News – Page 33 – Cycling Canada Cyclisme

INSPIRING FUTURE GENERATIONS OF GRACIOUS CHAMPIONS

By Jenny Trew, Head NextGen Track Coach

As the 2021 Federal Election was coming to a close, we heard a knock on our door. Both of my kids jumped up immediately to answer it – I mean, who could it be? A valid question, given that visitors haven’t been commonplace for almost 18 months during this pandemic! At the door was our Liberal MP candidate and four-time Olympic medallist, Adam van Koeverden.

Not only is Adam well-known in the Milton community, but he is a role model for a lot of young kids. On top of representing our community, he has shown what hard work, determination and gratitude looks like over the course of his athletic career, which has now transcended into his professional one. Without the values instilled in him as an athlete, he said he would not be where he is today. His main takeaway was that if anything is worth doing, it’s worth doing well. So, set a goal and work for it!

As he reflected on how his athletic career impacted him, it forced me to think about how most athletes get into sports and how their careers start. For the most part, they don’t start a sport because a parent is orchestrating a rise of the next Canadian Olympic hero.

Speaking as a parent, kids are generally put in sport to burn off the excess energy they accumulate during hours at a desk, to learn rules and to have fun with friends. For the lucky few, this unlocks a love for movement, a passion for a sport and a dream. In Canadian cycling, we tend to first see these athletes in their mid-teens. By the time they get to the NextGen program, they are knowledgeable, motivated and developed humans. Our job as coaches, is to nurture this potential – to teach skills and encourage behaviours to create champions, both on and off the field of play – to foster our future Gracious Champions, a term outlined in our 10-year strategic plan whereby Cycling Canada will develop a sustainable performance program that will deliver champions on the world stage while simultaneously fostering lifelong ambassadors to our community.

Coaching at the national level is the honours class and I am lucky to work with the best and brightest cyclists in the country. In the four years that I have been a NextGen coach for Cycling Canada, I have seen our development system grow and reach new heights. This past September, I had the privilege of being trackside coaching Dylan Bibic and Carson Mattern as they reached the top step and claimed the rainbow jersey at the Junior Track World Championships in Cairo, Egypt. As they are both located close to the track here in Milton, I have enjoyed working with them both and watching them progress through the sport over the years.

My goal as a coach is to not only see athletes grow in cycling, but also use the sport as a medium to discover their strengths and weaknesses and build the skills to discover their personal limits. Athletes learn many transferrable skills like goal setting, performance on demand, learning to win and learning to lose all through hard work and determination. By extension, my job is to create a safe place to both succeed and fail in order to learn and grow.

The process of helping young adults navigate from high school, through sport and post-secondary education through to an “adulting” life is incredibly rewarding. While the rainbow jerseys are amazing, getting a note from a former athlete who is excelling in another area of life can be just as powerful. I believe that happy athletes are fast athletes. What one athlete needs and can balance is not the same as another. The under 23 category is a time when athletes are really juggling with this equilibrium. In supporting the athletes to see what they can achieve in various avenues in their lives, we are supporting them to excel in sport. Sometimes this can be done concurrently, but sometimes it looks more like a seesaw.

In Canada, we have so many amazing Gracious Champions who have shown us what it is to be unbelievable athletes while being stand up role models for the community. Embodying a wholistic approach to high performance creates athletes who are exceptional people and able to apply these skills once they are no longer pinning on numbers. Maybe they are knocking on doors instead – and out-hustling their opponents just like they did on the bike.

October 26, 2021/by Communications

CYCLING CANADA RETURNS WITH 2021-2022 ESPORTS CALENDAR

Ottawa, Ontario (October 26, 2021) – Cycling Canada is excited to announce the return of its multi-platform virtual cycling calendar for the 2021/2022 winter season after a highly successful first season. The calendar will kick off next week, on November 1^st, with the return of Cycling Canada’s Weekly Tune-Up Ride being hosted on the Zwift platform and open to all Zwift subscribers.

“Following the success of our inaugural esports season, we are thrilled to be back in the virtual realm starting off with the return to Zwift activities,” said Cycling Canada’s Events & Officials Manager, Jolène Dupuis. “We have been able to connect with a larger community of cyclists through our offerings, and we hope that our 2021/22 programming will continue to grow our engagement and reach”.

Weekly Tune-up Ride

Every Monday and Tuesday at 8:05 p.m. EST, Cycling Canada will host 45 minute group rides open to all skill levels and abilities on rotating courses. Monday rides will be co-ed, while Tuesday rides will be exclusive to women. Course offerings will vary from week to week in an effort to provide a well-rounded mix of training opportunities for Zwifters of all backgrounds. The Weekly Tune-up will be a medium-paced social ride (1.5 – 2.0 w/kg), led by community riders across Canada and will feature Cycling Canada athletes on a bi-weekly basis. Participants can expect a fun, interactive community atmosphere with regular efforts to build fitness. The Weekly Tune-up Rides will also serve as a social pre-ride for Cycling Canada’s Wednesday Night Race Series, offered on the same course as each week’s ride.

If you are interested in becoming a ride leader, contact esports@cyclingcanada.ca before November 5^th to get your application in!

Wednesday Night Race Series

Every Wednesday at 8:05 p.m. EST and 8:15 p.m. EST (women only), Cycling Canada will host a public race open to all skill levels on rotating courses in line with our Weekly Tune-up Rides. This series will offer something for everyone while exploring every corner of Zwift’s virtual world. Zwifters will have the opportunity to register in one of four power-based categories in both women’s and men’s fields. This series will not include a ranking or series points but is rather intended as a means of offering a fun weekly challenge for Zwifters of all abilities.

Cycling Canada Saturday Fundo

A new offering this year will be weekend Fundo rides starting at 12:05 p.m. EST every Saturday. These Fondo-style rides will be open to Zwifters of all skills and abilities, with courses sampling some of the platform’s longer distance routes, ranging from 20km to 50km. Participants are invited to join the rides at their own pace, or to challenge fellow riders to race at the front.

For a complete list of Cycling Canada Zwift events, including course maps, click here. Sign up to participate via the Zwift Companion App, or click here for the complete Zwift event listing.

HopOn Ride Fundraiser

The HopOn Ride Fundraiser will be back on February 20^th, 2022 with the objective of raising funds for Cycling Canada’s national grassroots program. The ride will take Zwifters along the 2022 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships course and will feature several notable guest riders. More details will be released in the new year.

RGT

In light of an exciting new partnership between Cycling Canada and RGT Cycling, Cycling Canada members will have even more to look forward to this winter. Beginning in 2022, all Cycling Canada members will have access to a 25% discount on their RGT Premium subscription. In addition, RGT will be running a one-month free trial of RGT Premium for all members in February 2022 as a lead-up to an all-new cross category National event. More details regarding member benefits and race opportunities to be announced in the coming months.

As all event information is finalized, be sure to monitor the Cycling Canada Events Webpage and Cycling Canada’s social media for all relevant details.

October 26, 2021/by Communications

CANADIAN TRACK SQUAD WRAP UP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RACING IN FRANCE

Roubaix, France (October 25, 2021) – Sixteen of Canada’s top track athletes wrapped up five days of racing at the 2021 UCI Track Cycling World Championships with standout performances, including a bronze medal in the women’s Sprint by Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell. Overall, the team had six top-5 finishes, making this one of Canada’s most successful World Championships to date.

“From a general point of view, I think we had a great Worlds because we still have a very young team,” said Franck Durivaux, Cycling Canada’s Track Sprint Coach. “Athletes were able to get results that allowed them to do even more against the best in the world and we are going to continue to work with the development group in Milton to get them ready for the next Olympic Games campaign. That’ll be the next really important part looking towards the next season.”

Among the top results, Kelsey Mitchell placed third in the Sprint finals, beating her teammate Lauriane Genest who finished in 4^th. Mitchell also placed 5^th in the Keirin and 5^th in the Team Sprint alongside Genest and Sarah Orban. The women’s Team Pursuit squad were coming off a gold medal win at the Cali Nations Cup and just missed the podium riding into fourth in the bronze medal final against powerhouse Great Britain. On top of this solid result, former Junior World Champion Maggie Coles-Lyster came in 4^th in the women’s Scratch Race at her first Elite World Championships.

Full results from all five days of racing can be found here. Selected athletes are now gearing up for the UCI Track Champions League from November 6-December 11.

October 25, 2021/by Communications

CANADIAN CYCLING HALL OF FAME TO INDUCT FIVE NEW MEMBERS

Ottawa, Ontario (October 25, 2021) – Five new members will be inducted into the Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame next weekend at the Chateau Bromont as part of Cycling Canada’s Annual Conference. Robbi Weldon, Pierre Gachon and Cindy Devine will be inducted as athletes, while Patrice Drouin and Chantal Lachance will be recognized for their tremendous achievements as builders.

The Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame was created in 2015 to recognize outstanding achievement and contribution to the sport of cycling by both athletes and builders. With this induction, the Hall of Fame will count twenty-seven members, including twenty-two athletes and five builders.

No stranger to high performance competition, Robbi Weldon is a dual Paralympian and Paralympic medallist, having competed in both para-Nordic skiing and para-cycling from 2010 to 2016. After discovering cycling in 2010, Weldon quickly started to make a name for herself in the sport, becoming a World Champion at both the 2010 and 2011 Para-cycling Road World Championships. Later that year, she swept all four cycling events at the 2011 Parapan American Games alongside her pilot Lyne Bessette and the duo went on to win gold at the London 2012 Paralympics.

Pierre Gachon (1909-2004) rose to prominence as the first Canadian to ever compete at the Tour de France in 1937 and remained the only Quebecer to do so until David Veilleux in 2013. Throughout the 30s, Gachon distinguished himself at Six Day races, and set new Canadian records by completing the road connecting several cities in record time.

The name Cindy Devine is well known within the mountain biking community and with good reason; Devine became the first female downhill World Champion in 1990 after also placing first at the unofficial Mountain Bike World Championships in 1989. She went on to podium four more times at the biggest international race on the calendar before retiring and dedicating her time to helping at the West Coast School of Mountain Biking and the Shimano Dirt series.

Patrice Drouin and Chantal Lachance are also very prominent within the mountain biking community, the two having been involved with the sport since its very beginning in the 80s. After consulting with the UCI to help create this new cycling discipline, Drouin partnered with his good friend Chantal Lachance to organize a Mountain World Cup in 1991. The duo founded GESTEV in 1992 and the rest is history, with their company organizing a World Cup or World Championships every year since then and putting Canada on the map as one of the world’s top destinations for the sport.

Tickets for the event are available at the cost of $150 and all proceeds will be donated to the HopOn program in Quebec.

October 25, 2021/by Communications

MOLLY SIMPSON WINS FIRST BMX WORLD CUP MEDAL IN TURKEY

Sakarya, Turkey (October 23, 2021) – In her first year competing as an Elite athlete, Molly Simpson from Red Deer, Alberta, rode her way to a bronze medal at BMX World Cup # 5 in Sakarya, Turkey. This marked her first international race since the BMX World Championships in late August.

“It felt pretty good,” said Simpson. “It was my first World Cup final, and I hit it with a third position so I’m pretty stoked about it. I just took it one race at a time and just kept it smooth and it went well. It’s just so awesome. I think I’m going to have a piece of cake at home to celebrate once we’re back at the hotel.”

Her teammate and Junior World Championship medallist, Teigen Pascual, just missed out on the final as the two battled it out in the semi-final. Racing continues for Team Canada on October 24, 30 and 31. Full results can be found here.

October 23, 2021/by Communications

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST KELSEY MITCHELL WINS FIRST CAREER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MEDAL

Roubaix, France (October 23, 2021) – Kelsey Mitchell has clinched Canada’s first medal of the 2021 UCI Track World Cycling Championships in Roubaix, France in the women’s Sprint after facing teammate, Lauriane Genest in the bronze medal final.

After breezing through their respective qualifying heats, both Canadians advanced to the semi-final round, where Genest faced Lea Sophie Friedrich of Germany, while Mitchell rode against her teammate Emma Hinze. After two races, the Germans came out on top to qualify for the gold medal round, with Genest and Mitchell facing off in the bronze medal final. In the end, Olympic gold medallist Mitchell edged out Olympic Keirin bronze medallist Genest in two races to win her first World Championship medal.

“It was great to be back racing and exciting to have both Lauriane and myself in the finals,” said Mitchell. “It’s never ideal having to race against each other but she raced well and I was happy to walk away with the bronze. Next up is keirin, and I am excited to go out there and give it my all. Who knows what will happen.”

Despite the lack of competitions over the last two years, Canadian athletes have proved to be tough contenders throughout the week, with Maggie Coles-Lyster just missing the podium in the women’s Scratch race before helping the young women’s Team Pursuit squad place 4^th. On the men’s side, Hugo Barrette finished 9^th in the Keirin, his best-ever result at a World Championships.

Racing continues tomorrow with the men’s Omnium and men’s Sprint events. The event can be streamed live on FloBikes and live results are available here.

October 23, 2021/by Communications

CYCLING CANADA WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBERS

Ottawa, ON (October 14, 2021) – Cycling Canada is pleased to announce the results of its 2021 Board of Directors Election from its Annual Meeting held via video conference on Tuesday, September 28, 2021. This year, Cycling Canada’s provincial and territorial member associations voted to elect four directors-at-large from a slate of 15 total nominees. Each of these directors will serve 2-year terms in the role of director-at-large.

Cycling Canada directors, elected September 28, 2021:

Mark Gilligan (Toronto, ON)
Pierre LaFlamme (Quebec City, QC)
Peter Lawless (Victoria, BC)
Kelly Murray (Fredericton, NB)

In a meeting of the Board of Directors subsequent to the Annual Meeting, the Board of Cycling Canada re-appointed Pierre LaFlamme as Chair of the Board for a term of one year and also appointed Curt Harnett (Toronto, ON) to the Board as an additional director-at-large, also for a term of one year.

Cycling Canada would like to extend a warm welcome to its new and returning directors as well as a sincere thank you to all of the candidates who put their names forward as nominees in the election. A very special thank you also goes to outgoing director Bill Kinash (Regina, SK) for his immense contributions and commitment to the organization over his time on the board, which included a term as President of Cycling Canada from 2002 to 2005 as well as a ten-year term as President of the Saskatchewan Cycling Association from 1992 to 2002.

Continuing their ongoing terms on the Cycling Canada Board of Directors are Mark Collins (Georgetown, ON), Louizandre Dauphin (Markham, ON) and Shauna Finlay (Edmonton, AB).

The role of Cycling Canada’s Board of Directors is to provide overall strategic direction, leadership and stability for the organization. The Board establishes the overall mission and purpose for the organization and it is responsible for a number of key governance-related activities including approving the appointment of (and providing direction to) the CEO and senior management team, the development and adoption of organizational policies, financial oversight and approval of the annual budget.

October 14, 2021/by Communications

16 CANADIAN ATHLETES HEAD TO ROUBAIX FOR TRACK CYCLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Milton, ON (October 7, 2021) – After kicking off the track cycling season last month at the Nations Cup in Cali, Colombia, the Canadian track squad is heading to Roubaix, France for the Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Championships on October 20-24. The 16-person team will be made up of a combination of veterans and development athletes, with the majority of riders competing at their first Elite World Championships.

Leading the sprint team will be Olympic Sprint gold medallist, Kelsey Mitchell, and Keirin bronze medallist, Lauriane Genest, who will both be competing in the Keirin, Sprint and Team Sprint events. Their Team Sprint teammate will be announced on October 13^th. On the men’s side, Olympians, Hugo Barrette and Nick Wammes, will once again be joining forces with, Ryan Dodyk, to take on the Team Sprint after the trio won gold at their first international competition together. Barrette will also be tackling the Keirin, while Wammes will compete in the Sprint.

“It’s so amazing to be able to bring two Olympic medallists to Track Worlds,” said Cycling Canada’s High Performance Director, Kris Westwood. “Kelsey and Lauriane will walk into the Roubaix velodrome as riders to watch, which brings all sorts of new challenges, but I’m confident they are up for it. On the endurance side, the squad represents a generational shift for our teams. They have big shoes to fill, and I’m excited to see what they can achieve as we work towards the Paris Olympic Games in just three years’ time.”

The women’s endurance squad will be comprised of 2019 Pan Am Games silver medallists, Erin Attwell and Maggie Coles-Lyster, as well as Ngaire Barraclough, Devaney Collier and Sarah Van Dam. Attwell, Barraclough and Van Dam are coming off a gold medal win at the Cali Nations Cup, while Coles-Lyster has earned several podiums on the road this season. All athletes will be competing in the Team Pursuit, with some riders also competing in the Omnium, Scratch Race, Elimination Race and Points Race.

Olympians, Derek Gee and Michael Foley, will be leading the men’s endurance team, with development athletes Mathias Guillemette, Jackson Kinniburgh and Ethan Ogrodniczuk completing the Team Pursuit squad. One rider will also be selected to compete in the Omnium.

The event will be livestreamed on FloBikes and full results will be available here throughout the five days of competition.

Team Canada

Women’s Sprint
Kelsey Mitchell – Sherwood Park, AB [Team Sprint, Keirin, Sprint]
Lauriane Genest – Lévis, QC [Team Sprint, Keirin, Sprint]
Sarah Orban – [Team Sprint, Sprint]

Men’s Sprint
Hugo Barrette – Iles-de-la-Madeleine, QC [Team Sprint, Keirin]
Ryan Dodyk – Edmonton, AB [Team Sprint]
Nick Wammes – Bothwell, ON [Team Sprint, Sprint]

Women’s Endurance
Erin Attwell – Victoria, BC [Team Pursuit]
Ngaire Barraclough – Edmonton, AB [Team Pursuit]
Maggie Coles-Lyster – Maple Ridge, BC [Team Pursuit]
Devaney Collier – Edmonton, AB [Team Pursuit]
Sarah Van Dam – Victoria, BC [Team Pursuit]

Men’s Endurance
Michael Foley – Milton, ON [Team Pursuit]
Derek Gee – Ottawa, ON [Team Pursuit]
Mathias Guillemette – Trois-Rivières, QC [Team Pursuit]
Jackson Kinniburgh – Calgary, AB [Team Pursuit]
Ethan Ogrodniczuk – Vancouver, BC [Team Pursuit]

October 7, 2021/by Communications

CYCLING CANADA UNVEILS 2022 NATIONAL CALENDAR

Ottawa, ON (September 28, 2021) – Cycling Canada is pleased to announce an extensive 2022 national calendar, adding some exciting new events to an already substantial list of national and international races in Canada.

“Following an enthusiastic return to competition in 2021, we are very eager to see our organizers back for more as we announce a complete calendar of national and international events for 2022,” said Cycling Canada’s Events & Officials Manager, Jolène Dupuis. “Through the ongoing support of our provincial partners and dedicated event organizers, we are seeing bigger and better offerings in all disciplines that will give our athletes every opportunity to shine on Canadian soil.”

The 2022 season will officially kick off on the track with the U17 & Junior Canadian Championships in Milton, ON on April 8-10. Dates for Eastern and Western Track Challenge events will be confirmed following the October 1^st National Calendar bidding deadline.

After a two-season hiatus, the Crossroads Festival in Mont-Tremblant, QC will mark the first event of the Canada Cup mountain bike calendar on May 27-29 in both the DH and XC disciplines. The XC series will then continue with stops in Quebec, Alberta, and Nova Scotia before the final event taking place in Dieppe, NB. With the popularity of the cross-country Short Track discipline on the rise, athletes can expect to see more XCC racing on the 2022 calendar, with UCI Short Track stops added to 3 Canada Cup events, in addition to the Canadian Championships. All Junior events within the XC series will be sanctioned at a minimum level of UCI C2 including four stops on the UCI Junior Series. Following the Crossroads Festival, the DH Canada Cup series will make its way to Silverstar Mountain Resort to resume the season before heading to Fernie and Panorama for back to back races in the interior. The fan-favourite XCO & DH World Cup in Mont-Sainte-Anne, QC has found its place back on the UCI calendar on August 5-7, while the Crankworx Festival is also planning to return in 2022 as the exciting finale to Cycling Canada’s national DH calendar.

Both Canadian Mountain Bike Championships for XCO and DH will be organized on the weekend of July 23-24. Hardwood Ski & Bike in Oro Station, ON will host the XCO event while DH returns to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort after a successful inaugural 2021 Championship. The previously postponed Canada Summer Games are confirmed for 2022 in Ontario’s Niagara Region and will highlight Canada’s top developing talent in the mountain bike discipline on the week of August 8^th, directly followed by road cycling in the final week of the Games.

Elite road racing will be back on June 2^nd with the UCI women’s Chrono Féminin de la Gatineau, followed by the Tour de Gatineau on June 3^rd. Up next will be the Elite men’s events at the Tour de Beauce on June 15-19 before the domestic road calendar heads West. The national road calendar’s first western stop will be in Edmonton, AB, for what promises to be an exciting edition of the Canadian Elite/Junior/Para Road Championships on June 21-26, followed by BC Superweek looking to make its return in July. The UCI Gran Fondo World Series qualifying event, Classique des Appalaches, held in conjunction with the Canadian Masters Road Championships in Victoriaville, QC, will be held June 30-July 2 after an outstanding debut on the national calendar in 2021. Another exciting staple marking its return for the 2022 season is the Tour de l’Abitibi on July 12-17. The road season will then cap off with the highest level of racing with UCI WorldTour stops in Quebec City and Montreal on September 9 and 11 for the Grand Prix Cyclistes de Québec et de Montréal.

The BMX Canada Cup series will welcome a few exciting new stops in 2022, starting with Vaudreuil-Solanges, QC on July 9-10, followed by Drummondville, QC, on July 16-17. On August 6-7, the series will stop in Saskatchewan for the first time at the Diamond BMX track in Warman, before heading to Okotoks, AB on August 20-21. The BMX season concludes with the Canadian BMX Championships & Canada Cup finale at Calgary BMX on August 27-28.

The para-cycling calendar will once again kick off in Montreal, QC on April 30 to May 1 for the Challenge Gary Longhi as part of the Défi Sportif AlterGo Paralympic Festival. The road season will continue with the Canadian Championships in Edmonton, AB on June 21-26 before some thrilling international racing on Canadian soil. The 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships will take place on August 10-14 in Baie-Comeau, QC after successfully delivering World Cups in both 2018 and 2019. The para-cycling national calendar will conclude with the Canadian Track Championships at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, ON, joining the Elite and Masters athletes on September 1-3.

Noticeably vacant from the current calendar are the remaining events in the cyclo-cross and track disciplines. Cycling Canada is currently working with organizers in both disciplines towards an event application deadline of October 1^st. Following review of all relevant applications, Cycling Canada will publish a release with complete event details in late 2021. The 2022 Canadian Championships for Mountain Bike Marathon, Enduro, and BMX Freestyle disciplines currently remain open for bid. For details on bidding process and competition requirements, contact Jolène Dupuis. The full events calendar will be available on the Cycling Canada website in November.

“We would like to take this opportunity to extend a very special thank you to all of our devoted organizers and host communities across the country who endlessly support the sport of cycling,” said Dupuis. “The return of events this year has shown how resilient and passionate our nation is, and we look forward to great racing and development through our domestic racing calendar in 2022.”

September 28, 2021/by Communications

WALTER & DISERA BECOME CANADA’S FIRST XCC CHAMPIONS

Baie-Saint-Paul, QC (September 25, 2021) – After awarding eight cross-country titles on Friday, the 2021 Canadian Mountain Bike XCO Championships continued on Saturday with the Short Track (XCC) event being presented for the first time. A large crowd gathered at the Baie-Saint-Paul campgrounds to watch the Elite women and men complete several loops of the 1-kilometer course for a total of 20 minutes.

The women’s race was full gas from the start and numerous contenders sat at the front during various parts of the race, including Tokyo 2020 Olympian Haley Smith, XCO champion Jennifer Jackson and former U23 champion Laurie Arsenault. Sandra Walter (Liv Racing Collective) stayed with the main pack throughout the race and decided to attack with 300 meters to go, keeping that momentum until the finish line to take her second Elite title and become Canada’s first Short Track champion. Jocelyn Stel (Cyclepath Oakville Race Team) was right behind her in second, followed by Haley Smith (Norco Factory Team) in third.

“I’m really excited and to be honest, a bit surprised,” said Walter. “I usually tend to do better on courses that have a good climb in them and most of the course was flat with a lot of technical corners, so it was very tactical. I really focused on staying near the front but not at the front, I stayed out of the wind as much as I could and saved energy and just waited until the end to make my move. I can’t wait to represent the maple leaf at the short tracks next year.”

35 athletes took the start for the men’s race, which was mainly controlled by riders from Norco Factory Team and Team Pivot Cycles – OTE. The race was extremely fast and tactical, with a group of about 15 riders remaining at the front for the entire twenty minutes. 2019 U23 XCO champion Quinton Disera (Norco Factory Team) attacked on the final climb and sprinted to first place, with Marc-André Fortier (Team Pivot Cycles – OTE) and Tyler Orschel (Norco Shredders) stepping on the podium for the second time this weekend.

“Short track is one of those races that can go any way,” said Disera. “On the last lap, it kind of sat up for a quick second and I thought this is the time to go. I’m pretty confident in my sprint so once it got flat, I just really laid it out there. I’m super stoked to be the first Canadian Short Track champion.”

The championships conclude tomorrow with the cross-country races for Masters men and women starting at 1:00pm EST. Full results and event details can be found here.

Results
Elite Women: 1- Sandra Walter 2- Jocelyn Stel 3- Haley Smith
Elite Men: 1- Quinton Disera 2- Marc-André Fortier 3- Tyler Orschel

September 25, 2021/by Communications