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Cyclist faster than Inliner
by Stephane Tremblay
The first-ever challenge between a cyclist and an inline speedskater in Canada took place at 12PM, on May 26th 2007 in the small town of St-Ambroise, near Saguenay, Québec. Brian Jalbert, the fastest inline sprinter in Canada, was facing David Maltais, a junior road cyclist racing for the powerful cycling team Équipe de la Vallée de l'aluminium (EVA). Because of the cyclist's youth and his background in mountain biking, everybody thought that Jalbert would easily be the first across the 100m finish line. Not only did Maltais surprise everybody by winning, but, he was able to finish almost a full 1.5 seconds in front of Jalbert. The race was repeated again with the same results.
In both races, Jalbert had a faster start but half way (50m) into the race, Maltais showed a tremendous amount of power and passed Jalbert to gain several meters before the finish (see final results a the bottom of this text). Photographers, reporters, police officers, volunteers and spectators were gathered along the 100m strip of closed street to cheer for the athletes. After both races were completed, the spectators tried to understand how the cyclist could be so much stronger than the skater. The possibility of changing gears during the sprint, the strong tail wind and the distance chosen were the main factors that were suggested as influencing the results.
This challenge was part of "Rendez-vous Stéphane Tremblay", a promotional event for not only inline skating but physical activity in general. It included a clinic and friendly races between people who have never experienced an inline race before. In addition to this challenge, Stéphane who hails from St-Ambroise but now lives in and skates for the Ottawa Inline Skating Club, brought several Canadian national inline speedskating team members with him. Together, they promoted this event and other events that occurred simultaneously, such as a walk for Alzheimer disease and Safety on wheels, an activity that teaches people how to safely practice sports on wheels (bike, inline, skate, skate board, etc.) . Il Peloton Ltd., a Canadian distributor of high-end speedskating equipment, provided support to Stephane in making his contribution to the event possible.
Thanks to everyone who came out, to watch, learn and participate in "Rendez-vous Stephane Tremblay", and to Stephane in particular for bringing such a dramatic, dynamic race to the people of St-Ambroise.
The first race
Second race
- Cyclist (David Maltais) 9.87 sec
- Inline Speedskater (Brian Jalbert) 11.13 sec
