Sarah Poidevin showed no signs of winter rust in her first competition of the year, winning three medals at the first road cycling competition of the year in Walla Walla, Washington.
Riding alongside Banff’s Liah Harvie as a member of Team Alberta, the Bow Valley riders took on 14 women in Cat 1/2, with teams from across British Columbia and the United States making up the bulk of the field.
“I went into it to test the legs. Early season races are a shock to the system. This definitely gives me confidence heading into the rest of the season,” Poidevin said.
Poidevin and Harvie began the four-race series by finishing sixth and seventh, respectively, in the time trial Friday morning. After a break, they worked together in a 70-kilometre road ride that evening, which included a massive three-km climb to finish it off.
“There were a couple of girls we had to watch. Liah and I tried to stay on the wheel, cover their moves and launch counter attacks, making sure no one got away without us. We took turns chasing the others down and worked well together. There was quite a bit of climbing, and some flat and rolling sections in the middle,” Poidevin said.
After the dust settled, Poidevin crossed the line in first, while Harvie finished 12th to end the day.
Saturday brought the crit race and another opportunity for Harvie and Poidevin to work together. After a strategically sound race, Poidevin set up Harvie nicely for a final charge, but the Banff rider got stuck behind a crash. Poidevin quickly changed her strategy, and ended up third.
Poidevin had the overall points lead heading into the fourth race of the weekend, a 100-km road race consisting of three loops of the same course.
“On the first lap, all of the Team Alberta girls stuck together and worked well together. Later, one of them missed a move, and Liah got a flat, but I managed to stay in the front group,” Poidevin said.
She ended up in a charge towards the finish, and narrowly avoided a crash when a fellow rider went down beside her. Poidevin finished third, to retain her overall lead by 1:39.
“There were lots of women who had a lot of experience, so it was good to get that early season win. Last year, my first race wasn’t until May,” Poidevin said.
Training in Calgary with Bicisport and studying kinesiology at the University of Calgary, Poidevin said she’ll race again in Washington in two weeks, and has targeted several key races for the year. On top of competing in Canmore, she’ll target B.C. Superweek, and road nationals as her top races of the year. Several big teams scout B.C. Superweek, and Poidevin hopes to garner attention from some of the bigger teams.
“Training has been good this year. I’ve got the same coach, and things are going well,” Poidevin said.
