2009 Road Nationals - Elite/U23 Women's - Whitten, Beveridge Win

June 26, 2009

by pedalmag.com

June 26, 2009 (Beauce, QC) - Alberta's Tara Whitten has won the Elite women's 20km ITT over 2008 champ Anne Samplonious (Lip Smacker) who was having a strong ride but was forced to unclip due to a brief mechanical - her brakes failed on a tight corner about 2km from the finish. BC's Laura Brown (Team BC) took the bronze.  Julie Beveridge (Team Tibco), also from Alberta, was second overall taking the U23 title over Denise Ramsden (ON) winning the silver and Quebec's Joelle Numainville in 3rd for the bronze. By UCI standards Beveridge takes the silver as the second fastest overall. "I was hoping to win but wasn't 100% sure against such a strong field. And I was also unsure of my climbing on this course," said Whitten. "But it all worked out in the end."  The rain began during the elite women's race and likely affected the times and may have contributed to Samplonious' mechanical - unofficially she was 3 seconds ahead at the 1/2 way point and Samplonius said later that she felt she lost about 20-30 seconds during the mishap. Results Elite Women 1. Tara Whitten (AB) Velocity Cycling Club 29:29.49 2. Anne Samplonious (QC) Lip Smacker 0:45.51 3. Laura Brown (BC) Team BC 1:01.96 4. Erinne Willock (BC) Webcor 1:38.12 5. Moriah MacGregor (BC) Team BC 1:40.21 6. Heather Logan (ON) Team Ontario/Team Colavita-Sutter 1:40.31 U23 Women 1. Julie Beveridge (AB) Team Tibco 29:58.01 2. Denise Ramsden (ON) Team Ontario 0:51.55 3. Joelle Numainville (QC) Équipe du Québec 1:03.97 4. Karol-Ann Canuel (QC) Équipe du Québec 1:07.54