In June, the National Road Championships challenged young Canadian cyclists on Quebec’s rural roads, during heavy wind and rain, and a few Collingwood competitors came out ahead
Pushing and peddling their way over hills and through valleys, seven Collingwood cyclists competed in the 2025 Canadian Road Championships.
Held in Saint-Georges, Que., from June 27-30, the event brings together Elite, U23, Junior, U17, and Paracycling athletes from across Canada.
“It felt really special,” says Julia Lehmann, 15, who has been cycling competitively since she was eight years old.
Three types of races challenged athletes’ stamina, strength, and technical skills; individual time trial (ITT) races, road races, and criterium (crit) races. Lehmann competed in all three.
The ITT race tests a cyclist’s speed, power, and endurance. Individuals commence within one-minute intervals of each other and race against the clock. The fastest time is declared winner.
The 16-kilometre ITT race took place on the warm and sunny day of June 27. Some cyclists might say it was ideal conditions.
Of the 18 racers competing in the U17 women division, Julia Lehmann took the silver medal. Charlotte Caners, 15, also took a top rank placing fifth.
Elly Moore, 17, who has been road racing and mountain biking competitively for the past five years placed fifth in the women’s junior division. Her twin brother, Evan, secured 19th in the men’s junior ITT race.
With a mass start, road races consist of longer distances with varying terrain. On June 28, rainy and windy conditions increased the difficulties.
It was “two days of road racing on a very demanding circuit in the rural areas in the Beauce region,” explains Michael Moore, father of the two teens who are taking up the mantle of competitive cycling from their parents.
“I actually had never raced in that much rain in my life,” says Lehmann.
The outdoor temperature dropped and she describes not being able to see in front of her bike very well.
“I feel like it changed the way the race went. Like, we definitely stayed grouped together a lot longer than I thought we would. And I think that was because people were hoping to wait out the rain, but it never stopped,” she says.
Rarely wearing gloves for road racing, during the torrential downpour, Lehmann was wearing winter gloves.
The fifteen-year-old cyclist also competes in mountain biking terrain and coaches youth through the Collingwood Collective. She loves coaching and when younger girls tell her they want to return the following year for the five-week program, she says “of course, you should come back.”
She spends a lot of time learning road tactics, which differs from mountain biking. Working on her cornering skills, Lehmann says she is happy with the results and how the competition went. She placed 11th overall in her combined division.
In the U17 and Junior combined men’s field, Evan Moore placed seventh and Tate Stevenson came in 58th. Moore also competed in the 45-minute plus three laps crit race. He secured 26th in the competition with the distance being 41.6 kilometres.
Crit races have a closed-circuit design with several corners. They require multiple laps of a shorter distance than ITT and road races. Lasting from 30 to 90 minutes, crit races challenge the cyclists’ speed and tactical manoeuvres.
Conditions were hot and sunny on the day of the lapped races. Lasting 30 minutes plus an additional three laps, Elly Moore placed third in the U17 and Junior combined crit race. Lehmann and Caners placed 11th and 19th respectively in this 25.6-kilometre race.
Speaking about cycling in general, Michael Moore says that “more women than ever before” have been participating at the professional level.
“It’s exciting to see these people,” he says of the champs on the national and international levels.
Elly says she loves the speeds she can reach on her bike and pushing herself to see how far she can go. On the days of stormy weather, the bronze medallist layered her clothing but chose not to wear a raincoat, which some racers turned back for.
The national competition brings out everyone’s best performance.
“I think everyone just really wants national titles, so everyone was on their A game and fairly competitive,” she says.
Placing third at her podium, the teen says she feels proud.
“Junior is a bigger category, so, you can start qualifying for like, international projects and cycling other projects. So, coming third helps open opportunities like that. …I appreciate everyone on my team who helped me,” she says.
Her next stop is a U19 international event in Val D’Or, Quebec. The equivalent men’s race has been going on for 40 years, her dad explains. This is the inaugural year for the women’s races and she will be competing with teams from Columbia, Japan, France, and Norway.
Collingwood cyclists are, if anything, showing their grit as the season continues.
“It definitely was challenging, but it was a really great experience. I really liked the chance to race with people from outside Ontario, and Nationals, at my age, is like, kind of the only chance I get to do that,” says Lehmann about the National Road Championships.
She enjoyed getting to know her peers from other provinces.
“It was cool to actually get to know the Quebec girls and even work with them a little bit in some of the races,” she says.
Devon Clarke completed two laps for a total of 114.8 kilometres and placed 15th in the Elite and U23 women’s road race.
Katelyn Walcroft competed in the U23 and Elite women’s combined. Out of 50 entries, she placed 31st for this 60-minute-plus-three-laps crit race, distancing 48 kilometres.
The Canadian Road Championships takes place annually, learn more about the event here.
The Collingwood Collective is a cycling team, powered by Summit Social House and local cycling clubs. Visit www.collingwoodcollective.ca for information about youth cycling programs and events.