Van Den Eynde Classic 2023

Article en français

Photos by Jasmin Ten Have and Michel Guillemette

On February 17th and 18th, Bromont's new velodrome hosted the first edition of the Van Den Eynde Classic, a cumulative track event spread over two days. 

The Van Den Eynde Classic, organized by Quebec cycling legend Lyne Bessette, is named after Coach Erik Van Den Eynde, the same coach who helped her reach the Olympics in road cycling (Sydney 2000 & Athens 2004) and win gold at the Canadian Track Cycling Pursuit Championships (2007)

Erik Van den Eynde et Lyne Bessette

Day 1, under the sign of SPEED

Starting on Friday at 3pm, the track was warmed up by the qualifications for the Sprint event, which consist of a rolling start (2.5 laps to accelerate and climb to the railing), then take advantage of the steep slope of the track to reach a maximum speed and maintain it for 200m, calculated using electronic chips.

In the women's category, the three best performances of the day:

  • Emy Savard (Independant): 12.112s // 59.445kph
  • Justine Thomas (Vertige Performance): 12.793s // 56.281kph
  • Maxim Lapointe (Espoir-Quilicot): 12.872s // 55.935kph

In the men's race, there was quite a battle between the different categories, with best times spread across the Juniors, Masters and Seniors categories:

  • Jonathan Hinse (ZVP Opto-Réseau): 11.363s // 63.364kph // JUNIOR
  • Scott Loong (Independant): 11.551s // 62.332kph // MASTER
  • Antoine Fabry-Chaussé (360-Agency/Cycle Régis): 11.542s // 62.381kph // SENIOR

In the Scratch event (Endurance race in peloton which has the same format as a criterium), 6 categories in total animated the evening:

Masters Endurance race at Bromont Velodrome

U17 Men - Scratch 12 laps - 3km:

  1. Nicolas Tardif (CCB - VÉLO 2000)
  2. Justin Demers (CCB - VÉLO 2000)
  3. Akim Roy (CCB - VÉLO 2000)

Junior Men - Scratch 20 laps - 5km:

  1. Jonathan Hinse (ZVP Opto-Réseau)
  2. Alexis Bouchard (ESPOIR-Quilicot)
  3. Justin Roy (Vélo2000)

U17 Women - Scratch 12 laps - 3km:

  1. Abigael Fortier (ESPOIR Premier Tech)
  2. Raphaelle Houde (LAPRAICYCLE)
  3. Flavie Bergeron (CC Boucherville)

Elite Women - Scratch 12 laps - 3km:

  1. Maxim Lapointe (ESPOIR-Quilicot)
  2. Justine Thomas (VERTIGE Performance)
  3. Maude Brazeau (Québécor Stingray)

Masters Men - Scratch 30 laps - 7.5km:

  1. William Trischuck (Opus Elite p/b Cyclepath Oakville)
  2. Kourosh Arshi (Vélo2000 - Rhino Pack)
  3. Frederic Leduc (Relance Équipe Cycliste)

Senior Men - Scratch 40 laps - 10km:

  1. William Goodfellow (YEOLEO Test Team p/b 4MIND)
  2. Maximilien Moreau (Premier Tech p/b ENDO Lévis)
  3. Philippe Schampaert (360 Agency / Cycles Régis)

The highlight of the scratch races was the action in the Senior Men's race where Maximilien Moreau attacked the field from the get-go, managing to gain a full lap lead over the group by working through 16 laps. However, William Goodfellow and Philippe Schampaert followed on the counter-attack, breaking away and also taking a lap on the peloton as well to catch Moreau. Once the junction was made, Goodfellow attacked to take the lead, relegating Moreau to second place.

The evening ended with the new favorite race of the sprinters: the Team Sprint. A pure power event where 3 teammates, starting at a standstill, help each other to get through the 750m race as fast as possible. A total of 21 teams competed to qualify for the final of the Team Sprint held the next day (4 teams).

  • Team 1 - Les Lanternes Rouges (Junior): 51.058s // 52.881kph
    • Alexis Bouchard
    • Jonathan Hinse
    • Justin Roy
  • Team 2 - Team ZVB (Junior): 52.975s //50.967kph
    • William Bourbonnais
    • Gabriel Séguin
    • Elyot Ferguson
  • Team 3 - No Name 2 (Junior): 53.076s // 50.870kph
    • Mathis Bégin
    • Filipe Duarte
    • Henrique Martins
  • Team 4 - Team OBC (Senior-Masters): 53.371s // 50.589kph
    • Adam Abidi
    • Will Mitchell
    • Brandon Gélinas

Day 2 - Unrelenting Endurance and Match sprints

The second day of the Van den Eynde Classic started with the Match Sprints, whose protagonists were determined by the qualification in the Speed event (Flying 200m) of the day before. Also was the 2 exciting main endurance races: the Elimination and the Points race.

The sprinters who competed throughout the day qualified in turn for the finals by eliminating their opponents along the way in the Match sprints duels. This long process allowed to crown the top 3 in each category:

ELITE Women Match Sprints at Bromont Velodrome

U17 Men - Match Sprint:

  1. Julien Bélanger (Les Cuisses d’Or)
  2. Léo Fortin Dionne (ESPOIR Premier Tech)
  3. Akim Roy (CCB - VÉLO 2000)

Junior Men - Match Sprint:

  1. Jonathan Hinse (ZVP Opto-Réseau)
  2. Alexis Bouchard (ESPOIR-Quilicot)
  3. Henrique Martins (ESPOIR-Quilicot)

U17 Women - Match Sprint:

  1. Abigael Fortier (ESPOIR Premier Tech)
  2. Raphaëlle Houde (LAPRAICYCLE)
  3. Flavie Bergeron (CC Boucherville)

Elite Women - Match Sprint:

  1. Emy Savard (Independant)
  2. Justine Thomas (VERTIGE Performance)
  3. Émilie Roy (Independant)

Masters Men - Match Sprint:

  1. Scott Loong (Independant)
  2. Eric Brown (EDGE Cycling)
  3. Kourosh Arshi (Vélo2000 - Rhino Pack)

Senior Men - Match Sprint:

  1. Antoine Fabry-Chaussé (360 Agency / Cycles Régis)
  2. Maximilien Moreau (Premier Tech p/b ENDO Lévis)
  3. Brandon Gélinas (Rouleurs - Polo Vélo)

On the endurance side, elimination races have the spectators riveted to their seats (and the riders to the tip of their saddles). Elimination racing is about surviving the eliminations that take place every two laps (the last rider to cross the line is eliminated) until there are only two riders left to fight for victory in the final sprint.

Junior Points Race

U17 Men - Elimination:

  1. Nicolas Tardif (CCB - VÉLO 2000)
  2. Julien Bélanger (Les Cuisses d’Or)
  3. Christophe Masse (ZVP Opto-Réseau)

Junior Men - Elimination:

  1. Henrique Martins (ESPOIR-Quilicot)
  2. Jonathan Hinse (ZVP Opto-Réseau)
  3. Gabriel Séguin (ZVP Opto-Réseau)

U17 Women - Elimination:

  1. Raphaëlle Houde (LAPRAICYCLE)
  2. Flavie Bergeron (CC Boucherville)
  3. Abigael Fortier (ESPOIR Premier Tech)

Elite Women - Elimination:

  1. Maxim Lapointe (ESPOIR-Quilicot)
  2. Allyson Webb-Charland (ECF - Communimed)
  3. Maude Brazeau (Québecor - Stingray)

Masters Men - Elimination:

  1. William Trischuck (Opus Elite p/b Cyclepath Oakville)
  2. Éric Alain (Independant)
  3. Simon Brunette (ÉCOMAX / Vélogare)

Senior Men - Elimination:

  1. Jérémie Fontanaud (Team RACKULTRA)
  2. Maximilien Moreau (Premier Tech p/b ENDO Lévis)
  3. Nicolas Côté (iBike)

The Team Sprints finals, held in the usual staging of the discipline with one team on each side of the velodrome chasing each other, was the penultimate event of the day. The ZVP and OBC teams took advantage of this opportunity to improve their time from the previous day by 0.579s and 0.256s, respectively.

Top 3 of the Team Sprint finals:

  • 1st Place - Les Lanternes Rouges (Junior): 51.480s //  52.448kph
    • Alexis Bouchard
    • Jonathan Hinse
    • Justin Roy
  • 2nd Place - Team ZVB (Junior): 52.396s // 51.531kph
    • William Bourbonnais
    • Gabriel Séguin
    • Elyot Ferguson
  • 3rd Place - Team OBC (Senior-Masters): 53.115s // 50.795kph
    • Adam Abidi
    • Will Mitchell
    • Brandon Gélinas

Finally, all good things must come to an end, so the athletes embarked on the last event of the Classic, the Points Race. With a sprint worth 5-3-2-1 points every 10 laps for the 1st-2nd-3rd-4th to cross the line (double the points for the final sprint), the riders had to use strategy to maximize their results and counter those of their opponents. For some, the strategy was to attempt a daring breakaway in order to gain a lap on the peloton, worth 20 points in the standing.

Semior Men Endurance event at Bromont Velodrome

In the different categories, the results were:

U17 Men - Points Race 30 laps / 7.5km:

  1. Nicolas Tardif (CCB - VÉLO 2000) 16 points
  2. Akim Roy (CCB - VÉLO 2000) 10 points
  3. Justin Demers (CCB - VÉLO 2000)   7 points

Junior Men - Points Race 40 laps / 10km:

  1. Mathis Bégin (ZVP Opto-Réseau) 30 points (+1 lap)
  2. Alexis Bouchard (ESPOIR-Quilicot) 17 points
  3. Justin Roy (Vélo2000) 12 points

U17 Women - Points Race 20 laps / 5km:

  1. Raphaëlle Houde (LAPRAICYCLE) 15 points
  2. Flavie Bergeron (CC Boucherville) 8 points
  3. Léonie Bergeron (CC Boucherville) 7 points

Elite Women - Points Race 30 laps / 7.5km:

  1. Justine Thomas (VERTIGE Performance) 16 points (final sprint)
  2. Maxim Lapointe (ESPOIR-Quilicot) 16 points
  3. Allyson Webb-Charland (ECF - Communimed) 8 points

Masters Men - Points Race 60 laps / 15km:

  1. James Jacek Côté (iBike) 18 points
  2. Eric Brown (EDGE Cycling) 14 points
  3. William Trischuck (Opus Elite p/b Cyclepath Oakville) 14 points

Senior Men - Points Race 60 laps / 15km:

  1. Nicolas Côté (iBike) 18 points
  2. Maximilien Moreau (Premier Tech p/b ENDO Lévis) 16 points
  3. Jérémie Fontanaud (Team RACKULTRA) 12 points

 

Noteworthy


Jonathan Hinse's performance was outstanding over the two days. The ZVP OPTO-RÉSEAU Junior sprinter recorded the best time in the 200m Sprint (11.363s / 63.364kmh), helped his teammates in the Team Sprint to the best times across all categories, won the Scratch race and even took second place in the Elimination race. Keep his name in mind, this one is likely to leave his mark at the provincial and potentially national level!

Jonathan Hinse suite à sa victoire à l'Élimination lors de la première journée de la Classique Van den Eynde

Qualifications for provincial and national standards

In addition to 2 days of races, it is important to mention the opening and closing activities of the Classic, namely the Para-cycling Time Trial of Tarek Dahab (City of Beloeil) and the Women and U17/Junior Men pursuits efforts. Taking advantage of the presence of the FQSC official commissaires, these athletes were able to make their performances official in order to apply to the national and provincial teams.

The story of Tarek Dahab is inspiring. This Beloeil man was riding outside casually on his bike when he suffered a horrific bicycle accident in 2017. Hit and dragged for a considerable distance by a motorist, this man is since showing exceptional resilience and motivation to overcome this new handicap. He has now mastered the bicycle and is working towards becoming a para-cyclist with national ambitions. 

Tarek Dahab, paracycliste de Beloeil

With the help of his coach William Blackburn from the Vélo2000 team, he achieved a time of 1:17.657 (46.358kph) in the 1000m time trial, enough to break the 1:18sec barrier and be in the running for a selection to the Canadian team and is hoping to participate in the 2024 Paris Paralympic games; Congratulations Tarek, we will follow your progress closely!

Additionally, the best results of the selection races for the Quebec track team are:

WOMEN TT 2km: 

  • Maxim Lapointe (Espoir-Quilicot): 2:46.540 // 43.233kph

U17 MEN TT 2km: 

  • Nicolas Tardif (CCB - Vélo2000): 2:33.884 // 46.788kph

JUNIOR MEN TT 3km: 

  • Alexis Bouchard (ESPOIR-Quilicot): 3:36.836 // 49.807kph

 

Congratulations to all that participated in this event! See you very soon on the boards!

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All the official results can be found at Tracktiming.live

Find the photos of Day #2 online for sale on Michel Guillemette's SmugMug Album!

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