News – Page 64 – Cycling Canada Cyclisme

FIRST CANADIAN BMX FREESTYLE TITLES AWARDED

Markham, ON (March 1, 2019) – The first ever Canadian BMX Freestyle Championships took place on Wednesday, February 27th, at the Joyride 150 venue in Markham, Ontario. BMX Freestyle is the latest cycling discipline to be added to the Olympic program, and will take place in Tokyo for the first time in 2020.

“We are very excited to crown our first ever Canadian Champions in the BMX Freestyle discipline,” said Josh Peacock, Events Manager at Cycling Canada. “The crew at Joyride 150 organized a top quality event, attracting some of the World’s top riders amongst Canada’s best. We are looking forward to continuing our work within the discipline of freestyle BMX, and are already looking forward to our next UCI event this weekend at the Toronto XJam.”

Jaden Chipman of New Lowell, Ontario won the men’s title, while Stephanie Nychka of Calgary took the women’s. Chipman represented Canada at the inaugural world championships in Chengdu, China, in 2017, while Nychka is a newcomer to the sport, coming from mountain biking.

“It feels unreal,” said Chipman, “I’ve never been on the podium before with all these guys. I’ve been putting in a lot of work over the winter, and I guess it shows. It’s very special, such a huge honour to be the first Canadian Freestyle champion. I’ve been looking up to the riders I was on deck with ever since I started riding. I’m planning on going to all the FISE World Cup events and proudly wearing the jersey.”
“I started riding BMX about a year and a half ago, and looking back at my progression, I’m so happy with this result. We need to get more women riding, and Joyride itself is a great place for everyone to come,” said Nychka.

March 1, 2019/by Communications

CANADA FINISHES FOURTH IN TEAM PURSUITS AT TRACK WORLDS

Pruszkow, Poland (March 1, 2019) – Team Canada had a bittersweet day at the 2019 Track World Championships in Pruszkow, Poland yesterday when both the women’s and men’s squads made the bronze medal final in the Team Pursuit, only to finish fourth, just out of the medals.

For the men’s squad of Michael Foley, Derek Gee, Adam Jamieson and Jay Lamoureux, just making the medal round was a new accomplishment, one that they savoured. However, the squad was beaten by an experienced Danish team in the end.

“It’s a huge step for the program,” said Gee. “Obviously, it’s always disappointing to lose a ride but looking at it, I don’t think we expected to make a medal round; top-5 was the goal. So, to make the medal round was exceeding that and we can come away with big positives.”

The women’s team of Allison Beveridge, Ariane Bonhomme, Annie Foreman-Mackey and Georgia Simmerling had a strong ride early in the day to put themselves into the medal final against New Zealand, however, they struggled in the bronze medal race, finishing nearly four seconds behind New Zealand, and almost three seconds slower than their earlier ride.

“It was a tough race and we gave it our all,” said Simmerling. “You need four riders to do their job, and sometimes you don’t get four riders for every race.”

In other competition, Lauriane Genest qualified 12th in the women’s sprint, but was knocked out in the first round of head-to-head racing. In the men’s Keirin, neither Hugo Barrette or Joel Archambault made it past the first round.

March 1, 2019/by Communications

CANADIAN MEN TO RACE FOR BRONZE AT TRACK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Pruszkow, Poland (February 28, 2019) – Team Canada qualified for a medal ride on the first day of competition at the 2019 UCI Track World Championships, taking place from February 27 – March 3 in Pruszkow, Poland. The men’s Team Pursuit squad will race for the bronze medal today, after setting the third fastest time in the first round.

The Canadian men’s team has had an exceptional season leading up to the world championships, breaking the national record multiple times, and becoming only the fifth nation in history to set a time below three minutes and 53 seconds.

“It’s pretty special,” said Jono Hailstone, Men’s Track Endurance Coach. “If you had asked me before the competition if we could make the bronze medal final, I would have said we might have an outside chance, but to end up qualifying third is beyond expectations. The boys definitely tidied up a few minor things from qualifying and performed better in the next round. The world champs is the big show; it’s the one time every year that every team lines up on the same day with their A Team; this outweighs any World Cups or national records. Denmark is a very aggressive team that goes out hard and fast, so we’ll have to adapt our strategy a bit, but based on what we saw tonight, I think we have a shot at a medal.”

In the women’s Team Pursuit, the Canadian team of Allison Beveridge, Ariane Bonhomme, Annie Foreman-Mackey and Georgia Simmerling set a time of 4:20.650 for fifth place. On Thursday, they will race again, hoping to qualify for the bronze medal final.

“We’re disappointed with our qualifying ride,” admitted Craig Griffin, Women’s Track Endurance coach. “The girls weren’t able to finish the back half of the race as well as we hoped. However, we’ll be able to reset and put together the ride we’re capable of to get through to the medal round.”

February 28, 2019/by Communications

CANADA ANNOUNCES TRACK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM

Ottawa, ON (February 14, 2019) – Canada will be represented by a strong team of 13 athletes at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszkow, Poland, from February 27th to March 3rd. This will be the first track world championships to take place during the qualifying period for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

“The 2019 Track Worlds in Pruszkow will give us our first real idea of where we stand internationally as we ramp up for Tokyo 2020,” says Kris Westwood, High Performance Director at Cycling Canada. “This will be the first time since the Rio Olympics that each nation comes to the line with part or all of their A squad at the same event. Given our performances at our targeted World Cups, we’re confident we’ll be in the mix.”

The women’s endurance team includes two members of Canada’s Rio Olympic bronze medal squad – Allison Beveridge and Georgia Simmerling. Both will compete in the Team Pursuit, joined by Ariane Bonhomme, Annie Foreman-Mackey and Kinley Gibson. Beveridge will also compete in the Omnium and Madison (where she will be joined by Gibson). Foreman-Mackey will race in the Individual Pursuit, an event in which she is a former world championship silver medalist.

The men’s endurance squad is coming off its best World Cup season ever, having broken the Team Pursuit national record multiple times, and winning World Cup medals. All five riders will compete in the Team Pursuit, with national champion Derek Gee also competing in the Omnium.

“Our women’s Team Pursuit team is just hitting their stride, and set one of the fastest times anyone has done this year in New Zealand [World Cup],” said Westwood. “Our men’s squad continues to progress at an impressive rate – we’re now just the fifth nation in history to ride faster than 3:53.”

The three rider sprint squad is led by Hugo Barrette, a silver medalist in World Cup competition this season. He will be joined on the men’s side by development rider Joel Archambault, and by the lone women’s entrant, Lauriane Genest, who is having a breakthrough 12 months, finishing fourth in her first ever international competition at the Commonwealth Games. All three riders will compete in both the Keirin and Sprint events.

Women’s Endurance
Allison Beveridge – Calgary, AB [Team Pursuit, Omnium, Madison]
Ariane Bonhomme – Gatineau, QC [Team Pursuit]
Annie Foreman-Mackey – Kingston, ON [Team Pursuit, Individual Pursuit]
Kinley Gibson – Edmonton, AB [Team Pursuit, Madison]
Georgia Simmerling – Vancouver, BC [Team Pursuit]

Women’s Sprint
Lauriane Genest – Levis, QC [Sprint, Keirin]

Men’s Endurance
Aidan Caves – Vancouver, BC [Team Pursuit]
Michael Foley – Milton, ON [Team Pursuit]
Derek Gee – Ottawa, ON [Team Pursuit, Omnium]
Adam Jamieson – Barrie, ON [Team Pursuit]
Jay Lamoureux – Victoria, BC [Team Pursuit]

Men’s Sprint
Joel Archambault – Ste-Christine, QC [Sprint, Keirin]
Hugo Barrette – Iles-de-la-Madeleine, QC [Sprint, Keirin]

February 14, 2019/by Communications

EASTERN TRACK CHALLENGE ATTRACTS YOUTH FROM ACROSS CANADA

Ottawa, ON (February 11, 2019) – Over 80 athletes in the Under-17 and Under-19 age categories took part in the Eastern Challenge track competition on February 9-10 at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ontario. Riders came from across Canada and the United States, competing in the Sprint and Keirin on Saturday, and Omnium events (Scratch, Elimination, Tempo and Points races) on Sunday. Participation was up 60% from the last edition in 2017.

Ontario’s Dylan Bibic (Midweek Cycling) was unbeatable in the Under-17 men’s category, winning both sprint events on Saturday, and then sweeping all four Omnium events on Sunday. Bibic won the overall Omnium title with an impressive 164 points, followed by Liam Carney (Madonna Wheelers CC) at 108 points, and American rider Grant Carter (T-Town Elite) at 106 points.

In the Under-17 women, Nicole Bradbury (NCCH Elite p/b MGCC) won the Sprint and the Category 2 women’s Omnium (combined with senior women). Bradbury won all four events in the Omnium, to take the overall title with 140 points.

In the Junior women, Madison Dempster (Midweek Cycling) won the Sprint competition ahead of Adele Desgagnes (Equipe du Quebec). Desgagnes followed up her Sprint silver by sweeping the four events in the women’s Category 1 Omnium, racing against Senior women. Desgagnes won the overall title with 148 points.

The Junior men’s competition was dominated by Andrew Scott (Midweek Cycling) who won both the Sprint and Keirin competitions, while Jackson Kinniburgh (Bicisport) won the overall Omnium title with 145 points, followed by Mathias Guillemette (Equipe du Quebec) at 129 and Rich Elliott (Independent) at 109 points.

February 11, 2019/by Communications

TOP 25 FOR RUBY WEST & MAGHALIE ROCHETTE AT CYCLO-CROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Bogense, Denmark (February 4, 2019) – Five titles were awarded during the weekend at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Bogense, Denmark. Canadian champion Ruby West was the top Canadian rider of the weekend, finishing 20th in the Under-23 women’s competition.

Rochette, who was racing Saturday, admitted before the race that she had been struggling of late, with illness restricting her training in the two weeks leading up to the Championships. The Pan American and Canadian champion had a strong start, but faded to the mid-20s by the end of the first lap, and would remain in that position for the rest of the race.

“I’ve been sick for the last two weeks, and my training plan was to just try and recover,” said Rochette. “I’m happy about my ride; I couldn’t do any better. It was a real power course and the other girls were super strong. It’s just a reminder that if you want to be competitive you have to bring your ‘A’ game. I didn’t have that today, but I did the best I could with what I had.”

After damp and misty conditions on Saturday, Sunday offered sunshine and clear skies for much of the day, although a stiff breeze was blowing off the ocean.

West had a front row start in the U23 race, but was swamped in the very fast first lap, dropping to 19th. She rode as high as 18th in the first half of the race, before dropping a couple of spots in the second half.

“There was more traction today, so it was a blazing fast race from start to finish,” said West. “The start is tough because it is such a long pavement section. I missed my pedal a little bit and a split second is all it takes for everyone to swarm you. I tried my best to keep moving up, but everyone is at their max. Starting on the front row, I was thinking that a top-10 was pretty plausible, so I’m a little disappointed with the placing. I’m happy with the effort, but maybe not the result I was looking for.”

Scott Kelly, team manager for the Canadian squad, said “Overall, I’m really happy with how this project went. We had the World Cup final and Worlds as part of the project, and I’m really happy with the learning and development that went on. Our young cohort of riders is getting better every year and I’m looking forward to the progress we are going to see in the future.”

February 4, 2019/by Communications

CYCLING CANADA ANNOUNCES CYCLO-CROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM

Bogense, Denmark (January 28, 2019) – A team of 13 riders will represent Canada at the 2019 Cyclo-cross World Championships, to be held February 2-3 in Bogense, Denmark. The team will include four reigning national champions, led by the Elite women’s and men’s champions – Maghalie Rochette of St-Jerome, Quebec, and Michael van den Ham of Abbottsford, BC.

“We’re really excited about the Canadian athletes selected for Worlds this year. The majority of the group has been in Europe racing and training together since the Namur World Cup in December”, said Scott Kelly, Program Manager for the Canadian National Cyclo-Cross Team. “In that time we’ve seen a lot of learning and a lot of progression, and it will be great to see that all culminate at the World Championships. We have an amazing group of staff volunteering to be over here and take care of these young athletes. It is because of their time and expertise that they so generously donate, and the outpouring of support of the cycling community from across Canada, that our program is able to support these athletes in Europe and we owe them all debt of gratitude.”

Men’s champion Michael van den Ham was hit by a car while training earlier in the month, but plans to be fully recovered for the world championships. “It’s been a little bit of a different build up to Worlds for me, with getting hurt in the beginning of January, but as of right now it looks like I’ll be at my sixth World Championships with Team Canada in Denmark. It’s a little tough to know what to expect out of myself for this one, but if all continues to progress I’m still shooting for a spot inside the top-30. I’m really looking forward to getting back out there with the Canadian Cyclo-cross Program and the great group of athletes we have. Regardless of how my own race goes, I think that we, as a country, are better prepared than ever to take home some banner results.”

Canadian National Team (* denotes National Champion)

Junior Men
Ryan Maclean – Edmonton, Alberta
Conor Martin – Kelowna, BC
Paul Mysko – Barrie, Ontario

Under-23 Women
Dana Gilligan – Oro Medonte, Ontario
Kelly Lawson – Barrie, Ontario
Sidney McGill – Edmonton, Alberta
Magdeleine Vallieres Mill – Sherbrooke, Quebec
Ruby West* – Dundas, Ontario

Under-23 Men
Gunnar Holmgren* – Orillia, Ontario
Tyler Orschel – Uxbridge, Ontario

Elite Women
Maghalie Rochette* – St-Jerome, Quebec

Elite Men
Cameron Jette – Toronto, Ontario
Michael van den Ham* – Abbottsford, BC

Cycling Canada does not receive government funding for Cyclo-cross programs, which means all projects are funded through sponsorships, private donations or by the athletes themselves. Any amount donated has a direct impact on the development of this sport in Canada. Make your donation at https://hoponcanada.ca/product/cyclo-cross-donation/.

January 28, 2019/by Communications

STRONG SPRINT PERFORMANCES AT HONG KONG WORLD CUP

Hong Kong (January 27, 2019) – The Canadian sprint squad rode well on Saturday, day 3 of the final round of the UCI Track World Cup, in Hong Kong. Hugo Barrette finished sixth in the men’s Keirin, while Kelsey Mitchell was sixth in the women’s sprint.

Barrette made the medal final for the second consecutive weekend, but it was a bittersweet result after he was relegated from the bronze medal spot when officials ruled he had left his lane during the final sprint. Barrette finishes the six event World Cup series in second place with 1400 points, tied atop the standings with Matthijs Buchli of the Netherlands; Buchli takes the title by virtue of a win in an earlier round.

In the women’s sprint, NextGen rider Kelsey Mitchell had a career-high result, going all the way to the quarterfinal round to finish sixth in the competition. After qualifying tenth, Mitchell won both her 1/16th and eighth-final races; the latter against former World Cup medalist Katy Marchant of Great Britain. Amelia Walsh qualified 25th, but was knocked out in the 1/16th final round.

“Kelsey’s result today is very exciting for the future of our sprint program,” said Franck Durivaux, national sprint coach. “She is still very inexperienced and has a huge margin for progression. As for Hugo, he raced perfectly in the Keirin but was relegated in the Final. It’s a shame, because it cost him the chance to stand on the podium once again. Despite this, I’m proud to see him race to his potential, and we can expect some great performances from him In the near future.”

In other Canadian results over the first three days, the NextGen women’s Team Pursuit squad finished eighth, Aidan Caves was 16th in the men’s Omnium, Maggie Coles-Lyster and Devaney Collier were 14th in the women’s Madison, and Mitchell/Walsh were 12th in the women’s Team Sprint.

January 27, 2019/by Communications

CYCLING CANADA ANNOUNCES FIRST-EVER BMX FREESTYLE NATIONAL CALENDAR

Ottawa, ON (January 24, 2019) – Cycling Canada is pleased to announce that a total of three BMX Freestyle events will be held in Canada in 2019. These events represent an important landmark in the development of BMX Freestyle in Canada, as well as the development of professional Canadian athletes.

The season will officially kick off at the Joyride 150 indoor facility in Markham, Ontario, which will play host to the Joyride BMX Park International (UCI C1) on February 26, followed by the first-ever Canadian BMX Freestyle Championships the next day. The Canadian Championships represent the highest level of competition on the domestic calendar, and champions will be receiving the red and white maple leaf jersey in the Elite Men’s and Women’s categories.

“Hosting Canada’s first ever UCI C1 Freestyle BMX Event and Inaugural Canadian BMX Freestyle Championships is an exciting opportunity”, said event organizer and Joyride 150 Owner, Mark Summers. “These events will bring world class competition to Ontario. Joyride 150 has proven to be a hub for athletes and a perfect training ground for Canada’s best and hosting these very important events shows our commitment to supporting and growing the sport of BMX Freestyle.”

That same week, athletes will have the chance to compete in the Toronto XJam, organized as part of the well-established Toronto International Bicycle Show. The Toronto XJam will be sanctioned UCI C1, giving athletes the opportunity to compete in three events within one week, all located in the same region. Large international presence is anticipated, with several foreign national teams having already confirmed their attendance.

“We are thrilled to welcome the discipline of Freestyle BMX to our National events calendar with all eyes looking towards the sport’s introduction to the Olympic programme at Tokyo 2020”, said Josh Peacock, Events Manager at Cycling Canada. “Our 2019 organizers come to us with a wealth of knowledge in the Freestyle BMX world, and we look forward to working together to help maximize UCI points-grabbing opportunities leading up to the Games, as well as increasing the overall exposure of the sport to participants of all ages and abilities.”

Joyride BMX Park International
Organizer: Joyride 150
Markham, ON
February 26, 2019

Canadian BMX Freestyle Championships
Organizer: Joyride 150
Markham, ON
February 27, 2019

Toronto XJam
Organizer: Canadian Shows and Special Events Inc.
Toronto, ON
March 1-3, 2019

January 24, 2019/by Communications

CANADA FINISHES CAMBRIDGE WORLD CUP WITH TOP-10 RESULTS

Cambridge, NZ (January 21, 2019) – Team Canada completed the fifth round of the UCI Track World Cup on Sunday with a pair of top-10 results in the men’s Omnium and women’s Madison. During the three day event, Canadian riders won three silver medals to finish third in the overall rankings by total number of medals.

“The Cambridge World Cup was a strong campaign for Cycling Canada,” said Jono Hailstone, men’s endurance coach. “The women’s Team Pursuit put together their fastest ride since the Rio Olympics; the Men’s Team Pursuit broke the Canadian record; and both squads won silver medals and picked up valuable points towards Olympic qualifying. Allison Beveridge showed she’s on her way back up to the top, with a strong second place in the women’s Omnium. We’re in a strong position leading into the world championships, and this campaign has provided great motivation for our athletes to go all in over the next five weeks and really show what we’re capable of on the world stage.”

In the men’s four race Omnium, Michael Foley was 12th in the Scratch Race, fifth in the Tempo and seventh in the Elimination, to enter the final Points Race in eighth place with 78 points. Foley was unable to score any points in the final race and dropped one spot to ninth place in the final standings.

In the women’s Madison, Allison Beveridge, winner of two silver medals in the Team Pursuit and Omnium, partnered with Kinley Gibson after her usual partner, Steph Roorda, had to withdraw after crashing in training and breaking her collarbone. The Canadian team finished seventh among 12 teams with three points, tied with sixth place Ukraine.

In other Canadian results, Lauriane Genest was 12th in the women’s Keirin and Hugo Barrette did not advance past the one-eighth final round of the men’s Sprint, while Nick Wammes went out in the 16th final round.

January 21, 2019/by Communications