Leah Kirchmann has been having a very successful season leading up to Canada’s team selection for the Olympic Games this summer in Rio.   Kirchmann took her first Euro victory winning Drentse Acht van Westerveld, Netherlands in March followed by a strong 4th Place finish at Omloop het Nieuwsblad, Belgium and most recently, a podium finish at the Tour of Chongming, China.

After a busy, successful racing campaign overseas, Kirchmann had the opportunity be back on Canadian soil.  Her focus was on recovery and building up for the second part of the season.

Leah is now back on the bike and will be representing team Canada at the Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau women’s races today and tomorrow.    A team of five women will ride in Team Canada colors for the internationally sanctioned UCI 1.1 road race on Thursday, June 2nd, while one rider will represent Canada in the UCI 1.1 Chrono Gatineau time trial on Friday, June 3rd.  Kirchmann is aiming for a podium finish. The Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau is the highest level internationally sanctioned road event for women in Eastern Canada, and will attract teams and competitors from more than a dozen nations. This will be the last opportunity that the National team coach will be able to assess how some of our top Canadians are tracking before riders are nominated to the women’s Olympic Road Team.

After the Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau, Kirchmann will head back to Europe mid June for the Women’s Tour of Britain.

Stay tuned for more updates on Winnipeg’s Leah Kirchmann by checking in here.  Leah’s schedule can be viewed here.

Leah Kirchmann @ Tour of Chongming Island photo credit: Bert Geerts/dcp-bertgeets@xs4all.nl