News – Page 102 – Cycling Canada Cyclisme

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

OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC CELEBRATION & FUNDRAISING GALA HONOURS TEAM CANADA

OTTAWA, Oct. 30, 2016. – A capacity crowd came out for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Celebration & Fundraising Gala on Friday evening, at the Lord Elgin Hotel in Ottawa. The occasion was to celebrate and honour the cycling athletes, coaches and staff who represented Canada at the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio. Organized in partnership with members of the Ottawa cycling community, the evening also recognized athletes, coaches and builders from the National Capital Region.

Over 25 athletes were in attendance, including gold, silver and bronze Paralympic medalist Tristen Chernove, Paralympic double silver medal winner Ross Wilson, Paralympic double bronze medalist Charles Moreau, bronze medal winning Paralympian Shelley Gautier, Olympic bronze medalist Catharine Pendrel and the Olympic bronze medal winning Women’s Team Pursuit squad.

John Tolkamp, President of Cycling Canada, said “The Olympic/Paralympic celebration is a fantastic and unique opportunity to bring all the athletes and coaches together and honour the accomplishments of a team which no doubt inspired the nation over this past summer Rio Olympics. We also wish to thank the Ottawa Cycling community in supporting this event and making the evening a fitting tribute to a team of talented athletes and coaches.”

The Silent Auction featured spirited bidding for autographed jerseys, Olympic prints, paintings and donated items, with over $10,000 raised. The funds raised will be shared between Cycling Canada national team programs and the National Capital Region Cycling Bursary program.

In addition to honouring the Olympians and Paralympians, special recognition was given to Cycling Canada CEO and Secretary General Greg Mathieu, who will be retiring at the end of this year, after four decades of service to Canadian sport. Under Greg’s leadership at Cycling Canada, cycling has grown to become one of Canada’s top medal-producing sports.

Tolkamp stated, “It is fitting that as part of our Olympic Celebration we could also recognize the upcoming retirement of Greg Mathieu, who has a long career in sport, both as a COC employee and National Sport CEO, attending 9 Olympics and dozens of other major Games. Greg has been a significant contributor to advancing the Olympic movement in Canada and is respected across many sports, the COC [Canadian Olympic Committee] and Sports Canada. Greg has been instrumental in the growth of Cycling Canada, and it was a privilege to honour him and his family along with the Olympians.”

October 30, 2016/by Communications

NEXTGENMTE ANNOUNCES 2017 TEAM RACECLEAN ROSTER

OTTAWA, Oct. 26, 2016 – Cycling Canada is pleased to announce the roster of new and returning athletes who will compete for the NextGen Men’s Track Endurance (NextGenMTE) program and Team RaceClean in 2017.

The NextGen Men’s Track Endurance program was launched in 2014 with the goal of being medal contenders in the men’s team pursuit at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The team remains firmly on target to achieve that goal after a 2016 track season that included the first-ever sub-4 minute time at the Pan American Track Championships, a top-10 World Cup result and a 12th-place finish at the 2016 UCI Track World Championships.

The foundation for this success has been in selecting an MTE group that trains and competes together throughout the year. For 2016, the program stepped up to the next level by bringing together 10 riders to train and compete as a Cycling Canada trade team for the entire season.

On the road, competing as Team RaceClean, the squad achieved multiple top-5 and top-10 results at internationally sanctioned European competitions, including wins at Fleche du Sud (Luxembourg), Tour de La Manche (France) and the overall title at Ronde van Oost Vlaanderen (Belgium). Domestically, a member of Team RaceClean became Canadian champion in the Under-23 Men’s Individual Time Trial. Members of the Team were also selected to represent Canada at the Road World Championships, in Doha, Qatar.

For the 2017 season, the NextGenMTE program received many strong applications from riders across Canada. We are proud to announce our selected riders for the 2017 season.

Returning riders:
Willem Boersma – Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
Evan Burtnik – Edmonton, Alberta
Aidan Caves – Vancouver, British Columbia
William Elliott – Barrie, Ontario
Jay Lamoureux – Victoria, British Columbia
Bayley Simpson – Lindsay, Ontario
Edward Walsh – Halifax, Nova Scotia

New riders:
Derek Gee – Ottawa, Ontario
Thierry Kirouac-Marcassa – Boucherville, Quebec
John Willcox – Victoria, British Columbia

Staff:
Luc Arseneau – National Road Development Coach
Ian Melvin – NextGen MTE Coach
Emily Wood – Physiologist

Unfortunately, three riders will be leaving our program next season for other opportunities. We wish the best of luck to Alec Cowan, Sean MacKinnon, and Adam Jamieson. We are very happy with their progression and we are very proud to be able to continue counting on the talents of MacKinnon and Jamieson for our track program as we begin the next Olympic cycle.

For the coming season, the immediate goal of the NextGenMTE program will be the Track World Cup series; which begins next week in Glasgow, Scotland. With the team setting a new Canadian record of 3:59.931 in Aguascalientes, Mexico, earlier this month, the 2016-2017 track season promises to be very exciting.

Next Spring, following the track season, the NextGenMTE group will once again attack the European road racing circuit in Team RaceClean colours.

Follow Team RaceClean:
Twitter: @TeamRaceClean
Instagram: teamraceclean

October 26, 2016/by Communications