The women’s team finished their season at the Tour de Gatineau in Ottawa. A race that was on hold for three years, this year the event was back in full force. An unparalleled opportunity to race against world tour pros on home soil. The Tour de Gatineau consisted of three stand alone events. An Individual Time Trial, Road race and Crit. Both the Time Trial and Road race were UCI sanctioned events, drawing pros and national teams from around the world seeking coveted UCI points for Olympic qualification. The Red Truck roster consisted of Astrid Wuerr, Brenna Pauly, Emma Dressler, Katelyn Walcroft, along with guest riders, Raylan Jamison and Larissa Black. The women’s team was lucky enough to have Denise Ramsden, one of our own alumni, as guest Director Sportive for the race, alongside Brian Green.
We had a small but mighty crew for the time trial. Unfortunately, illness took out one of our two starters for the time trial before the start. Our lone starter, Astrid, had an exciting ride dodging a family of deer along the way. She finished strong, despite a very late mechanical, in which her shifter bar end came loose.
In the road race the team rallied through some continued illness to have all six riders take to the start. It was a fast and furious start to the race. The course was a short kermess style race, just under 7km in length. The women completed the loop 16 times, for a total of 110km, averaging about 40 kph. The course was quite technical, featuring quite a few stretches of road with large potholes. As well as a short section of the local bike path. It was a race of attrition, with the pack dwindling relatively quickly before settling into a steady but fast pace for the second half of the race. The team worked together throughout the race to communicate and look out for each other in the pack. Brenna finished the day as the top Red Truck racer in 32nd, followed by Astrid in 45th.
Crit day started off with a nice leisurely spin around the nation’s capital. Emma took us on a tour of all the best bike paths in the region and we got to sample some of the best coffee in town. The Crit featured the finishing straight from the previous day, so we were all comfortable with the long sweeping drag up to the finish. Again, it was a fast pace from the start, and the goal was to stay near the front and go with anything up the road. It was truly the last race of the season, so nothing to hold back. Just when the pace seemed like it would ease up, it picked up again. There were multiple attacks off the front and the pace was unrelenting. In the end though it came down to a bunch sprint, with Brenna as the top finisher in 22nd place.
Overall, it was wonderful to be back at the tour de Gatineau. It was the first time since 2018 that the team attended the race, so the first time for the entire squad. There were many learning moments throughout the weekend for all. It was an important step in the development of our women’s squad and great exposure to the next level of racing for our young racers. Thank you to Steve, Brian, Denise, and the sponsors that made this trip a reality along with the rest of the season. Also, a special thank you to the Dressler family for so graciously hosting us in Ottawa.