Last weekend saw the 26th edition of the Trimemphré Magog, host of the 4th stage of the Grand Prix Series and the 4th and 5th stages of the Coupe Québec. It was also the Quebec Olympic and long-distance championships. Despite the scorching heat, the Trimemphré organizers once again demonstrated their expertise.
Back to the sprint format for this 4th and penultimate stage of the Grand Prix Series. On the women’s side, in the absence of Maïra Carreau, Emy Legault and Noémie Beaulieu, both of whom had already won a heat this season, were the favourites. First out of the water, Claudie Simard took to the bike in the company of a large group of athletes made up of the day’s main favourites. However, the highly selective course, including the climb up Côte Southière, allowed Emy Legault to show off her climbing skills and set the bike down in T2 with a twenty-second lead over her pursuers. In the increasingly oppressive heat, a group comprising Noémie Beaulieu, Kamille Larocque, Clara Normand, Céline Marks, Marika Couture and Colette Reimer finally bridged the gap to the Tri-O-Lacs athlete at 2.5km. On the second loop, Noémie Beaulieu and Céline Marks gradually pulled away, with Kamille Larocque the only one able to keep pace with the two young women. It was finally on the last lap that Noémie Beaulieu (58:25) put in an attack to get rid of Céline Marks (58:29) for good. Kamille Larocque (58:37) rounded off the podium.
On the men’s side, Mathis Beaulieu arrived with the status of overall leader, but the presence of Charles Paquet and a bike crash during course reconnaissance complicated his task. After a foggy swim, Charles Paquet completed the 750m in first place, followed by Olivier Desjardins and Filip Mainville. They were joined at the end of T2 by Nicolas Boulouri and local Mickaël Simard. The five frontrunners were eventually joined by the chasing group, and a pack of some fifteen athletes arrived in T2. On the run, Charles Paquet (50:08) quickly broke away from his pursuers with a 5km run in 15’10”. Behind him, Léo Roy (50:57) and Filip Mainville (51:16) battled it out, with the younger Rouge et Or athlete taking second place.
As you’ve no doubt seen on social networks, the Quebec championships were held in Magog over a rather unusual Olympic distance. Indeed, the heat conditions led Triathlon Québec organizers and officials, in conjunction with Public Health, to shorten the foot race to 5km instead of the usual 10km.
In the men’s race, Antoine Michaud (01:45:51) confirms that he is the strong man of this 2021 season. The Bionick Triathlon athlete, still trained to the hilt by Fred Jardot, completed the double following his victory at the Quebec sprint distance championship held in Gatineau at the end of July. He won ahead of Nicolas Masse-Savard (01:50:08) and Paul Lavoie (01:51:32), winner of the 2019 Quebec Cup, who was making his return to competition. In the women’s race, Isabelle Rouleau (01:56:37) topped the podium ahead of Justine Bluteau-Girard (01:56:48) and Alice Côté-Allard (01:57:30).
As with the Olympic distance, a slightly shorter long-distance triathlon (1km instead of 21km) awaited the 200 or so athletes registered for the event. In the women’s race, Clara Emond (03:51:06) impressed on the bike and on the run with the fastest women’s times of the day. She won ahead of Rouge et Or teammate Rachel Quirion-Arguin (04:04:06) and Marie-France Roy (04:10:30). On the men’s side, Nicolas Gilbert (03:16:50), after his victory in the Lac William half, was the clear favourite. A status he amply confirmed by dropping the bike in T2 with a lead of almost twenty minutes over his nearest pursuer and a very probable course record (2:06 for 90km, an average speed of 42.77km/h). A lead that diminished a little as the race went on, but was more than enough to win ahead of Jérémy Martin (03:30:53) and Alexandre Fortin (03:39:24).
For this 4th stage, we’re back to a more classic format, authorizing the criss-crossing of the course. In the U15 women’s race, Nova Scotia’s Abby Lewis took top honours, followed by Samantha Woods (Tri-O-Lacs) and Béatrice Normand (Tri-O-Lacs). In the men’s U15 category, Léandre Binette confirmed his supremacy, taking gold ahead of Loïc Poitras and Philippe Tarini. In the U13 women’s category, Alysson Lavallée topped the podium despite a 10-second penalty, followed by Danika Robert and Camille Brouillard. Finally, in the U13 men’s category, Robi Racine, Zachary Mecteau and Vincent Leduc rounded out the podium.
Duathletes were also in the spotlight, as the Trimemphré also hosted the second stage of the Coupe Québec duathlon, following a first stage in Valleyfield which saw Jacob Sanders and Pascale Gougeon win the Quebec sprint distance championship. In Magog, victory went to Anne-Michele Delobbe, ahead of Pascale Gougeon and Frédérique Pérusse. In the men’s race, victory went to Marc-Andre Bernard ahead of Vincent Genereux and Benjamin Guerard.
We know you’re all waiting for them, and we’re working hard to get them online tomorrow! We apologize for the delay.
