Sara Poidevin and Liah Harvie proved the most promising teenage road cyclists in Canada hail from the Bow Valley after both earned national medals in the junior women’s crit race at the Canadian Road Championships on Sunday (July 6) in Beauceville, Que.
Poidevin rebounded from a fourth-place road race finish to win silver in the crit, while Harvie was right on her wheel to take the bronze.
“It went better than I expected. My legs felt a lot stronger than I thought they would. It’s really encouraging to know what I’m doing is working,” said Poidevin.
The pair were strong throughout the entire week, but Poidevin pulled together a remarkable race in the crit event. Dejected after narrowly missing the podium on Saturday’s road race (see related story on page 30), a phone call from a friend in Calgary and her parents in Canmore allowed her to refocus and rejuvenate. That strength, partnered with good teamwork with Harvie, put both girls on the podium in what was a hard fought race.
“Through the race, the Quebec girls were doing a lot of attacking, but at the end they were really tired. Liah and I covered their attacks and tried a few ourselves. At the end, one girl who we didn’t see the entire road race attacked, but we didn’t think it would stick. She pulled herself around the track and had a couple of seconds lead,” Poidevin said.
With Harvie leading the pack, Poidevin had to make a decision – chase down the leader, which would leave her and Harvie vulnerable, or stay with the pack. Poidevin elected to stay with the pack and had the strongest legs on the home stretch, earning the silver medal.
“You never know how a crit is going to go,” Poidevin said. “The girl who won (Katherine Maine of Ontario) had a smart race.”
Road nationals were Poidevin’s major goal for the year after training at the Canadian Sports School in Calgary. She takes the silver medal and fourth-place finish in the road race as a sign she is moving in the right direction and still has much to improve upon.
“It’s encouraging to get the results I did. I look forward to improving, as this weekend showed me where my strengths are and what I can improve upon,” Poidevin said.
She’s proven she has the endurance to thrive in multi-day races, and shown the field she’s a better sprinter than originally thought. Poidevin said she needs to work on her time trial races, and gain more experience.
“(Canadian Road Championships) are a better place to compare myself to other riders. It’s a good place to get experience as well. In the road race, the two Quebec girls had more experience and they really knew how to work Liah and I over. Liah and I sort of knew what to do, but we never practiced it,” Poidevin said.
This was her last year of eligibility, and she’ll now turn her attention to preparing for U23 races next year.
“I’m definitely happy and I look forward to improving my riding,” Poidevin said. “I’d love to keep racing and try some of the higher categories.”
She’ll now compete in a multi-stage race this week in Rimouski, Que. before coming back to Alberta to race in the provincial road cycling championships in Fort McMurray.
