Kirchmann all smiles after race

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This article was published 08/08/2016 (3666 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You could hear the exhaustion in the voice of Winnipeg’s Leah Kirchmann Sunday evening during a phone conversation from Brazil, something not at all surprising given what she accomplished earlier in the day.

A first-time Olympian, Kirchmann tackled the gruelling 136.9-kilometre women’s cycling road race Sunday afternoon at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The 26-year-old, who is ranked ninth in the world, placed 38th in the race, finishing in a time of 4:01.29 at Fort Copacabana.

“I’m happy that I now have my first Olympic experience and it definitely keeps me motivated looking toward Tokyo in 2020,” she said. “I think my chances will be even better there.”

Battling temperatures above 30 C and the resulting cramps, muscle fatigue and mental exhaustion, Kirchmann was still all smiles after crossing the finish line.

“The course had a bit of everything, the cobblestone road, a lot of wind and the climbs were really hard as well,” she said. “It was an incredibly tough race out there. Overall, I didn’t feel amazing, but I rode to the best of my abilities. I did the best for my team.”

Saturday, three leaders of the men’s road race crashed out in the final descent toward the finish line, raising concerns about course safety.

Sunday, those concerns were validated as race leader Annemiek van Vleuten from Holland crashed in sensational fashion, sustaining a concussion and a fractured spine in the process, causing former British Olympic cycling champion Chris Boardman to question the integrity of the course.

“I’m actually quite angry because I looked at the road furniture (medians and barriers) and thought nobody can crash here and get up,” he said during coverage as an analyst for the BBC. “This was way past technical, this was dangerous.”

Kirchmann said she didn’t see the crash but heard it was horrific.

“The descents on the course are very technical and really quite dangerous. You had to be quite careful,” she said. “A lot of people in our race were extra cautious after the men’s race (Saturday).

“This is the hardest one-day race course I’ve ever competed on. There were so many challenging elements about it.”

Kirchmann had to regroup after being named an alternate for the 2012 Olympics in London. In the same week, she crashed and broke her clavicle and then endured the heartbreak of her grandmother dying — her role model, she told the Free Press in June.

“I now try to frame setbacks as hidden opportunities,” she said. “A non-selection can give you the motivation to train even harder for the next opportunity down the road. An injury can force you to rest and come back even stronger later in the season.”

Kirchmann became the first Canadian rider, male or female, to claim all three national championship titles — road race, time trial and criterium — in one year at the Global Relay Canadian Road Championships in 2014.

Kirchmann signed her first pro cycling deal in 2011 with Colavita-Forno d’Asolo and now rides for Dutch pro team Liv-Plantur. She signed a two-year contract extension with the team earlier this summer.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @scottbilleck