Marie-Soleil Blais takes second behind the professional triathlete while Leah Kirchmann completes the podium
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Paula Findlay (AB) Independent(Image credit: Rob Jones)
Marie-Soleil Blais (QC) Team Farto - BTC(Image credit: Rob Jones)
Leah Kirchmann (MB) Team DSM(Image credit: Rob Jones)
Ngaire Barraclough (AB) The Cyclery Racing(Image credit: Rob Jones)
Women's podium: (left to right) Marie-Soleil Blais, Paula Findlay, Ngaire Barraclough(Image credit: Rob Jones)
Paula Findlay, stunned the women's field in the time trial at the 2022 Canadian Road Championships, with the professional triathlete taking the national title in wet conditions.
The time trials were held in the small town of Beaumont, south of the western city of Edmonton, on a 16 kilometre rectangular circuit. The course had a few rolling sections, but was basically flat, with a tailwind on the long side out and headwind coming back. The women faced light rain for their two lap race
Findlay, who represented Canada at the 2012 Olympics, decided to enter the race because it was nearby and led through every split, finishing 39 seconds ahead of repeating silver medalist Marie-Soleil Blais (Team Farto - BTC). Former national champion Leah Kirchmann (Team DSM) was a further 14 seconds back.
"Because the Championships were in my hometown I decided to race the TT and surprisingly won," said Findlay. "I train on time trial bikes all the time for triathlon, that's my specialty, although my races are usually 90km, so it was a bit different training for this short distance; I've been doing some shorter, harder intervals for the past month.”
“I don't know the women racing so I did a bit of research and knew there would be a good field here, so I was hoping for a top five, but I didn't know if that was realistic. I know my power is really good and that there really aren't a lot of women who can do a higher power output than me, so it was more about being aero, being comfortable on the [UCI-legal] bike. I surprised myself."
Defending champion Alison Jackson (Liv Racing) was a late scratch due to illness.
