Doha, QATAR, Oct. 15, 2016 – Joelle Numainville of Laval, Quebec, gave Canada its first top-10 finish of the 2016 Road World Championships on Saturday, in Doha, Qatar, finishing ninth in a field sprint.  Three Canadians finished in the top-25 of the field of 146 riders.

The 134.1 kilometre Elite Women’s road race began in Doha’s Education City with a six kilometre neutral lap around the vast complex of schools and universities, before heading to seven laps of the 15 kilometre circuit on The Pearl island chain where the championships have been centered.

Despite a number of attacks and counterattacks, the majority of the field was still together as the race entered its final lap.  The very strong Dutch team took control at the front of the race to set up their rider Kirsten Wild, while Canada’s Karol-Ann Canuel (Amos, QC), Alison Jackson (Vermilion, AB) and Leah Kirchmann (Winnipeg, MB) worked to position Numainville.  An Italian rider pulling her foot out of her pedal disrupted the sprint plan, but Numainville was able to get around the gap and close to finish ninth.  Kirchmann finished 14th and Jackson 23rd.  Amalie Dideriksen of Denmark beat Wild for the title.

“I think the team performance was really good,” said Numainville.  “Everyone did their best, and everyone committed to a plan.  We are getting closer and closer [to the podium] and that’s all we can hope for.  I was so close and yet still so far away … I’m happy, but I was so close!  I think being in the top 20 in the world will change my ranking. I enjoyed myself, I rode up to my ability and I am proud of myself.”

“It was awesome riding as a team today,” said Kirchmann, “especially at the finish, when Joelle and myself were in a good position with 3K to go.  Unfortunately, it got pretty messy in the sprint and we ended up losing each other.  We didn’t have the best finish, but it was still encouraging, and a good way to end the season.”

“Our team really came together during the race,” said Jackson.  “We had a strong team and good representation throughout the entire race.  The team placed better than last year, which I think is an accurate indicator of the direction women’s cycling is going in Canada.”

Other Canadian results include Canuel in 71st and Sara Bergen (Coquitlam, BC) in 91st.  Canadian road champion Annie Foreman-Mackey (Kingston, ON) did not finish.

OTTAWA, ON, October 13, 2016. – Cycling Canada is pleased to announce a new partnership with Bici Amore Mio, an operator of Italian-based cycling hotels.

Bici Amore Mio is a network of 5 bike hotels in 5 renowned cycling regions around Italy that are working together to deliver bespoke cycling holidays. The hotel network includes the Garda Bike Hotel (Lake Garda – Verona), Piedmont Bike Hotel (Piedmont – Pralormo), Silva Splendid Hotel (Fiuggi – Rome), Lungomare Hotel (Adriatic Coast, Cesenatico) and Funivia Hotel (Stelvio, Bormio).

Cycling Canada athletes, staff and partners will be provided with access to Bici’s network of hotels for training camps as well as competition projects. Bici Amore Mio will also donate vacation packages that will be used by Cycling Canada in fundraising and promotional initiatives. Additionally, Cycling Canada members will be able to access discounts and special offers through Bici Amore’s exclusive Fidelity Program. Every member will be eligible of 10% discount on cycling packages and will be also offered customized discounted packages for teams and cycling groups.

“We are pleased to be associated with Cycling Canada and to be a supporter of the Canadian National Cycling Team,” said Gianni Marsaglia, Chairman of the Bici Amore Mio group. “This is the perfect platform through which to showcase our properties and we are thrilled to be able to host and support top Canadian riders when they are in Italy.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Bici Amore Mio to our growing family of partners,” commented Cycling Canada High Performance Director Jacques Landry. “This partnership will provide unique and exclusive training and development opportunities for our National Team and NextGen athletes. It is no secret that Italy is a world class destination for cycling and we look forward to working with Bici Amore Mio to facilitate training camps for our athletes as well as exclusive holiday opportunities for our partners and membership.”

To kick-off the partnership Cycling Canada will be auctioning off a weeklong cycling trip for 2 at its upcoming Olympic Cycling Celebration in Ottawa on October 28th.

Doha, QATAR, Oct. 12, 2016 – Hugo Houle of St-Perpetue, Quebec, was the top Canadian finisher in the Elite Men’s time trial on Wednesday at the Road World Championships in Doha, Qatar, finishing inside the top-30.  Canadian champion Ryan Roth of Guelph, Ontario, finished four seconds behind Houle, just outside the top-30.  Tony Martin of Germany won the world title, his fourth in the time trial.

The 40 kilometre race against the clock started north of Doha, with riders facing punishing temperatures in the high 30s Celsius, plus wind and humidity.  Houle paced himself for the first third of the race, sitting in 38th place at the first time split, but then ramped up his efforts in the second half of the race to finish 29th, with a time of 48 minutes flat.

“I managed the heat pretty well,” said Houle.  “I rode the Team Time Trial [last Sunday], and that gave me a lot of information.  In the TTT I overheated, so today I tried to stay as cool as possible before the start.  I didn’t go out too fast, so that I could finish strong.  Honestly, I did a good ride and I don’t think I could have done any better.”

Roth had a quicker start, with the 17th fastest split for the middle portion of the race, but faded in the final ten kilometres, to finish in 31st place. “I felt like I managed the first 25K pretty well,” said Roth.  “I felt underpaced and that I had some gas left to accelerate at the end.  I went from that state to hanging on for dear life pretty quickly.  I didn’t blow up too badly and just held my pace as best I could.  I’m fairly satisfied considering the conditions.”

Racing continues on Thursday with the first of the road races, the Under-23 men.  Canada has five entrants in the road race – Alec Cowan (Calgary, AB), David Drouin (St-Prosper, QC), Sean MacKinnon (Hamilton, ON), Nicolas Masbourian (Montreal, QC) and Benjamin Perry (St. Catharines, ON).

Doha, QATAR, Oct. 11, 2016 – Extreme heat made for tough conditions on Day 2 of the Road World Championships in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.  Nickolas Zukowsky (Dundas, ON) had a top-25 ride in the Junior Men’s time trial, while Karol-Ann Canuel (Amos, QC) was 19th in the women’s.

With temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius before humidity was factored in, athletes struggled in the time trials held on The Pearl Island offshore of Doha.

Zukowsky, who is new to road racing this season from mountain biking, had a strong ride in the Junior Men’s 28.9 kilometre time trial, finishing 24th, with a time of 37 minutes and 34 seconds.  Zukowsky began conservatively and was 35th after the first split, but a strong second split, with the 16th fastest time, moved him into the mid-20s, and he managed to hold that position for the rest of the race.  Matthew Staples (Oro-Medonte, ON) suffered some bad luck on his ride, when a mechanical on his time trial bike forced him to switch to his less aerodynamic road bike for the second half of the race.  Staples finished 64th.  Brandon McNulty of the United States won the world title.

“I was a bit disappointed at first,” said Zukowsky.  “I could barely believe the time Luc [Arseneau, coach] gave me in my earpiece; I did not think that I had done that well.  When I reflect on it, it’s very satisfying to think that it is actually only my first year of road biking.  It’s been a great year, and I’m looking forward to jumping into Under-23 next year.”

Staples admitted to being disappointed with his result, “Being at my first Worlds in this heat, and with the stress and complications of the time trial … a lot of factors contributed to making this a hard race.  The bike change was disappointing and in any other race I would have been a DNF.  But, with this being the world championships, stopping never crossed my mind.”

In the Elite Women’s race, Canuel was Canada’s only entrant.  Possibly still suffering the effects of the world championship title ride in the Team Time Trial on Sunday, Canuel rode consistently in the high-teens throughout the 28.9 kilometre race, finishing with a time of 39 minutes and 25.66 seconds.  Amber Neben of the United States won the world title.

The world championships continue on Wednesday with the Elite Men’s time trial.  Canada has two entrants in the race – Hugo Houle and national champion Ryan Roth.