Cycling Enthusiast Sees Strong Start to Season for Canadian Michael Woods
In a thrilling Gran Camino road race, Canadian cyclist Michael Woods, representing the Israel-Premier Tech team, secured a runner-up finish to Spain’s Alejandro Valverde after the closing time trial on Sunday. The 35-year-old from Ottawa, who held a 10-second lead over Valverde after Saturday’s stage, ultimately finished seven seconds behind the Spaniard in the overall race time.
Despite battling a stomach bug that forced him to withdraw from the Ruta Del Sol race the previous week, Woods delivered a strong performance, winning Stage 2 and placing second in Saturday’s stage. In the final 15.8-kilometer time trial, he finished 11th, 17 seconds behind the stage winner, Ukraine’s Mark Padun.
“I’m really pleased with my time trial today,” said Woods. “Especially considering how the last 24 hours went as I wasn’t feeling very well and I think the stomach bug from last week has reared its ugly head again a bit. Last night I was even thinking I might not be able to race but then I felt good this morning.”
Woods, who has been working diligently on his time trial skills, expressed satisfaction with his top-10 finish in the stage, a personal best. “I’ve been doing a lot of work on the TT (time-trial) bike and although I didn’t hold onto yellow, I still finished in 10th in the stage and I’ve never had a top 10 in a time trial before so I can be really happy with my performance today.”
The Canadian cyclist is pleased with his early-season progress, saying, “I’m right on track now. The goal of this race, especially after getting sick last week, was to use it as a building race and to still be building and finish second overall in a stage race and win a stage are signs of good things to come.”
Teammate Derek Gee, who made his debut with the Israel-Premier Tech team for this race, also impressed, finishing fifth in the time trial and 23rd overall. “It was definitely the best time trial I’ve ever done by a long way,” Gee said. “It has been an amazing week learning from these guys who are some of the best in the sport and some of the most experienced in the sport. So to be able to race with them and then finish it off with a performance that I am really proud of, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
The Gran Camino road race, a four-stage event, showcased the talent and resilience of the Canadian cyclists, who will surely be ones to watch as the Cycling season progresses.
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