News – Page 102 – Cycling Canada Cyclisme

GARNEAU® AND CYCLING CANADA RIDE TOGETHER TOWARDS TOKYO 2020

Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Quebec – December 22, 2016 – As a new Olympic cycle begins, Garneau® and Cycling Canada are pleased to announce that their long-term partnership, now in its 32^nd year, will extend to the Tokyo Olympic & Paralympic Games in 2020. Garneau® will continue to provide competition clothing for the Canadian National Team in road and track cycling, mountain bike and BMX for all Olympic and Paralympic events. Team Canada will also wear Garneau® clothing in all international competitions during the next four years.

Since he rode at the 1984 Olympics, Louis Garneau has been the only supplier of the national team’s competition and training apparel. These clothes have helped Canadian athletes to win many Olympic medals and countless international titles in every discipline.

Garneau® and Cycling Canada will continue to strengthen their collaborative partnership over the next four years with the creation of the Podium 2020 committee. This group will include apparel specialists from Garneau® who will work closely with research, development and technical experts from Cycling Canada as well as other National Team performance partners such as Alphamantis. Together, they will develop the world’s most aerodynamic and best-fitting technical apparel for every cycling event in Tokyo.

This approach will continue to build off of the development work done in the lead up to the 2016 Rio Games, where Garneau® custom-made the race kit for every cyclist on the Canadian team. The Podium 2020 committee will use Cycling Canada’s #NextGen programs, including the Team RaceClean road and track development program, as a benchmarking and testing ground for new innovations and products.

“This long-term partnership is one of the best things that could have ever happened to my company,” said Founder, Designer and President Louis Garneau. “Heading to the Rio Games, we put all of our expertise into helping the Canadian team and we won two medals at the Olympics and nine medals at the Paralympics. There is still so much to do with Cycling Canada. Our team’s motivation is at its highest level knowing that we are now on the road to Tokyo.”

“We are happy and incredibly proud to renew our partnership with Garneau® for another four years,” said Jacques Landry, High Performance Director at Cycling Canada. “What’s exciting with this renewal is that we will increase our cooperation on the research side, as well as on the development and production of high-end competition clothing. This improved partnership will give our athletes more tools to help them be competitive at the international level and ultimately step on the podium at the Tokyo Games.”

Visit www.garneau.com for more information.

December 22, 2016/by Communications

PIERRE LAFONTAINE NAMED CYCLING CANADA’S NEW CEO / SECRETARY GENERAL

Pierre Lafontaine Returns Home Following One-Year Stint Leading Cross Country Canada
Distinguished sport leader named Cycling Canada’s new Chief Executive Officer/Secretary General

OTTAWA, ON — Pierre Lafontaine is returning to Ottawa full time, accepting the role as chief executive officer/secretary general for Cycling Canada, after splitting time over the last year between his hometown and Cross Country Ski de Fond Canada’s national office in Canmore, Alta., the two national sport bodies announced jointly on Friday.

During his stint as chief executive officer for the governing body of cross-country skiing in Canada, Lafontaine worked tirelessly to bring the community across the country together – from the provincial sport organizations, national training centres and coaches – under a shared 10-year vision designed to increase participation in the sport in all corners of the country, and ultimately, put more Canadian cross-country skiers on the Olympic and Paralympic podium.

“I really enjoyed working with the Nordic community across Canada and will miss the people. Cross-country skiing is one of the most iconic winter sports in this country. It is an extremely passionate community with an incredible group of athletes representing our country,” said Lafontaine.

“I am extremely grateful for Cross Country Ski de Fond Canada’s openness, and flexibility, to allow me to lead my team from afar, but I personally struggled with being away from both my family and the office in Canmore. I can’t thank the Board enough for their support of this decision – one that is best for me.”

Lafontaine, who will remain in his position with Cross Country Ski de Fond Canada until January, will assist the organization with implementing a transition plan that provides priority focus and support leading into the 2016-17 season.

“Family is at the heart of cross-country skiing in this country so, while we have a big hole to fill, we understand and respect Pierre’s difficult decision,” said Jamie Coatsworth, chair, Cross Country Ski de Fond Canada. “Pierre has done significant legwork getting all of our partners aligned under a shared vision, but we have loads of work remaining to get to where we want to be. We will begin an immediate search for a leader who can build on the framework Pierre has developed, and lead us into the next phase of our strategic growth plan.”

Lafontaine Succeeds Cycling Canada’s Retiring CEO, Greg Mathieu

From the lanes in the pool to making tracks on the Nordic ski trails, Lafontaine will now ride into Ottawa where he will succeed Greg Mathieu as Cycling Canada’s chief executive officer and secretary general in January.

Recognized as one of Canada’s most distinguished sport leaders, Lafontaine brings a wealth of international experience with him to the cycling community, having served as CEO and national coach of Swimming Natation Canada from 2005-13, followed by two years as CEO of Canadian Interuniversity Sport. A medal-winning performer, Lafontaine has achieved success working in all levels of the sport system across Canada, the United States and Australia – from national team athletes to youngsters getting introduced to the sport at the club level. Prior to taking the reigns of swimming in Canada, Lafontaine spent three years as head coach of the Australian Institute of Sport.

“Pierre is an energetic, passionate and experienced leader who is a known performer in the area of sport development,” said John Tolkamp, president, Cycling Canada, who added Lafontaine was hired following an extensive national search. “He will be counted on to lead our exceptional staff towards realizing the vision of being a leading cycling nation by 2020.”

Lafontaine is widely acclaimed as an innovative leader; not only in athlete and coach development, but also in building critical relationships with key stakeholders, including Own the Podium, Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee, to develop world-leading high-performance programs. Under his guidance, Lafontaine has achieved podium results as a CEO and coach at major international events from the Olympics and Paralympics to World Championships, Pan Am, Parapan Am and Commonwealth Games.

“I am extremely pleased to have the opportunity to join Cycling Canada to continue doing what I love – working in Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic community,” said Lafontaine. “Whether it is cycling, cross-country skiing or swimming, my goals remain the same – provide the tools our athletes and coaches require to be world-leaders from the grassroots to elite levels, and to make the sport one of the premier activities in all corners of the country. There is a strong foundation in place at Cycling Canada, and my goal is to ensure cycling remains a powerhouse well into the future.”

About Cycling Canada
Cycling Canada is the governing body for competitive cycling in Canada. Founded in 1882, Cycling Canada aims to create and sustain an effective system that develops talented Canadian cyclists to achieve Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championship medal performances. With the vision of being a leading competitive cycling nation by 2020 celebrating enhanced international success, increased national participation and world class event hosting, Cycling Canada manages the High Performance team, hosts national and international events and administers programs to promote and grow cycling across the country. Cycling Canada programs are made possible through the support of its valued corporate partners – Global Relay, Lexus Canada, Mattamy Homes, Louis Garneau and Bear Mountain Resort – along with the Government of Canada, Own the Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

About Cross Country Ski de Fond Canada
CCC is the governing body of cross-country skiing in Canada, which is the nation’s optimal winter sport and recreational activity with more than one million Canadians participating annually. Its 60,000 members include athletes, coaches, officials and skiers of all ages and abilities, including those on Canada’s National Ski Teams and Para-Nordic Ski Teams. With the support of its valued corporate partners – Haywood Securities Inc., AltaGas, and Mackenzie Investments – along with the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee, Own the Podium and B2Ten, CCC develops Olympic, Paralympic and world champions. For more information on CCC, please visit us at www.cccski.com.

November 18, 2016/by Communications

TEAM CANADA CONCLUDES SUCCESSFUL UCI TRACK WORLD CUP PROJECT

(OTTAWA – Nov. 14, 2017) The Canadian men’s track program has completed a very successful fall campaign in Europe at the opening rounds of the UCI Track World Cup. Team Canada finished the project with podium results in both of the first two rounds, including a first-ever win in the Men’s Team Pursuit plus a bronze medal in the same event. Canada completes the first half of the World Cup series as the overall points leaders in the Men’s Team Pursuit.

The squad of Aidan Caves, Adam Jamieson, Jay Lamoureux, Bayley Simpson and Ed Veal took their first World Cup podium at the opening round in Glasgow, Scotland, with a bronze medal performance. They followed that up a week later in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, by winning gold.

Canada now leads the overall standings for the Men’s Team Pursuit with 1800 points, followed by Round 1 winner Great Britain at 1700 and France, also with 1700 points.

“This has been a really encouraging two week trip for the program,” said Ian Melvin, National Men’s Track Endurance Coach. “We’ve witnessed significant growth in the boys’ ability to deliver performances consistently and now we’ve seen them back it up – all of the TP rides here in Apeldoorn finished within 0.6 seconds of each other. The attitude of the group has been fantastic and they’ve taken the last few weeks in their stride. Yesterday [Saturday] against Belgium was a thoroughly professional and controlled performance. We all know how big the job is in the next 4 years, but if we can move forward with this approach I’m confident we’ll be in a strong position in a few years time.”

“I’m so proud of these boys. Aidan, Adam and Ed have been here since almost Day One. They’ve grown with the program, been through the thick and thin, the good and the bad. I’m thrilled to still have those riders around, you can see how much it means to them and how much they want this.”

In addition to the Team Pursuit podium results, Team Canada participated in a number of other events. Aidan Caves finished 11th in the Men’s Omnium (Apeldoorn), Adam Jamieson finished seventh and 11th in the Points Race (Apeldoorn/Glasgow) and Jay Lamoureux was sixth in the Individual Pursuit (Glasgow).

The team will now return to Canada, to continue training for the UCI Track World Championships, to be held in Hong Kong April 12-16, 2017.

November 14, 2016/by Communications

CANADIAN MEN WIN GOLD AT APELDOORN WC TEAM PURSUIT

Team Canada took the gold medal on Saturday in the Men’s Team Pursuit at Round 2 of the Track World Cup in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. This is the first-ever World Cup win for Canada in the Men’s Team Pursuit. Canada also moves into the overall lead in the World Cup standings, after finishing third in the first round.

Our plan for the first two World Cups was to have a clean run,” explained Ian Melvin, National Men’s Endurance Coach. “We wanted to get the points to qualify for Worlds so we didn’t have to depend on Cali (World Cup #3).”

In the final against Belgium, the Canadian team of Aidan Caves, Adam Jamieson, Jay Lamoureux and Bayley Simpson trailed the Belgians over the first 3000 metres, after their rivals got off to a very strong start. However, the Canadian team came back steadily, cutting the gap from over a second after the first 1000 metres to less than eight-tenths of a second at the halfway mark, then less than three tenths with 1000 metres to go. In the final 1000 metres, the Belgian team slowed dramatically, while Canada had its fastest split of the race, to win with a time of four minutes and 2.144 seconds, over four seconds ahead of Belgium. France won the bronze medal.

“It’s a pretty crazy day,” said Aidan Caves, “it’s actually been a pretty crazy month since Nationals, probably one of the best ever. We were aware that they [Belgium] were probably going to go out hot, but we didn’t panic, because we all knew that we were the stronger team. We knew that if we stayed strong that we have consistently had a faster final Kilo than most of the other teams, so that’s what we focussed on; to come back from the little bit they were up on us. It worked out pretty well to plan.”

Bayley Simpson said, “We’ve got five guys here who can execute, so we are using everyone to have some fresh legs for each ride. This was my first trip with the team, and the first ride I got to do was in Glasgow for the bronze medal. It was nerve-wracking but we executed it that day and then we were able to come here and do it again. I can’t even put it into words, really. The time was good; we looked at the past times here when the world championships were here in 2011 and the winning team was a high 4:01, so we are pretty happy with our time.”

Canada now leads the overall standings with 1800 points, followed by Round 1 winner Great Britain at 1700 and France, also with 1700 points.

November 12, 2016/by Communications

ROCHETTE & MARTIN WIN CYCLO-CROSS TITLES ON MUDDY SHERBROOKE TRACK

SHERBROOKE, Nov. 6, 2016. – Over 260 athletes came out to contest the 2016 National Cyclo-cross championships in Sherbrooke, Quebec, on Saturday, November 5th, braving cold temperatures, mud, rain and snow. Titles were awarded in 11 categories for women and men, in Junior, Under-23, Elite and Masters age groups.

Held in the Jacques-Cartier Park, located on the shores of the Lac-des-Nations, steps from the downtown core of Sherbrooke, organizers put together a course that riders praised, despite having to run some climbs because of the slippery mud.

Both Elite titles were taken by first time champions, with Maghalie Rochette (Luna Pro Team) winning the women’s title and Jeremy Martin (Focus CX Canada) the men’s.

Rochette went to the front early in the women’s 40 minute race, dropping Sandra Walter (Liv Canada) on the second lap to solo in for victory, with Walter taking silver. Defending champion Mical Dyck (Naked Factory Racing) led out at the start but was dropped by the other two on the first lap, holding on for bronze.

“I’ve been chasing this for a long time,” said Rochette. “The first time I did ‘Cross Nationals was in 2012 and I had a horrible race, and then a horrible race again in 2013. In 2014 I had a good race but didn’t get the title, last year was bad, but today I finally got the title. I’m super happy and super thankful for the support I get, and it’s just a good day. I hadn’t raced with Mical [Dyck, defending champion] or Sandra [Walter] for a while, so I didn’t know how they were going, but I knew they were going to be strong because they are always strong. It was so muddy that it wasn’t just about having good form, you had to be controlled and keep focus. It feels so good, and I’m just so happy.”

The men’s field had tremendous depth, with at least ten potential podium riders. Mark McConnell (Hot Sauce Racing / Garneau) opened a gap on the first lap, stretching it to over 40 seconds before the chase began in earnest, at the halfway mark of the 60 minute race. Five-time champion Geoff Kabush (Scott-3Rox), Martin and Aaron Schooler (Focus CX Canada) led the chase, narrowing the gap and then catching McConnell after he crashed. Martin then got a gap when Kabush slid in a corner and held on to win by 22 seconds over team mate Schooler. Kabush took the bronze medal.

“It’s hard to believe,” admitted Martin. “I’ve been training for this for the last year and a half. I had a decent start and then rode my own race. Everyone made mistakes; I’m just the one who made less mistakes, so I’m super stoked. When Mark [McConnell] went early I just kept riding my own race. Eventually Geoff [Kabush] came up and he brought the gap down quite a bit, and then Mark had a bobble ahead of us. From that point it was Geoff, myself and Aaron, and I got a gap in a running section when he [Kabush] had a little crash. After that, it was just about keeping it rubber side down.”

In the Under-23 races, Peter Disera (Norco Factory Racing) repeated as the men’s champion, while Sidney McGill (Focus CX Canada) won the women’s title. Gunnar Holmgren (Garneau-Easton) won the Junior men’s title.

November 6, 2016/by Communications

CANADA WINS BRONZE IN MEN’S TEAM PURSUIT AT GLASGOW TRACK WORLD CUP

GLASGOW, Nov. 4, 2016. – Team Canada took their first ever World Cup medal in the Men’s Team Pursuit on Friday evening in Glasgow, Scotland, with a bronze medal performance.

The team of Aidan Caves (Vancouver, BC), Adam Jamieson (Barrie, ON), Jay Lamoureux (Victoria, BC) and Ed Veal (Toronto, ON) qualified third on Thursday, and went up against number two qualifier France on Friday afternoon. Despite finishing second to France, the Canadian squad once again had the third fastest time overall, at four minutes and 3.056 seconds, which put them into the bronze medal race against fourth fastest Switzerland. For the Final, Canada swapped out Ed Veal for Bayley Simpson.

In the medal final, Canada was clearly the stronger team, taking the lead after the first half lap of the 4000 metre race, and pulling away to win by over three seconds, with a time of four minutes and 1.958 seconds. Olympic champions and world record holder Great Britain won the gold medal race against France.

“To go from our best World Cup result being ninth in New Zealand last year, to coming here, the first World Cup of this season, and be five seconds faster than any race last year … it’s incredible,” said Jamieson. “We lost a couple of our strongest guys [Sean MacKinnon, who signed for professional road team and Remi Pelletier-Roy, who returned to school] and, to be honest I was a little worried, and I think everybody else was too, that we wouldn’t be as strong. But we have proved now that we are a solid, solid team, and we are going places.”

After finishing second at the Pan Am Championships and now third in the World Cup, Canada is in a strong position to qualify for the world championships.

November 4, 2016/by Communications

CANADA QUALIFIES THIRD IN TEAM PURSUIT AT WORLD CUP

GLASGOW, Nov. 4, 2016. – Team Canada is off to a strong start at the first Track World Cup of the 2016/17 season, qualifying third in the Men’s Team Pursuit on Thursday, in Glasgow, Scotland.

The team of Aidan Caves (Vancouver, BC), Adam Jamieson (Barrie, ON), Jay Lamoureux (Victoria, BC) and Ed Veal (Toronto, ON) rode in a time of four minutes and 0.469 seconds to finish third. Olympic champion and world record holder Great Britain was first with a time of 3:58.169, followed by France at 3:59.481.

“We are really pleased with the ride today”, said Ian Melvin, National Track Endurance Coach. “The boys have had a big two months of work and their commitment to this program is starting to show. This is our first-ever World Cup top-8 qualification, so now we will take tomorrow as it comes, prepare well overnight and be ready to go again.”

Canada will race against France and Great Britain against fourth fastest qualifier Poland on Friday, with the winner going on to the gold medal final. The remaining six teams will be ranked by time, with the top two competing for the bronze medal.

November 4, 2016/by Communications

CYCLING CANADA ANNOUNCES NATIONAL COMPETITION CALENDARS

OTTAWA, Nov.2, 2016. – Cycling Canada is pleased to release the 2017 national calendar for all competition disciplines – Road, Mountain Bike, Track, Cyclo-cross, BMX and Para-cycling.

“We are pleased to release the 2017 Cycling Canada calendar,” said Mathieu Boucher, Director of Performance Development. “Once again, our athletes will benefit from a variety of high level events across all cycling disciplines. We want to thank all of our organizers and the host cities for enabling us to provide quality events to support the growth and the development of our athletes.”

In addition to regular competitions on the calendar, 2017 will see young athletes from across Canada travel to Winnipeg, Manitoba, for the Canada Summer Games in late July and early August. Canadian stars such as Raphael Gagne, Annie Foreman-Mackey, Brian Walton, Leah Kirchmann, Hugo Houle and Guillaume Boivin all competed at the Summer Games before going on to international prominence.

National Track competition will begin in February with the Eastern and Western Track Challenges, culminating with the U17/Junior/Para National Championships at the end of March. [Note: Dates for the National Track Championships (Elite/Masters), and the potential UCI World Cup have not been announced, pending date selection by the UCI.]

The Mountain Bike season begins, for the second year, in Victoria, BC, with the Bear Mountain Canada Cup XCO event. Canada Cup action for both the XCO and DHI disciplines continue through the season across Canada, including Quebec, Ontario and BC. In July, national championships will take place in BC, Quebec and Alberta. For the 26th year, Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec, will play host to the World Cup for both XCO and DHI.

The national Road season begins in May with the internationally sanctioned Chrono de Gatineau and GP Cycliste Gatineau. In June, the back-to-back GP Cycliste de Saguenay and Tour de Beauce take place, as well as the Grey County Road Race. At the end of the month, Road Nationals return to Gatineau for Elite/Junior/Para, while Masters will contest their titles in Vancouver. July brings the BC Superweek and Tour de l’Abitibi, while the end of August and early September will see some of the top riders in the world attend the Tour of Alberta and GP Cyclistes de Quebec and Montreal.

The first six rounds of the Canada Cup for BMX will take place in BC in May, Ontario in July, and Alberta in August, followed by the national championships and the final round of the Canada Cup in late August.
In addition to national Road and Track championships, Para athletes compete in Montreal at the end of April, at the Defi sportif AlterGo.

The national season will conclude in October with the UCI sanctioned Silver Goose Cyclo-cross in Midland, Ontario, and the national championships in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Links to national calendars, by discipline:
Track
Mountain Bike
Para
Road
BMX
Cyclo-cross

November 2, 2016/by Communications

CYCLING CANADA ANNOUNCES TEAM FOR FIRST ROUNDS OF TRACK WORLD CUP

GLASGOW, Nov.1, 2016. – Cycling Canada is pleased to announce the team of athletes who will represent Canada at the two opening rounds of the Track Cycling World Cup.

The Track World Cup series will begin in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 4-6, followed a week later by the second round in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. Canada will send a team of five riders that will compete in the men’s endurance events at both World Cups.

At both events, Canada will compete in the Team Pursuit and Points Race. In Glasgow, Jay Lamoureux will also be entered in the Individual Pursuit, while in Apeldoorn, Aidan Caves will compete in the Omnium (subject to UCI approval).

“In starting our Tokyo [Olympic] quad we want to ensure that some of our athletes are getting much needed rest after a tiring Rio campaign,” explains Jacques Landry, Director of High Performance at Cycling Canada. “Though we are resting some of our athletes, we also have a pool of athletes that are ready to fire on all cylinders at these two first World Cups. With this in mind, our men’s track endurance athletes are ready to start off this track season by setting the tone in the first two World Cups at Glasgow and Apeldoorn.”

Aidan Caves – Vancouver, BC [Team Pursuit, Omnium (Apeldoorn)]
Adam Jamieson – Barrie, ON [Team Pursuit, Points Race]
Jay Lamoureux – Victoria, BC [Team Pursuit, Individual Pursuit (Glasgow)]
Bayley Simpson – Lindsay, ON [Team Pursuit (Reserve)]
Ed Veal – Toronto, ON [Team Pursuit]

November 1, 2016/by Communications

CYCLING CANADA AWARDS 2016 WINNERS

Here are the winners of the Cycling Canada Awards 2016 which were presented last Saturday during the Annual Conference in Ottawa.

– Event/Organizer of the Year ROAD: Grands Prix Cyclistes de Québec et Montréal
– Event/Organizer of the Year MTB: Mont-Sainte-Anne UCI World Cup
– Event/Organizer of the Year BMX: Canadian Championships & Canada Cup 7
– Event/Organizer of the Year PARA: Global Relay Canadian Road Championships p/b Lexus
– Event/Organizer of the Year CROSS: Canadian Championships & Manitoba GP
– Event/Organizer of the Year TRACK: Canadian Track Championships p/b Lexus

Commissaires of the Year:
– National: Claire Bonin
– International: Michael Drolet

Coaching Recognition:
– Road: Pascal Choquette
– MTB: Jude Dufour
– BMX: Brendan Arnold
– Para: Guillaume Plourde
– Track: Barry Lyster

– Russ Copeland Award (Top Junior): Stefan Ritter
– President’s Trophy (Elite Athlete of the Year): Women’s Team Pursuit – Laura Brown, Kirsti Lay, Jasmin Glaesser, Georgia Simmerling, Allison Beveridge, Annie Foreman-Mackey
– Torchy Peden Award: Bicycle Nova Scotia
– Builder of the Year: Chantal Lachance & Patrice Drouin from Gestev

Also awarded were the Cycling Canada service pins:
– 20 years: Eric Van Den Eynde (Qc)
– 10 years: Andy Holmwood (AB)
– 5 years: Hannah Parish (BOD)

October 31, 2016/by Communications