Joseph Vachon and Jacob Roy ride gold at Canada Games

The Abitibi-Témiscamingue athletes succeeded in the first competition block of the Canada Summer Games, played in Saint-Jean de Newfoundland and Labrador. Jacob Roy, in cycling, and Joseph Vachon, in paracycling, won gold on Monday during the test of individual time trial.

Amossois Jacob Roy obtained the best time in the individual time trial disputed on a 22-kilometer route, a contested loop on a highway.

He negotiated the journey in 31 minutes 11 seconds, almost 2 seconds less than his teammate from the Quebec team, Gabriel Séguin. The Manitobain Soren Weselake completes the podium.

It was really tight. I left at the start of the second wave and saw that I was first. But there were still several other cyclists. I was very nervous to see the other times of other runnerssays Jacob Roy.

I was very stressed especially when I saw how Gabriel was close to my time. I was very relieved when I saw that he was two seconds more than me.

The 18 -year -old cyclist fully savor this gold medal on a road bike, he who is more used to dominating in the mountain bike trails.

I knew I was able to do it, but sometimes there is a little difference between knowing that you can do it, then succeed and win. Get the result you wanted to get, it’s really fun. It takes me a weight on my shoulders and I’m really happy. It couldn’t have been better, I thinkhe says.

Gold in paracycism

The Rouynorandien Joseph Vachon imitated it in paracycism. He won the best time on the 11 kilometers traveled by hand bike. He made the journey in 29 minutes 9 seconds. The Ontarians Daniel Bigu and Andrew Kooger have respectively set up on the 2^e T on the 3^e podium

I felt good, I was rested and I had a good training in the last month. It was paying and it borne fruit.

Although he had made his first favorites on an adapted bicycle that in the last months, Joseph Vachon already added gold to the Canada Games to his two silver medals acquired at the Canadian Paracycling Championships at the end of June in Beauce.

Maybe I don’t do what it represents yet, but for me, I’m just happy to race. It is especially the fact of rolling quickly by bike and giving my 100 %, of making the physical effort until exhaustion. This is what makes me take a tripper. The medal is fun, it’s cool and I’m happy to represent Quebec, but I’m not there for the medals necessarilyhe argues.

Mission accomplished

Témiscamien Étienne Mayer finished 4th in the four runners registered in paracycling. According to his good friend Joseph, it is a mission accomplished in the context where it was his first competition for life and that he achieved his goal of finishing the race.

We are all very proud of him. He has just started and his bicycle is not even perfectly adapted to him yet. It’s still sick, what he has succeeded today. It is rare that we see a quadriplegic person doing 11 kilometers by bike by arms. He has enough to be proudbelieves Joseph Vachon.

The three athletes in the region are now preparing for their road test which will take place on Wednesday. It is a race of 117.5 km for cyclists and 25 km for paracyclists.