Saturday, July 5, 2008 | 9:42 PM ET CBC Sports Alex Wrubleski and Leigh Hobson can only hope they duplicate Saturday's performance at the Canadian national cycling championships when they go to the Beijing Olympics in August.
Erinne Willock led out her professional cycling teammate Wrubleski until the final kilometre, when the Regina native went to the front and outkicked Hobson at the line in the women's road race.
The 114-kilometre event was a race of attrition, with the field of 60-plus riders whittled down to 12 shortly before the halfway point after a series of attacks by favourites, including Wrubleski, Hobson (Cambridge, Ont.), Willock (Victoria) and national time trial champion Anne Samplonius (Montreal).
The group stayed intact until the final few kilometres, when it began to splinter under constant attacks by Willock and Wrubleski.
"Erinne was so strong," Wrubleski said from St. Georges, Que., site of the Canadian championships. "She had me hurting on the climbs. We had discussed a couple of strategies before the race, and we knew that if it came down to a sprint that Erinne would be working to set me up.
"It worked out perfectly. I think it shows that we have a strong team for Beijing."
Felicia Gomez of Fredericton finished third in the sprint to take the bronze medal.
Julie Beveridge of Calgary was seventh and won the under-23 age category title.
With files from the Canadian Press
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