Coquitlam's Jasmin Glaesser rode to a bronze-medal finish at Sunday's Peace Arch News Road Race.
Glaesser, the 2012 Canadian Olympic cycling bronze medallist who was born in Germany, finished the 80-kilometre course in two hours, 23 minutes and 34 seconds. Glaesser, who rides for Team Tibco, was edged out at the finish line for second place by Lex Albrecht and trailed Peace Arch champion Kathryn Donovan by almost three minutes. Donovan of Oxnard, Calif. and Montreal's Albrecht both ride for Team NOW and Novartis for MS.
"Going into the race, when NOW had eight riders on the start line, it was going to be tricky no matter what. My plan was to make it a really hard race and go for broke and see what happens," said the 21-year-old Glaesser.
"At the end I was in a really tricky situation with four NOW riders and myself - it's not a good place to be in - so eventually I had to make a decision knowing the win was unlikely. I had to let one of the riders go and try to fight it out for second or third place."
Sunday's race was the third and final stage of the Tour de White Rock, with the cyclists for Team NOW sweeping the podium in the first two events. Donovan was quick to give credit to Glaesser for Sunday's ride.
"She's really strong, she was setting the pace on the climbs, so she's a really good climber," said Donovan. "She's a good sprinter too."
Glaesser, who was named last week by Cycling Canada for the selection pool for the 2013 UCI Road World Championships in September, is expecting even better things in her next event.
"Later this week when I'm down in Bend, Ore. for the Cascade Cycling Classic, I'll have my teammates with me and we'll see how things work out then," said Glaesser. "But the NOW team did a great job throughout BC Superweek and for them to come out is great in building the women's field."
North Vancouver's Zach Bell topped the men's field at Sunday's Peace Arch News Road Race. Bell finished the 134-kilometre trek in 3:31:38, nearly four minutes ahead of Germany's Michael Schweizer.
