Climbing to new heights

Clara Hughes. Leah Kirchmann. Adam Smith?

It might be a bit ambitious to place his name among some of the most accomplished athletes in Manitoba’s rich — and likely underrated — road cycling history right now, but Smith, a 19-year-old from Winnipeg, is providing every reason to believe that he could be well on his way.

You see, Smith, a climber cyclist, has ascended steadily both nationally and internationally over the last few seasons, and now finds himself in the middle of a breakout season overseas that could yield a professional contract sooner than later and catapult his career to new heights.

Smith recently raced on the mountainous terrains of Asturias, Spain, in the Vuelta Asturias UCI 2.1 road race — a four-stage professional event that featured some of the best riders in the world — and did more than hold his own, especially early on.

“Going into it, I knew I had some good form in training and stuff. My watts per kilo (a measurement of his force output) was improving,” Smith said. “Going into the race, to be honest, I didn’t know what to expect because I hadn’t raced at that level. But I just knew it was a big opportunity and just raced aggressively.”

Credit to Smith, he stuck to his guns and put himself into the breakaway (lead) pack out of the gates in the first stage. While the peloton (main group of riders), which included many of the odds-on favourites, was expected to catch up later in the stage, they never did, paving the way to an impressive fifth-place finish for the Manitoban in his professional stage race debut.

“I had a teammate in there as well, and he managed to win, and I kind of helped him, as well as trying to attack to have my own opportunity,” said Smith. “I came fifth, which in a race like that, that was a really, really big result.”

“To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect because I hadn’t raced at that level. But I just knew it was a big opportunity and just raced aggressively.”

Smith had been in one professional race before, but it was a one-day event. This was his first multi-day event and easily the biggest race of his young career.

When the rubber finally cooled after four stages and a total of 604 kilometres throughout northwest Spain, Smith earned a 12th-place finish overall in an event that featured 99 racers — many of whom he watched as a young, aspiring cyclist in the halls of St. Paul’s High School.

“Massive boost of confidence for the races coming up,” he said. “I was able to show that I could climb with some of the best riders there are.”

Smith vaulted into the national spotlight in 2024 when he won the junior men’s Canadian championship — an event he’s also finished second and fourth at.

He is currently in his second season based in Europe, riding with the long-standing French continental outfit AVC Aix Provence Dole. France is now his home from January to September, and then he returns to Winnipeg for the fall and half of winter.

Smith isn’t shy about his goals in cycling, although he recognizes that there is still a long way to go before he gets there. The Tour de France and Olympic Games are both in his sights.

“I want to race the biggest races in the world,” he said.

Nick Bergen, who coached Smith for parts of three seasons on the Manitoba Cycling Association provincial team, learned to never doubt the slender athlete, and he maintains that Smith’s future is bright.

Smith was 16 when he started working with Bergen and, at that time, he was an unassuming talent who flew under the radar.

“This is the most amazing part of this, is that when he was 15, 16, he still hadn’t really grown muscularly,” Bergen said. “If you were to put him in a room with all the other athletes at that age, there’s no way anyone would have thought that he would be racing at the level he is today, but what he did have was an incredible drive to put in the hours.

“He’s kind of a dark horse then, I guess,” he added. “That is what really built his engine up, patiently and slowly, to reveal this absolute beast that he is today.”

At the onset of the pandemic, Smith was 15 and had made up his mind that he wanted to chase the professional dream.

“I want to race the biggest races in the world.”

He developed what Bergen called a rare obsession for a young cyclist, watching every pro race and tracking the stats of each racer — things that are customary in more popular sports like hockey and football, but not cycling.

When he wasn’t watching, Smith was doing: 12-15 hours per week with the provincial team and many more hours on his own.

Those hours in solitude are what Bergen believes have led to Smith’s breakout. He didn’t know it at the time, but pushing himself on those solo rides as a youngster built his mental resiliency, which is one of the most crucial assets in the sport.

What also helps is that Smith has strong genes that are ideal for climbers. At six feet, 138 pounds, he’s a slender build with a large muscular system that allows him to produce an exceptional force of six watts per kilogram of body weight over the course of a race.

While someone with strong legs could beat Smith in a sprint — he’s admittedly not an explosive athlete — his conditioning allows him to maintain those high rates of power over the course of many kilometres.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Smith’s story, like the many successful Manitobans before him, is that he was developed on prairie roads, where the only resistance available to him was wind.

Bergen admits a mountain would be best to train on — Riding Mountain and select locations in Kenora are about as good as it gets around here — but Smith has become the latest inspiration for the next wave of riders, showing that you can still get it done on flat terrain.

“Because we train in wind as we do, you get out to races, let’s say in Europe or Chicago… they’ve experienced this already, so they’re not caught off guard by a huge crosswind because of the core strength, and they know how to angulate their bike,” Bergen said. “And psychologically, they aren’t affected in the same way as other athletes.”

Smith will look to build on his strong result for the remainder of the spring and into the summer as he begins a busy schedule on the U23 circuit. Up next is the Ronde de l’Isard, a five-day stage race for U23 cyclists in France at the end of this month.

He will eventually be back on home soil for the Canadian Road Cycling Championships, held in Saint-Georges, Que., in June. He’ll return again in September, when he’ll attempt a solid showing in the biggest event on his calendar: the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal.

Smith understands there is still a long way to go, but his sights are on landing a pro contract in the near future. From there, who knows how far he will climb.

“If I can consistently continue to get results like that — which I believe I can — then yeah, I believe that’ll lead to a professional contract. You never know exactly, but I think so,” Smith said.

“This year has really been a step forward, and it’s definitely possible.”

winnipegfreepress.com/joshuafreysam