Every athlete has a race where nothing works. Unfortunately for Liah Harvie, that race was the biggest of the season – at the junior road world championships.
On a course custom-built for her rapid attack style, Harvie finished 66th, more than 15 minutes off the pace in the junior women’s division in Richmond, Virginia on Friday (Sept 25). Optimistic she could improve on her top-25 result from last year, Harvie’s mind and body simply could not respond once the race began.
“It was nothing external. Everything that could go wrong, did,” Harvie said. “I’m still processing it. It was kind of traumatic.”
The 17 year old battled a cold in the week leading up to the race, and said she didn’t really think much of it. She had finished 10th in the time trial, and was poised to attack the podium in Friday’s road race. But once the race began, she knew something was very wrong.
“It’s not a reflection of my abilities. I can definitely compete with those girls,” Harvie said.
American Chloe Dygert won the race in 1:42:16. Katherine Maine was the top Canadian, finishing 13th.
Even though the result was far from favourable, Harvie still had something to celebrate at the end of her season. She signed with a pro team and could race three to four world cup events next year. It’s the beginning of a promising pro career for the Banff native and after three weeks of recovery at home, she’s off to Calgary where cycling will become her full-time job – a dream she’s had since she was 13. On the team, she’ll start as a “domestique” – a rider who will chase down attacks and protect the top team riders.
“It’s been part of the plan from the start. I knew I wanted to be in sport. It was a matter of picking a sport,” said Harvie, who also competed in alpine skiing and gymnastics. She was drawn to cycling through the Rundle Mountain Cycling Club, where she excelled as a mountain biker before switching to competitive road cycling.
“The Bow Valley offers great cycling, and the local club is fantastic,” Harvie said. “I enjoy endurance sports, and I liked mountain biking because it is an individual sport.”
Over the winter, she will train in Calgary alongside Canmore’s Sarah Poidevin. She’s aware of the improvements she has to make in order to find success.
“Every year you strive to improve. Definitely my time trial I can work on. I struggle maintaining high power at a long time interval. Everything under five minutes, I’m good. It’s the 20-minute efforts I need to work on.”
Harvie hasn’t raced road bikes for very long, but she’s still considered one of Canada’s best. She owns several national titles, and is quickly learning proper race strategy. Beforehand, Harvie would rely simply on her natural talents to blow away the field. At this level, that’s no longer an option.
“I learned how to win a race. When I started, I was really dumb,” Harvie said. “Winning requires a combination of smart training and strategy.”
She’ll now have to wait and see if she receives carding money from Sport Canada, but her sponsored team will pay her to race.
