amy alison dombroski

The Montreal Tour began yesterday evening with a 85km circuit race, consisting of 15 flat 5k circuits. It went from the gun - fast and furious, and kinda sketch. There were a few bad crashes, but fortunately all our girls stayed clear of it. It was the kind of race where you would work wicked hard to get to the front, only to be immediately swarmed and pushed to the back again. The weather held off for the first few laps, but it started to rain about half way through. Throughout the 2hr race there were flurries of attacks, but nothing ever gained more than 100m on the field before being motored back down. With intermediate sprints on laps 12, 8, and 4, the pace stayed hot. Cervelo Test Team demonstrated their dominance again, after having won the WC, with Kirsten Wild picking up points in every sprint and ultimately winning the stage. Our team all finished safely in the front group - nothing spectacular.

Tonight's race begins at 5pm and is a 105km circuit race. Clouds look ominous...

Prompt results, photos, and reports can be found here: http://www.canadiancyclist.com/ or on the race website .