News – Page 58 – Cycling Canada Cyclisme

CANADA RETURNS TO TOUR DE L’AVENIR

It has been eight years since Canada last entered a team in the Tour de l’Avenir. That year, after eight grueling stages traversing eastern France, from north to south, the Canadian team delivered David Boily to an incredible second-place finish in the overall classification behind Colombian Estaban Chaves. 

2011 - David Boily en jaune/in yellow
Acôté Romain Bardet, FRA / Beside Romain Bardet, FRA

The Tour de l’Avenir is a UCI Nations’ Cup race for men under 23 years old (U23). The race is one of seven in the Nations’ Cup series that determines valuable start quota allocations for countries at the World Championships and the event is reserved primarily for National Teams. The U23 category is also called “espoir” – or hope. The race’s name “Avenir” translates to “Future”. So, literally, the race is for our “hopes for the future”. A mini Tour de France for cyclists who may, ultimately,  one day showcase themselves in the Tour de France and the biggest road races in the world. 

L’Avenir is widely regarded as the most important and prestigious stage race for U23s in the world. The best professional teams watch the race, and its importance for recruiting emerging talent is historic. Starting in 1961, this year’s race will be the 56th edition. The list of former winners is filled with athletes who’ve gone onto the heights of professional cycling; Egan Bernal who just won the Tour de France won the Tour de l’Avenir in 2017. Chaves, who bested Boily in 2011, went on to place on the podium in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta Espana. 

Canada’s ability to return to this race in 2019 is thanks to collaboration and support from private donors and the Hamilton Foundation (HF). The Hamilton Foundation is a private legacy fund created after the 2003 Road World Championships that took place in Hamilton, Ontario. The general directors of the HF are former Executive Directors, Presidents, Performance Directors and athletes of Cycling Canada. Luc Despins, a director on the board of the HF and member of Cycling Canada’s newly empaneled Fundraising Committee, coordinated the private fundraising for the project.  Working closely with Pierre Hutsebaut, Luc, the board of the HF and Cycling Canada have collaborated diligently for many months to bring the project from idea to reality. 

The goal of this project is to create program continuity, opportunity, and development for our Under 23 athletes. The secondary hope is for this project to catalyze excitement within our community of alumni, sponsors, and partners as Cycling Canada rebuilds and refocuses energy on its development and elite road programs after an incredibly successful 2018 Road World Championships performance in Austria last year. 

“In a review of our  High Performance programs conducted last fall, Peter Keen stressed a need for a future ‘mixed-economy’ for Cycling Canada. One where we collaborate more broadly with multiple stakeholders and partners to deliver value in new ways to our athletes, members, and our community. This project is a perfect example of how we will increasingly operate in the future. I’m thrilled and grateful for the support of the Hamilton Foundation, in particular, Luc and Pierre’s efforts to make this project a reality for some of our most promising young athletes.”

Matt Jeffries, Executive Director of Cycling Canada. 

“We have an exciting wave of U23 men coming through the ranks,” said Kevin Field, Head of Performance Strategy and director of the road programs at Cycling Canada. “This will be an amazing race opportunity for our guys, not just for our build-up toward the U23 World Championships, also for their future. Pier-André has already graduated up from Continental to ProContinental and I’m pretty confident we’ll see others take the step to the next level, in great part thanks to the opportunity to showcase themselves in this race (Tour de l’Avenir). The selection has a balance of guys from 1st to final year of U23, so for those who don’t graduate, the race will be a crucial development opportunity to carry through the remainder of their time as U23s. ” 

This year’s race will be 10 stages traversing southern France from Marmande (west of Toulouse) to Saint-Colomban-des-Villards in the French Alps. The race starts August 15 and finishes August 25. 156 riders from 26 teams will take the start: 23 national teams, 2 regional selections and one international mixed team (CMC – from the UCI World Cycling Centre).

Team Canada: 

  • Nickolas Zukowsky – Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, QC / Trade Team:  Floyd’s Pro Cycling
    Canadian U23 road champion, bronze medalist in the Elite road race,  Canada’s highest-ranked U23 in the international and America Tour Standings and winner of the 2019 GP Saguenay
  • Pier-André Côté – Lévis, QC / Trade Team: Rally-UHC
    Winner of 3 stages at the 2019 GP Saguenay
  • Adam Roberge – Prévost, QC / Trade Team: Elevate-KHS
    Canadian U23 time trial champion, bronze medalist in the Elite time trial
  • Ben Katerberg – Comox, BC / Trade Team: Sunweb Development
  • Laurent Gervais – Montréal, QC / Trade Team: Aevolo
  • Charles-Etienne Chrétien – Amos, QC / Trade Team: Interpro 

More race info → www.tourdelavenir.com

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CANADIAN DOWNHILL AND ENDURO TITLES AWARDED

Panorama, BC (July 29, 2019) – Panorama played host to a weekend of national championship Gravity titles, with the first ever Enduro national championships held on Saturday, followed by the Downhill championships on Sunday. British Columbia riders swept all the titles.

In the Enduro, Jennifer McHugh of Fernie, BC, won the Elite women’s title, 2.67 seconds ahead of former Downhill world champion Miranda Miller. The men’s title went to Remi Gauvin out of Squamish, BC, 45.75 seconds ahead of Rhys Verner.

Vaea Verbeeck from Coldstream, BC, successfully defended her Elite women’s title, 5.21 seconds in front of Georgia Astle, with Miller in third. The men’s Elite title went to former Junior world champion Finn Iles of Whistler, BC, in a very tight race with Kirk McDowall and defending champion Magnus Manson, who both finished less than a second behind Iles. The Junior titles went to Seth Sherlock in the men and Madison Skrypnek in the women.

“We are thrilled to be hosted by beautiful Panorama Resort for our first ever combined Enduro and DH Gravity Championships weekend,” said Josh Peacock, Events Manager at Cycling Canada. “This is the first time that we crowned official Canadian Champions in the Enduro discipline, and there were fierce battles in both the Elite Men and Women’s categories for the titles. This was the third consecutive year that the DH Championships have been hosted at Panorama, and the organizers spiced it up with some course tweaks to keep riders on their toes. We saw fast racing for the coveted maple leaf sleeve across all categories.”

For full results, please click here.

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QUARTERFINAL FINISH FOR TUCHSCHERER AT BMX WORLDS

Heusden-Zolder, Belgium (July 28, 2019) – Daina Tuchscherer was the top Canadian rider on Saturday at the BMX World Championships in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, making it to the quarterfinal round of the Elite women’s competition. In the Junior women’s category, Holly Simpson also advanced as far as the quarterfinals, as did James Hedgcock in Junior men. James Palmer was knocked out of competition in the one-eighth final for Elite men. In the Challenge categories, silver medals were won by Canadians Teigen Pascual in Girls 16 Years and Jack Cerney in Boys 10 Years.

“It has been a rough year with injuries and a loss of one of our BMX family (Aidan Webber), but the team has started to turn the season around with some strong performances,” said team manager Brendan Arnold. “We are building towards Houston in May next year and with Worlds in North America we are excited to see what the riders will be able to do.”

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Ross Chafe Award 2019 Applications

The Hamilton 2003 Road Cycling Foundation was established to support long term development of young road athletes from junior ranks to road professional teams and to support national talent identification of young road athletes.

Ross Chafe was a long serving member of the Hamilton Road Foundation Board and instrumental in obtaining positive investment returns for the Foundation’s funds.  It was his philosophy that the Foundation should utilize its resources to the full extent possible to support developing riders. Ross and another Whistler Cycling Club rider were killed while riding northwest of Whistler in June of 2015.  The Ross Chafe Award has been established to honour the memory of this significant contributor to the development of Canadian road cyclists.

Criteria for Award

The Award will be granted annually with both a female and male recipient receiving $ 5,000.00 based on the following criteria to be met by each applicant:

  1. shall be a Top-8 finisher in the Road Race or Time Trial at the 2019 Canadian Road Championships in the Junior category,
  2. shall not be a carded athlete,
  3. has not received the award in previous years, and
  4. shall have high academic standing in the school year completed in 2018-2019
  5. shall provide his/her best performance in a National or International Race, for example in the Tour of Abitibi (men) or in the Tour de l’Avenir Makadence (Wn) in Quebec.

Application Process

Interested applicants should complete the attached Application Form and attach a photocopy of their 2018-19 school year final marks and forward it to the National Office by August 31, 2019. The Award will be made by November 1, 2019, towards the training and tuition costs of the recipients.

Send Application to:                       

Hamilton Road Foundation
c/o Cycling Canada Cyclisme
203 – 2197 Riverside Drive
Ottawa, ON. K1H 7X3

Email: general@cyclingcanada.ca
Fax: (613) 248-9311

Download → Criteria and Application Form

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EIGHT PARA CYCLISTS AND THREE PILOTS TO RACE FOR CANADA AT LIMA 2019 PARAPAN AM GAMES

Ottawa, ON (July 25, 2019) – The Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) and Cycling Canada are thrilled to announce the eight Para cyclists and three pilots who will be competing for Canada at the Lima 2019 Parapan Am Games from August 23 to September 1.

Marie-Claude Molnar will be leading the team, having competed at the Rio 2016 and London 2012 Paralympic Games, as well as the Toronto 2015 and Guadalajara 2011 Parapan Am Games. Molnar captured a bronze medal in the Time Trial at the London 2012 Games and a bronze in the Individual Pursuit at Guadalajara 2011 in her women’s C4 category, as well as numerous Canadian titles along the way.

“I am thrilled and feel honoured to have been selected to represent Canada at the 2019 Parapan American Games,” said Molnar. “I cannot wait to perform at my best and contribute to the team.”

Joining her on the track on August 26-27 will be Canadian ITT champions Lowell Taylor and pilot Andrew Davidson, who will be competing in the men’s Tandem category. The women’s Tandem races will see two NextGen teams competing, including Canadian road champions Carla Shibley and pilot Meghan Lemiski, as well as Annie Bouchard and her pilot Evelyne Gagnon.

Racing will resume on August 30 and September 1 with the road events, with all the athletes taking part in both the ITT and Road Race. Paralympian Rico Morneau (H3) will be competing under Canadian colours, having previously won a bronze medal at the Guadalajara 2011 Parapan Am Games, and will be joined by the track athletes, as well as Michael Shetler (T2), Matthew Kinnie (H2) and Patrick Desnoyers (H5).

“The Parapan Am Games will be a fantastic opportunity for both the athletes and staff to gain some major Games experience,” said Phil Abbott, Cycling Canada’s Para cycling NextGen Coach. “The majority of the athletes have never attended an event of this scale, so this will certainly help them prepare for Tokyo 2020.”

“A huge congratulations to our Canadian Para cyclists heading to Lima!” said Stephanie Dixon, chef de mission of the Lima 2019 Canadian Parapan Am Team. “I’m so excited to welcome each of them to the team, especially the group that will be donning the red-and-white at a Games for the first time. I hope you all have an amazing experience and the entirety of Team Canada is behind you!”

LIMA 2019 PARAPAN AM GAMES PARA CYCLING TEAM

NAME HOMETOWN AGE CLASS
Marie-Claude Molnar* Longueil, QC 35 C4
Annie Bouchard Baie-St-Paul, QC 44 WB
Evelyne Gagnon Quebec City, QC 28 Pilot
Carla Shibley Calgary, AB 28 WB
Meghan Lemiski Edmonton, AB 38 Pilot
Lowell Taylor Lethbridge, AB 37 MB
Andrew Davidson Calgary, AB 35 Pilot
Matthew Kinnie Riverview, NB 36 H2
Michael Shetler Kirkland, QC 58 T2
Rico Morneau* St-Liguori, QC 56 H3
Patrick Desnoyers Blainville, QC 46 H5

*Paralympian

The Lima 2019 Parapan American Games will take place August 23 to September 1 in Peru and will surpass Toronto 2015 as the largest Parapan Am Games ever with a record 1,850 athletes set to participate. Canada is expecting to send a team of approximately 152 athletes and competition partners in 13 sports. The Canadian Paralympic Committee will announce the official full team heading to the Games later this month.

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TEAM CANADA WINS FIVE MEDALS AT TOUR DE L’ABITIBI

Rouyn-Noranda, QC (July 22, 2019) – The 51st edition of the Tour de l’Abitibi concluded on Sunday after seven stages and 677.8 kilometres of racing. Michael Garrison (Team USA) took the title, holding the Brown Jersey through every stage. Luke Carreau (Equipe du Quebec) was the top Canadian finisher in third place, one minute and 29 seconds behind Garrison, and 15 seconds in front of Jacob Rubuliak (Team Canada).

Team Canada finished on the podium in five stages, with Riley Pickrell winning Stage 4, plus taking second in each of the last two stages, while Jackson Kinniburgh was second in Stage 5 and Rubuliak was third in Stage 3.  Rubuliak was second in the Best Young Rider (1st year Junior) competition, Pickrell was third in the Points competition, Felix-Olivier Moreau was third in the Climber’s competition, and Team Canada finished third in the Team competition.

“This project is always a fantastic opportunity for our guys to learn and be exposed to a higher level of racing and a different style of racing,” said team manager Kevin Field. “Like every year, the Americans bring a really, really strong team – congrats to them for a great race. They were the strongest team here and it showed.”

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BATTY & DISERA REPEAT AS NATIONAL XCO CHAMPIONS

Oro-Medonte, ON (July 21, 2019) – Over 700 athletes came out to the Canadian XCO Championships on Saturday at Hardwood Ski & Bike, 75 minutes north of Toronto. Two familiar faces stood on top of the podium in the Elite races, with Emily Batty (Trek Factory) winning her fourth consecutive women’s title, and Peter Disera (Norco Factory) winning his third consecutive Elite men’s title. In the Under-23 races, Laurie Arsenault (ACQ) and Quinton Disera (Norco Factory) won their first titles in the category.

Both riders won in similar fashion: riding with their top rivals for the first few laps before pulling away in the second half of the race, despite heat and humidity that pushed temperatures to the mid-30s.

“I think it just came down to turning on for an event that I wanted to do well in,” said Batty, who has struggled in the first half of the World Cup season. “I definitely had a slow start to the season and have been overcoming a bunch of obstacles, but I think it is starting to come around.”

“The hat trick is cool, and I’m super excited to race here at home,” said Disera, whose family lives within 15 minutes of the race site. “This is week five [in a row] of racing for me, so I’m pretty tired. All the media attention is cool and I’m happy to talk, but it kept the high a little too high and stacked on pressure for this weekend, so I was a little bit excited and a little bit nervous going into this race.”

Results
U17 Women: 1- Nicole Bradbury 2- Marin Lowe 3- Ella Myers
U17 Men: 1- Owen Clark 2- Hugo Brisebois 3- Médéric Carrier
Junior Women: 1- Emilly Johnston 2- Magdeleine Vallières-Mill 3- Samuelle Baillargeon
Junior Men: 1- Carter Woods 2- Vincent Thiboutot 3- Hamish Graham
U23 Women: 1- Laurie Arsenault 2- Mackenzie Myatt 3- Marianne Théberge
U23 Men: 1- Quinton Disera 2- Raphael Auclair 3- Tyler Orschel
Elite Women: 1- Emily Batty 2- Catharine Pendrel 3- Sandra Walter
Elite Men: 1- Peter Disera 2- Léandre Bouchard 3- Marc-André Fortier

For full results, please visit: http://racetiming.ca/neweventpage.php?EventId=1924.

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CYCLISME CANADA ANNONCE SON ÉQUIPE POUR LES CHAMPIONNATS DU MONDE DE BMX DE 2019

Ottawa, ON (le 19 juillet 2019) – Cyclisme Canada est heureux d’annoncer les athlètes sélectionnés pour représenter le Canada aux Championnats du monde de BMX à Zolder, en Belgique, du 23 au 27 juillet. Un total de neuf coureurs représenteront le Canada dans les catégories élite et junior.

Drew Mechielsen et Daina Tuchscherer, qui figurent actuellement dans le top 25 mondial, rechercheront de bonnes performances dans la catégorie élite féminine après avoir remporté l’or et l’argent aux Championnats canadiens de BMX.  Elles seront accompagnées du champion canadien James Palmer et de Gaby Malenfant chez les hommes élite. Tory Nyhaug, Alex Tougas et Ryan Tougas ont tous été sélectionnés pour faire partie de l’équipe, mais ont dû décliner à cause de blessures.

Adam Muys, entraîneur du programme national de BMX a déclaré : «Je m’attends à de bonnes performances de nos athlètes. Au cours des derniers mois, nous avons travaillé sur plusieurs techniques et tactiques pour nous aider à atteindre nos objectifs de performance. L’équipe s’est entraînée sur ce circuit plus tôt ce printemps et connaît bien les installations, ce qui sera un atout. »
Un nombre supplémentaire d’athlètes de la classe Challenge se joindra à l’équipe.

Équipe de BMX nationale – élite et junior

Hommes élite
Gaby Malenfant – Drummondville, QC
James Palmer – North Vancouver, CB

Femmes élite
Drew Mechielsen – Langley, CB
Daina Tuchscherer – Calgary, AB

 
Hommes junior
James Hedgcock – Ancaster, ON
Curtis Krey – Etobicoke, ON

 
Femmes junior
Lauren Webber – Ottawa, ON
Molly Simpson – Red Deer, AB
Violet Cejavlo – Langley, CB

Sélection équipe challenge (NextGen)
Cole Zufelt – Trenton, ON
Teigan Pascual – Squamish, CB
Edouard Proulx – Saint-Valérien, QC

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CYCLING CANADA ANNOUNCES 2019 BMX WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM

Ottawa, ON (July 19, 2019) – Cycling Canada is pleased to announce the athletes who have been selected to represent Canada at the BMX World Championships in Zolder, Belgium, on July 23-27, with a total of nine riders representing Canada in the Elite and Junior classes.

Drew Mechielsen and Daina Tuchscherer, who are currently ranked among the top-25 in the world, will be looking for strong finishes in the Elite women’s category after taking gold and silver last weekend at the Canadian BMX Championships. They will be joined by Canadian champion James Palmer and Gaby Malenfant in the Elite men’s field. Tory Nyhaug, Alex Tougas and Ryan Tougas were all selected to the team, but had to decline due to injuries.

Adam Muys, National BMX Coach, said “I’m looking forward to good performances from our athletes; we have been working on several skills and tactics over the last few months to help us achieve our performance goals. The team trained on this track earlier this spring and are familiar with the facilities, which will be an asset.”

The team will be joined by a number of additional Challenge class athletes.

2019 BMX World Championship Team – Elite and Junior

Elite Men
Gaby Malenfant – Drummondville, QC
James Palmer – North Vancouver, BC

Elite Women
Daina Tuchscherer – Calgary, AB
Drew Mechielsen – Langley, BC

Junior Men
Curtis Krey – Etobicoke, ON
James Hedgcock – Ancaster, ON

Junior Women
Lauren Webber – Ottawa, ON
Molly Simpson – Red Deer, AB
Violet Cejavlo – Langley, BC

NextGen Athletes competing in Challenge World Championships:
Cole Zufelt – Trenton, ON
Edouard Proulx – Saint-Valérien, QC
Teigan Pascual – Squamish, BC

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TEAM CANADA WINS TWO MEDALS AT TOUR DE L’ABITIBI

Rouyn-Noranda, QC (July 19, 2019) – Canada had a successful fourth day at the Tour de l’Abitibi, winning two medals in the two half stages. Canadian Junior time trial champion Jacob Rubuliak finished third on Stage 3 of the Tour de l’Abitibi, while Riley Pickrell scored the first Canadian victory on Thursday evening, winning the fourth stage in Malartic with an impressive sprint.

The day kicked off with a 9.6 kilometre individual race against the clock, which was won by Michael Garrison (Team USA), who took his second stage win and added to his overall lead in the standings. Garrison’s teammate Matthew Riccitello was second on the stage, while Rubuliak was third with 28 seconds back.

“I was feeling great, and rode great technically,” said Rubuliak. “Now that we have moved up to third in the team classification, I think we can stay there and maybe get a couple of more stage podiums. Feeling super focused and ready to fight for the rest of the week.”

Later that day, the team headed to Malartic, where they completed 52.5 kilometres that brought them to Rivière-Héva and back to Malartic. Pickrell had a solid sprint to the finish line, followed closely by Luke Lamperti of Team USA and Aidan Coats-Ballaseux of Team California.

“The team plan for today was to control the front of the race,” said Pickrell.  “We wanted to make sure that no dangerous breaks got away and bring it down to a bunch kick. In the last three kilometres it got pretty dicey, but the boys kept me at the front.  In the last kilometre it was full speed ahead, and in the last corner with 300 metres I got a gap and held it to the finish.”

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