I have heard from more than one person that Montreal is a cool city, great place to visit. It has a lot of character and style. Well I have had the pleasure of coming to Montreal for the last 8 years, (only missing 1 year) for the Montreal World Cup and the Tour of Montreal. In those 8 years, I have had snow, lots of rain and cold conditions. My impressions of this wonderful city, is dark, gray, and wet. Every year when we are greeted at the airport by the race organization they assure us it is always just this week.

In truth this is a great race, and as much as we all complain about the dorm room living, the weather, and the people, every year we keep coming back. That has to say something. The excitement always starts with the Montreal World Cup. I have done quite a few World Cups in my years of racing, and I can say hands down this course is one of the harder ones on the World Cup circuit. It is not a race for the weak both mentally and physically. This year did not disappoint and luck was not on my side. I had a mechanical on the 4th lap and decided on the 5th time up Mont Royal that I would call it a day and focus on the Tour that was starting two days later.

The Tour of Montreal ran Monday-Thursday, and in the past has always been known as a race for the time bonuses. Our plan was to take it one stage at a time and see how the GC was looking after the time trial. The first stage was a circuit race. It is basically flat and has always ended in a bunch kick for the finish. For the most part we were conservative and were focused on the finish, which can become a cluster because of massive potholes, road furniture, and everyone wanting their hand at the sprint. Sure enough 5km to go and we were all still together. We were setting Brooke up, but we had trouble staying together. With about 2km to go I found myself on the front on decided to just go, just before 1km to go the Cervelo Test Team took over and I got shuffled back to about 25th wheel. At 600 meters there was a bend to the right and then came back to the left. Somehow I managed to stay clear and had a hole open in front of me. Brooke was about 15 back, as I came shooting down the right side I yelled for her to jump on. I got to about 200 meters when Kirsten Wild opened her sprint, and it was all I could do to just hang on. She has some power in those legs. I came across the line for second, putting me in 2nd overall on the first day of the Tour. I was excited yet nervous. We still had 4 more stages to go.

The next stage was another circuit race, this time longer in distance and had a QOM on alternating laps. It also featured 3 intermediate time bonus sprints. I decided to give the 2nd one a try. Brooke did a great job getting me in position and taking over just before 500 meters to the line. I held onto 3rd and picked up 1 second. From there it was focus on the finish. Again it was another cluster finish and very fast with a tailwind on the sprint. Coming into one lap to go the field was altogether and Cervelo was interested in another stage win. They executed perfectly and Wild got her second win of the Tour, I came across for 5th a bit disappointed because I never had clear shot at the finish to actually sprint, but it was still a respectable result.

That night I went home feeling anxious. The next morning was a 3.5km time trial on road bikes. I have never done exceptional at this tt, but having been to the A2 Wind Tunnel a few weeks prior I was anxious to try out some new positions. I woke up Wednesday morning focused and ready. The start order was reverse GC, which meant I would be one of the later riders off. I knew the time I was shooting for, until I started getting reports from my teammates and the times they were doing. The time I was going for just got a little faster. Now the pressure was really on. As my start time approached I did my final preparations and rolled to the line. I have done this TT quite a few times in the past so I was really familiar with the course. I walk up to the start ramp ready to go. The first left hand turn comes about 500 meters in and caught me off guard. It came up so fast, after a little off road maneuver I was back on course and was starting to feel the lactic acid just burning. I thought for sure I was done. This is it I am loosing my GC right here right now. I tried to fight through the burn and the next thing I know I am at 500 meters to go. Ok almost done. I crossed the line with a 4:06 good enough for 4th place after all was said and done. I was so relieved and excited. After the results were calculated I was sitting in 4th overall, one second out of 3rd with 2 stages left.

New goals for the team move me into the top 3 overall and get a stage win. Unfortunately we fell short with the stage win, but thanks to the awesome teamwork of Team TIBCO and the intermediate time bonuses that were on offer in the crit and the last road stage I was able to pick up those few seconds that I needed and finished the Tour of Montreal in 3rd. For me this was a huge accomplishment and not something I was sure I was capable of, so after all was said and done I was relived and thrilled. My first podium in a stage race against a hard fighting field with some very strong women, I will take it.