Europe.

"I'm flying back to Belgium on Monday to do a couple of one days, then Worlds, Paris-Roubaix, and then Paris-Tours or Lombardy with Woodsy [Mike Woods]. It would be fun to have the national champion's jersey helping Woodsy in Lombardy."