News – Page 77 – Cycling Canada Cyclisme

CANADA BRINGS 8 RIDERS TO MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUPS

Albstadt, Germany, May 15, 2018 – Canada will bring eight riders to Europe for a national mountain bike project at Rounds 2 and 3 of the Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Germany and the Czech Republic.

While a number of top Canadian pros will compete with their trade teams in Albstadt, Germany, on May 18-20, and Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, on May 25-27, a selection of riders will also participate in Team Canada colours.

Dan Proulx, National Mountain Bike Coach, explains, “These World Cups are incredibly challenging and will test the riders’ climbing and technical skills. At this point in the season, most riders are in good form and we expect the races to be very fast. We’re bringing a good team of riders with a nice mix of developing athletes and experienced racers.”

“Emily Batty, Catharine Pendrel and Haley Smith will be competing with their pro teams at this event. They’ll be in the new Short Track event on Friday that will be used to establish start position for the XC race on Sunday. This is an exciting development for our sport and we’re looking forward to perfecting this event at the World Cup level. It’s going to be new for everyone in the field, so there will be a learning curve. Traditionally, when they add these sorts of events to endurance sport, Canadians end up doing very well.”

In the Elite ranks, Team Canada riders will be Andrew L’Esperance for the men, and Sandra Walter and Catherine Fleury for the women. The Under-23 squad is comprised of Mackenzie Myatt and Anne-Julie Tremblay for the women, and Gunnar Holmgren, Brody Sanderson and Sean Fincham for the men.

Andrew L’Esperance – Halifax, Nova Scotia [Elite Men]
Sandra Walter – Coquitlam, BC [Elite Women]
Catherine Fleury – Saint-Gedeon, Quebec [Elite Women]
Mackenzie Myatt – Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia [U23 Women]
Anne-Julie Tremblay – Chicoutimi, Quebec [U23 Women]
Gunnar Holmgren – Orillia, Ontario [U23 Men]
Brody Sanderson – Oro Medonte, Ontario [U23 Men]
Sean Fincham – Squamish, BC [U23 Men]

May 15, 2018/by Communications

MECHIELSEN TOP CANADIAN AT BMX WORLD CUPS #5 & #6

Zolder, Belgium, May 15, 2018 – For the second weekend in a row, Drew Mechielsen of Langley, BC, was Canada’s top rider at the BMX World Cup. Mechielsen made the semi-finals in both the fifth and sixth rounds of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Zolder, Belgium, on May 12-13. A total of six Canadian riders – four men and two women – raced.

At the previous rounds in Papendal, Netherlands, Mechielsen finished tenth, and improved on that in Zolder with a ninth place result in Saturday’s race, followed by 14th on Sunday. Daina Tuchscherer of Chestermere, Alberta, made it to the quarterfinals on both days.

“I’m happy to come away from the weekend with two semi-final finishes,” said Mechielsen. “I had solid laps and I’m proud of the way I rode.”

In the men’s competition, Tory Nyhaug of Coquitlam, BC, was the top performer, with a quarterfinal result of 20th on Sunday. Alex Tougas of Pitt Meadows, BC, made it to the quarter-finals of Saturday’s competition, finishing 22nd. James Palmer of North Vancouver, BC, was coming back from injury and finished 44th on Saturday.

“Racing this weekend in Zolder was fast paced and exciting!” said Palmer. “Coming off a shoulder injury just a few weeks before, I felt a little off the back physically and, more importantly mentally, but I was happy that with the little time I got in on the bike I was still able to put together some good starts over the weekend, which is what we focused time on over this past winter. Looking forward to some time to recover and getting ready for the World Championships in Baku next month!”

National BMX coach Adam Muys, said, “The Zolder track is compact, which creates tight racing. The track itself is very similar to the Abbotsford track, but with a more technical third and fourth straight. We had some really good moments this weekend and some learning opportunities. Again, our speed and technical abilities are there and were able to complete with the World. Our riders are gaining confidence and being more aggressive, which is leading to better results. ‘m really happy with the way Drew rode this weekend, really putting herself in the mix.”

May 15, 2018/by Communications

MECHIELSEN FINISHES 10TH AT BMX WORLD CUP #3

Papendal, Netherlands, May 8, 2018 – Canada’s top BMX riders competed at Rounds 3 and 4 of the UCI BMX World Cup in Papendal, Netherlands, on May 5-6. A total of eight Canadian riders – six men and two women – raced.

Drew Mechielsen of Langley, BC, was Canada’s top rider for the weekend, making the women’s semi-final in Round 3 on Saturday, and finishing tenth overall. On Sunday, she made it through to the quarter-final round.

Two other riders made the semi-final rounds over the weekend, with Daina Tuchscherer of Chestermere, Alberta, finishing 13th overall in the women on Sunday, and Tory Nyhaug of Coquitlam, BC, finishing 15th in the men’s event on Sunday. Alex Tougas of Pitt Meadows, BC, made it to the quarter-finals of Saturday’s competition.

“It’s awesome being back on the World Cup stage,” said Tuchscherer, “and it definitely was a roller coaster of weekend, but I’m stoked to end with a semi-final.”

National BMX coach Adam Muys, said, “We have a really solid group of athletes, and our speed and technical ability is there; we just needed to ride a little more aggressively in the corners. We made some tactical changes for Sunday and had some better results. Onward to World Cups 5 and 6 in Zolder [Belgium] next weekend.”

May 8, 2018/by Communications

CANADA FINISHES FIRST PARA ROAD WORLD CUP WITH SEVEN MEDALS

Ostend, Belgium, May 7, 2018 – After winning five medals in the time trial events at the first round of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Ostend, Belgium, Canada added a third gold medal and a bronze medal in the road races on Saturday and Sunday.

Shelley Gautier of Toronto, Ontario, the world champion in the women’s T1 category, added the road race gold to the time trial gold she had already won. Tristen Chernove, the men’s C2 world champion, took the bronze medal in his road race, to add to the silver he had already won in the time trial.

“It was a beautiful day; you couldn’t ask for a nicer day to ride,” said Chernove. “I’m thrilled to be on the podium and it was a bit of a surprise, because I let myself get frustrated with a saddle that slipped down and resulted in an awkward pedaling position. I also chose a poor line in the sprint finish and got boxed in a bit, so I’m happy to be on the podium.”

In other results, Charles Moreau of Victoriaville, Quebec, finished just off the podium in the men’s H3 road race after winning silver in the time trial. Three riders finished sixth in their respective road races – Marie-Claude Molnar [C4 women], Nicole Clermont [C5 women] and Joey Desjardins [H3 men].

Canada finished the World Cup with three gold, three silver and one bronze medal.

May 7, 2018/by Communications

FIVE MEDALS FOR CANADA AT PARA ROAD WORLD CUP

Ostend, Belgium, May 5, 2018 – Canada got off to a strong start at the first round of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Ostend, Belgium, winning two gold and three silver medals in the first two days of competition.

Riders across multiple categories competed in individual time trial events on Thursday and Friday. Michael Sametz of Calgary won the C3 men’s event and Shelley Gautier of Toronto won the T1 women event, while silver medals went to Tristen Chernove [C2 men] of Cranbrook, BC, Marie-Claude Molnar [C4 women] of St Hubert, Quebec, and Charles Moreau [H3 men] of Victoriaville, Quebec.

National Para-cycling Coach, Sebastien Travers, said “Putting Mike’s performance in perspective, this was one of the fullest/most complete fields we have seen in a while. More so, Mike’s time would have placed him third in the MC4 class, which is a stronger class.”

“Tristen opened this first World Cup with a solid performance, finishing second in the MC2 class. This is a very good result as it’s still early in the season. This event allowed us to refine our racing strategy, in the hopes that it is fully established for Road Worlds in August. Marie-Claude rode a solid Time Trial, also coming second in the WC4 class, which is great because she also had great performances at track worlds less than 5 weeks ago.”

Sametz, who is the world champion in the time trial, said, “It was a bit windy out there today, but otherwise conditions were good. I’m glad to see the improvements I have made for this year.”

“It was an amazing result,” admitted Moreau, “I was not expecting to finish second at this first World Cup; It’s the beginning of the year so it is always hard to know where you fit. I was sick for the last month, which was a setback, so I was less confident for this race and I’m happily surprised.”

In other results, Joey Desjardins was eighth and Alex Hyndman was ninth in the men’s H3 category. Nicole Clermont was fifth in women’s C5, and the tandem team of Robbie Weldon and her pilot Audrey Lemieux were fifth. In the men’s tandem, Matthieu Croteau Daigle and his pilot Benoit Lussier were ninth.

May 5, 2018/by Communications

CANADIAN BMX TEAM TO TAKE ON FOUR WORLD CUPS

Papendal, Netherlands, May 3, 2018 – A team of eight BMX riders have been representing Canada in Europe over the past three weeks, with the project culminating over the next two weekends with UCI BMX Supercross World Cup competition in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Members of the NextGen squad, under the leadership of National NextGen Coach, Brendan Arnold, have been competing in Germany and the Netherlands at three Nations Cup and European Cup events.

“The trip has been an excellent opportunity for the Canadian NextGen riders to race against the best in the World,” said Arnold. “There is no Under-23 category in BMX so, although the competition is fierce, riders have realized that as soon as the gate drops anything can happen and opportunities must be taken to get themselves in the mix in races; it has been an excellent opportunity for them. Sometimes you learn more in defeat than victory.”

Daina Tuchscherer and Alex Tougas made the Elite Finals at the 3 Nations Cup, while Drew Mechielsen made it to the final round at the Kampen European Cup event. They will be joined by Tory Nyhaug and James Palmer for the World Cup events beginning this weekend in Papendal, Netherlands and continuing the following weekend in Zolder, Belgium.

“The Canadian BMX Team has been in Europe for three weeks,” said Adam Muys, National BMX Coach. “The trip has been a productive one with Alex Tougas, Daina Tuchscherer and Drew Mechielsen making finals at the three Nationals Cup in Germany and the European Cup in the Netherlands. The Canadian riders are excited to race the Papendal World Cup and we are looking for some solid performances this weekend.”

Elite Women
Drew Mechielsen – Langley, BC
Daina Tuchscherer – Chestermere, Alberta

Elite Men
Gaby Malenfant – Drummondville, Quebec
Tory Nyhaug – Coquitlam, BC
James Palmer – North Vancouver, BC
Josh Samells – Milton, Ontario
Alex Tougas – Pitt Meadows, BC

Junior Men
Aidan Weber – Comox, BC

May 3, 2018/by Communications

CYCLING CANADA ANNOUNCES TEAM FOR PARA ROAD WORLD CUP #1

Ostend, Belgium, May 2, 2018 – Canada has selected a strong team of 12 world-class athletes for the first round of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup, which will take place in Ostend, Belgium, on May 3-6. This will be the first event during the qualifying period for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, when riders and nations begin to collect ranking points that will determine country quotas for the Games.

The team is led by world champions Shelley Gautier [T1 women] of Toronto, Ontario, and Tristen Chernove [C2 men] of Cranbrook, BC, Michael Sametz (C3 Men) of Calgary, Alberta, as well as former world champion Robbi Weldon [Tandem women] of Ottawa, Ontario, with her pilot Audrey Lemieux of Montreal, Quebec.

“The Para-cycling program is looking forward to its first 2018 Road World Cup,” said Sebastien Travers, Para-cycling Head Coach at Cycling Canada. “As this is the first road event in the Tokyo Paralympic qualification process, we have gathered a team that is able to perform at the podium level, as well as score a high level of UCI points. This World Cup also marks the debut for some of our new IST staff, who will be able to better service our athletes once they have seen them race.”

Racing will begin on Thursday and Friday with the individual time trials for all categories, followed by the road races on Saturday and Sunday.

Women
Nicole Clermont (C5) St-Denis-de-Brompton, QC
Shelley Gautier (T1) Toronto, ON
Marie-Claude Molnar (C4) St Hubert, QC
Robbi Weldon (Tandem) Ottawa, ON
Audrey Lemieux (Tandem Pilot) Montreal, QC

Men
Tristen Chernove (C2) Cranbrook, BC
Matthieu Croteau Daigle (Tandem) Sherbrooke, QC
Benoit Lussier (Tandem Pilot) Montreal, QC
Joey Desjardins (H3) Hawkesbury, ON
Alexander Hyndman (H3) Morpeth, ON
Charles Moreau (H3) Victoriaville, ON
Michael Sametz (C3) Calgary, AB

May 2, 2018/by Communications

RECORDS FALL AT U17/JUNIOR/PARA CANADIAN TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS

Milton, Ontario, April 17, 2018 – National records were broken over the weekend at the 2018 Canadian Track Championships p/b Lexus for Under-17 and Junior athletes, which took place at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ontario. The Para-cycling International Challenge also took place during the weekend.

Five Canadian records were broken, including three in Team Sprint, for the Under-17 Men (Team Ontario – Dylan Bibic/Andrew Scott/Tyler Rorke), Under-17 Women (Team Ontario – Nicole Bradbury/Madison Dempster) and Junior Men (Cycling BC – Tyler Davies/Ethan Ogrodniczuk/Riley Pickrell). Additional national records fell in the Under-17 Women’s 500 metre time trial (Madison Dempster, Midweek Cycling, Ontario) and Under-17 Women’s Sprint 200 metre time trial (Madison Dempster, Midweek Cycling, Ontario).

Ontario took the most national titles, with 19, followed by British Columbia at 14. The only other provinces to score multiple titles were Quebec with three and Alberta with two.

Individually, three athletes dominated their categories. Ontario’s Dylan Bibic (Midweek CC) won an incredible seven gold medals in Under-17 men, winning every single event except Sprint and 500 metre time trial, where he also medaled. Cycling BC’s Sarah van Dam was as dominant in Junior Women, also winning seven national titles, while her team mate Riley Pickrell took six titles in Junior Men.

Dylan Bibic, who is still only 14 years old, said, “It was a good weekend. I don’t have the really fast acceleration for the sprint events; I like to get going while I’m already up to speed, so the sprints were challenging for me. I expected to get on the podium for most events, but I didn’t expect to get as many first places as I did.”

Sarah van Dam, racing in her first year as a Junior rider, stated, “It’s pretty unreal. I came into this competition thinking that there were so many good riders here, so I was just taking it race by race. I just worked on good positioning for every race and it turned out well. I knew I came here near the top, but I didn’t know I was going to be at the very top; there’s so many strong riders here.”

Riley Pickrell also moved up to Junior for this season. “I came into the weekend expecting to do well, and I think I achieved what I came to do. I was moving up a category [to Junior], so I thought the competition would be as hard as it was. I’m super excited about the Canadian record [in the Team Sprint]. My team mates and I have been working hard all winter for it, nailing the exchanges, and it all came together.”

In the Para events, the C4 500/1000 metre time trials and individual pursuits were won by Canadian Rio Paralympian Marie-Claude Molnar (Equipe du Quebec) for the women, and John Terrell of the United States for the men. The men’s tandem 1000 metre time trial and individual pursuit were both won by the Quebec duo of Matthieu Croteau Daigle and his pilot Benoit Lussier, while Kavisha Barran and her pilot Petrina Tulissi won the women’s 1000 metre time trial, and Stela Trudeau with her pilot Carrie Cartmill won the women’s individual pursuit.

Jessika Grand Bois, Technical Delegate for the Championships, said, “I am always excited about these Championships. There is something amazing about seeing these athletes race at that level and see them progress through the years, as well as witnessing the camaraderie between them and the support of their family. We are happy to see the fields grow every year and saw some amazing racing this weekend.”

April 17, 2018/by Communications

FOREMAN-MACKEY 17TH IN COMMONWEALTH GAMES ROAD RACE

Gold Coast, Australia, April 14, 2018 – Cycling at the Commonwealth Games concluded on Saturday with the road races for women and men, at Currumbin Beach, south of Gold Coast. Annie Foreman-Mackey was the top Canadian finisher for the day, in 17th place in the women’s 112.2 kilometre competition.

The women rode six laps of the 18.7 kilometre circuit around Currumbin Beach. The course featured two climbs per lap and gusty wind discouraged breakaways.

Canada had five starters, with Foreman-Mackey joined by Allison Beveridge, Ariane Bonhomme, Kinley Gibson and Steph Roorda. Gibson and Bonhomme were among the one-third of the field that did not finish; victims of the high pace of racing.

Foreman-Mackey stayed with the lead group until it split with a lap remaining, and came in fourth in the second group, finishing one minute and 14 seconds behind the leaders. Roorda finished 25th and Beveridge 29th. Chloe Hosking won for the host nation in a sprint finish ahead of Georgia Williams of New Zealand and Danielle Rowe of Wales.

“It was a pretty tough day out there for everyone,” admitted Foreman-Mackey. “We came to the Games with a focus on the track, so this was longer than what we’ve been training for. It’s the first road race of the season for me, so it’s always a bit of a tough one. It was Australia’s race to lose and they performed very well. I was yo-yoing a bit off the [lead] group on the climbs, but I just tried to not give up.”

The men’s nine lap, 168.3 kilometre race, began with immediate attacks, which split the field. Michael Foley was the only Canadian rider to survive the attacks and finish the race, ending up 48th in his first international road race. Less than half the field finished the race. Steele von Hoffe made it a double win for Australia, taking the sprint ahead of Jonathan Mould of Wales and Clint Hendricks of South Africa.

“I was dropped on the fourth lap,” said Foley, “and I just kept racing; there’s no point in sitting up. I kept racing and luckily it let up a bit [at the front] and I was able to get back to the front group. It was hard but not too hard, so I was able to stay with them until the second last lap on the hill when I got cramps in both legs and I had to let them go. I caught them at the bottom, but by the second climb I was cooked. So at that point I was just willing myself to finish. It was a really good experience at the Games and now I’m even more motivated to keep pushing.”

Kris Westwood, Team Manager for Cycling at the Games, summarized the Canadian cycling performances for the Games, which included three bronze medals: “Overall, I would have to say that these were a pretty successful Games for us, in terms of the objectives we came in with. We were really trying to test our systems around jetlag and heat management, but also see if we could push our track athletes through an extra month after the end of the regular track season. They were running on fumes, but delivered some pretty good results.”

“We also had a couple of great revelations – Lauriane Genest with her fourth place in the women’s sprint; she really turned a lot of heads here. And then Haley Smith finishing on the podium in the women’s mountain bike was a fantastic result to see; a real validation of her career pathway. She’s been steadily moving up the ranks, and we had flagged her as a potential Games medalist.”

“For the road events we didn’t really have any targets; we were just going to see how the athletes would do. It was important for athletes like Michael Foley – guys who are going to be part of our program for a long time – to get that Games experience under their belt. So now we can start focusing and planning for Tokyo 2020.”

April 14, 2018/by Communications

U17/JUNIOR/PARA CANADIAN TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS TAKE OFF THIS WEEKEND

Milton, Ontario, April 13, 2018 – The first national championships of the year kick off this weekend at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ontario with the 2018 Canadian Track Championships for Under-17, Junior and Para-cycling athletes.
Over 100 athletes from five provinces across Canada will participate in the three day event, which begins on Friday afternoon and continues through to Sunday. Under-17 and Junior (Under-19) men and women will compete in the Individual Pursuit, Keirin, Scratch Race, Sprint, Points Race, Elimination Race, 500/1000 metre time trials, Madison (Junior only), plus the Team Pursuit and Team Sprint.

In addition to winning the prestigious maple leaf jersey of national champion, the Championships will serve as part of the selection process for the team that will represent Canada at the Junior World Championships later in the year.

Para-cyclists will compete across multiple categories in the Individual Pursuit and the 1000 metre and 500 metre time trial.

Mathieu Boucher, Performance Development Director at Cycling Canada, stated “We are very pleased to see record breaking participation at this year’s Championships. As per last year, we expect this group of talented athletes to set new Canadian records and offer great performances throughout the Championships. Equally exciting will be the presence of Canada’s NextGen Para athletes who are looking for strong showing during these championships.”

Cycling Canada will be providing live Youtube coverage of the Championships for all three days. For a complete schedule and links to the broadcast, please visit this link.

April 13, 2018/by Communications