ZACH BELL TO DEFEND CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS TITLE IN LAC MÉGANTIC
Bell returns to competition after healing broken collarbone and birth of daughter
(Lac Mégantic, QC – June 25, 2014) The 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships road races are expected to be spectacular this year, with the top Canadian cyclists coming together to race for the coveted red and white jersey.
Zach Bell (North Vancouver, BC) of Team Smartstop, the reigning Canadian Champion in the men’s elite category, will be racing to defend his 2013 title. Bell will be making his return to competition after breaking a collarbone at the Tour of the Gila earlier this spring. In addition, Bell’s wife, Rebecca, last week just gave birth to a baby girl.
Bell will count on two teammates from Team Smartstop. Rob Britton (Victoria, BC), who is coming off a strong second place result in the general classification at the difficult Tour de Beauce, and Kris Dahl (Calgary, AB) will both be working to position Bell for the win.
But the title won’t be easy to defend, with many other top Canadian riders also expected to be present on the start line. The strong group includes UCI WorldTour riders Svein Tuft (Langley, BC), the 2011 Canadian Road Champion, and Christian Meier (Sussex, NB) of Orica-GreenEDGE, Hugo Houle (Ste-Perpétue, QC) of AG2R La Mondiale, sprinter Guillaume Boivin (Longueuil, QC) of Cannondale Pro Cycling, and Antoine Duchesne (Québec, QC), the back-to-back U23 Canadian Champion, with Team EuropCar.
There are many teams coming with a large delegation of riders, including the UCI continental teams in Garneau-Québécor and Silber Pro Cycling.
Garneau-Quebecor will have among its group Pierrick Naud, the defending Canadian Criterium Champion, Benjamin Chaddock (Whistler, BC), the 2012 Canadian Criterium Champion, and team captain and versatile cyclist Rémi-Pelletier Roy (Québec, QC).
Silber Pro Cycling recently signed 2012 Canadian Champion Ryan Roth (Cambridge, ON) and Matteo Dal-Cin (Ottawa, ON). The team of 11 riders will be racing hard to capture the red and white jersey.
Will Routley (Whistler, BC), the 2010 Canadian Champion, and Ryan Anderson (Edmonton, AB) of Team Optum-Kelly Benefit are also enjoying a successful season, with Routley taking a stage win and the KOM jersey at the Tour of California. Both riders will certainly work together with the hopes of capturing the title.
Michael Woods (Ottawa, ON) of 5-Hr Energy p/b Kenda has recently showed at the Tour de Beauce that he is in top climbing form, taking the second place of the epic Mont Mégantic stage, which used sections of the Canadian Championships course, including two ascensions of the Mont Morne. Woods will have his new teammate Bruno Langlois (Québec, QC) along with him, and the two could create some interesting dynamic in the peloton.
Other teams will be lined up at the start line, including Team NCCH-DEC Express, Team H&R Block, Team Red Truck p/b Mosaic Homes, Ride with Rendall, Team VeloSelect, Norco-Premier Tech, Team Transport Lacombe-Devinci, Accent Inns-Russ Hay’s p/b Scotiabank, Jet Fuel Coffee-Norco Bicycles and La Vie Sportive-Apogée-Opus.
The men’s road race will take place on Saturday, June 28.
SVEIN TUFT EYEING TO REGAIN TIME TRIAL TITLE
In the time trial, expect a tight race between Svein Tuft, eight-time Canadian Time Trial Champion (2004-06; 08-12), Christian Meier, Zach Bell, Hugo Houle and Rémi Pelletier-Roy, Ryan Roth and Matteo Dal-Cin. These riders excel in the time trial and should be solid contenders for the title. Tuft was not present in 2013.
Time trialist Curtis Dearden (Vicotria, BC) of Accent Inns-Russ Hay’s-Scotiabank is the defending Canadian Champion in the time trial race after surprising everyone last year by winning the title. Dearden will be back in Lac Mégantic to defend his title.
You can also follow Cycling Canada on Facebook @CyclingCanada and on the main twitter account @CyclingCanada. The official twitter hashtag for the event is #GRCanRoadChamps.
The 2014 Global Relay Canadian Road Cycling Championships are taking place June 26 through July 5, in Lac Mégantic, QC and Beauceville, QC. Athletes from all over Canada will race for the coveted title of Canadian Champion in the road race, time trial and criterium races, earning the right to wear the Red and White jersey for the next year.
ABOUT GLOBAL RELAY
Global Relay is the world leader in cloud-based messaging, archiving and search technology for the financial sector. Global Relay is headquartered in Gastown, with offices in New York, Chicago, London and Singapore. In 2012, Global Relay invested $1 million to bring back and operate the Gastown Grand Prix, Canada’s most prestigious criterium which attracts some of North America’s top cyclists and crowds of 30,000 to the streets of historic Gastown in Vancouver each July, as part of BC Superweek.
