2013 CANADIAN ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS EXPECTED TO ATTRACT TOP CYCLISTS TO BEAUCE
St-Georges and Lac Mégantic ready to welcome Canada’s top road cyclists
(Québec, QC – June 06, 2013) The 2013 Canadian Road Championships promises to be very exciting this summer, making its way for the second consecutive time on the beautiful roads of Québec with the top cyclists converging onto the cities of St-Georges and Lac Mégantic, QC to race for the ultimate Canadian honors and the coveted Red and White Maple Leaf jersey.
The 2013 edition of the event will be held from June 20th to 30th, featuring the traditional road race, the individual time trials, and the always exciting criterium. The event is expected to bring over 500 riders of all ages, from juniors to masters, including para-cycling.
“We are very confident that the organizing committee led by Francis Rancourt will once again deliver a solid and challenging event as they did last year. The course will be challenging, and the support from the community will be substantial. Preparations are in its final stages, and everyone is excited for this first Canadian Championships of the 2013 season,” said Mathieu Boucher, Performance Development Director at Cycling Canada.
The Canadian Championships are an important opportunity for young riders to test their skills against World Tour and Pro-continental riders, and to grow within the Canadian competitive cycling scene.
The first weekend of competition will feature the Elite and U23 cyclists in St-Georges, while the second weekend will attract the top Para-cyclists and up-and-coming Junior cyclists as well as masters riders
This year, many of the Canadian riders racing on the WorldTour are expected to be on the start line, such as Guillaume Boivin of Longueuil, QC (Cannondale), Hugo Houle of Ste-Perpétue, QC (AG2R La Mondiale), Dominique Rollin of Boucherville, QC (FDJ and Christian Meier of Sussex, NB (Orica-GreenEDGE). All of these riders will already be in the region, representing Canada at the Tour de Beauce a week earlier.
Both defending Canadian Champions, Ryan Roth (Cambridge, ON) of Champion System Pro Cycling and Denise Ramsden of Optum-Kelly Benefits, are also expected to be present.
Added Boucher: “The event is a critical step in our Long Term Athlete Development model. The up-and coming riders will have the exciting opportunity to race against top Canadian riders from the WorldTour, and to test their skills and development.”
Cycling Teams from all over Canada are expected to be present for this race, including Canadian-based UCI Continental teams Équipe Garneau-Quebecor, and Équipe Ekoi-DeVinci and Canadian-based UCI Women’s professional cycling team GSD-Gestion Kallisto.
In addition to the traditional road races, the 2013 Canadian Road Championships will host the Canadian Sprint Challenge for the second time at Canadian Championships. The country’s top sprinters will go head to head, in heats, in a single elimination format. The top rider along with the Elite men criterium will earn their ticket to the Pro Sprint Challenge at the 2013 Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, this upcoming September.
The organizing committee is led by the Francis Rancourt, the same organizer as the popular and classic Tour de Beauce.
Registration for the event is open, and riders can register at: http://www.championnatscanadiensroute.com/
SCHEDULE (subject to change)
St-Georges, QC
Thursday, June 20 – Time Trials (Men and Women, Elite and U23)
Friday, June 21 – Road Race (Women Elite, U23)
Saturday, June 22 – Road Race (Men Elite, U23)
Sunday, June 23 – Criterium Challenges (U23/Elite)
Sunday, June 23 – Canadian Sprint Challenge (U23/Elite)
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Lac Mégantic, QC
Thursday, June 27 – Time Trials (Juniors, Masters, Para-cycling)
Friday, June 28 – Road Race (Masters)
Saturday, June 29 – Road Race (Para-cycling, Juniors)
Sunday, June 30 – Criterium (Juniors, Masters)
2013 CANADIAN ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2013 Canadian Road Championships is Canada’s top domestic road cycling event. The event annually attracts some of the country’s best road cyclists challenging for the Red and White Jersey awarded to the Canadian Champions in the mass-start road race, the individual time trial race as well as the fast-paced criterium. Organized by the Tour De Beauce in Ville de St-Georges, QC and Lac Mégantic, QC, the event is governed by the Cycling Canada, a member of the International Cycling Union (UCI).
The event is made possible thanks to the close collaboration between Cycling Canada, the Fédération québécoise des sports cyclistes (FQSC) and the Grand Prix cyclistes de Beauce. The 2013 Canadian Road Championships will be held from June 20th to 30th and showcases racing in all categories: Junior, U23, Elite and Masters, as well as para-cycling.
ABOUT THE CORPORATION DU GRAND PRIX CYCLISTE DE BEAUCE
With the Rocky Mountain Cyclosportive, the Tour de Beauce, Quebec’s Road Cycling Championships and Classique Montréal-Québec to its credit, the Grand Prix cycliste de Beauce Corporation is proud to add the 2013 and 2014 Canadian Road Championships to its program. The corporation’s goal is to organize high calibre cycling events in order to promote health through sport while positioning cycling as a major tourist development asset for the Beauce region.
