LESS than one year after representing Canada in track cycling at the Olympic Games North Vancouver resident Zach Bell took his ride outside to claim the men's elite title at the 2013 Canadian Road Race Championships.
Bell edged six other racers from a breakaway group in a frantic sprint to the finish line in the 170-km race held in St-Georges, Que. on Saturday.
"It's pretty surreal," Bell said in a Cycling Canada release. "Today, it played out exactly how I wanted it to play out. I wanted to make a selection early, and ride it away. I did a lot of work in that group to try to keep things moving, as did everybody else."
Bell joined a small group that reeled in solo breaker Christian Meier, last year's champion, with three kilometers left in the race.
"I wanted to take the initiative, and I was here to race," said Bell. "When Christian broke away, I did some megapulls to bring him back. I had the one with the most interest. I wasn't going to try to bluff my way into it. You don't win these things by making everybody else work for it, you've got to do it yourself."
Bell finished in a time of 4: 13: 51. The native of Watson Lake, Yukon will ply his trade close to home for the next little while as he battle in the B.C. Superweek series which includes nine races in 10 days starting July 5. The famed Gastown Grand Prix goes July 10 with the women's race at 6: 15 p.m. and the men at 7: 30 p.m. For more information visit bcsuperweek.ca.
