Para-Cycling Archives

CHERNOVE WINS GOLD AT PARA TRACK WORLDS

Apeldoorn, NL (March 17, 2019) – Team Canada concluded the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships on Saturday in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, with gold and silver medals, bringing the total number of medals for the event to five – one gold, two silver and two bronze.

In the men’s C2 category, Tristen Chernove finished his world championships by winning the Scratch Race, adding to the silver medal he won on Thursday in the Individual Pursuit, and the bronze medal on Friday in the 1000 metre time trial. In addition, Chernove topped the standings in the first ever Omnium; a compilation of points over four events. The Omnium in Apeldoorn is a test event for possible inclusion at the 2024 Paralympics, so no medals were awarded.

“It was a super fun day,” said Chernove. “I always love bunch racing, so this is the event I was most excited about. To come away with a victory in the Scratch, I feel thrilled. It was a great race that finished in a bunch sprint, and to take home the jersey for the Scratch was my goal coming here. And to win the Omnium was a bonus.”

In the women’s C4 competition, Keely Shaw won her first ever world championship medal, finishing second in the Individual Pursuit to Emily Petricola of Australia, who set a world record. Marie-Claude Molnar finished just out of the medals in fourth place for the same event. Molnar finished third overall in the Omnium standings; Shaw did not compete in all four events.

“I really excited for the outcome,” said Shaw. “I don’t think any of us were expecting this, so when I realized I was racing for the world title, I was super excited.”

Ross Wilson was fifth in the C1 men’s Scratch Race, to finish third overall in the Omnium standings.

Sebastian Travers, Para Head Coach at Cycling Canada, said, “It was a very good Worlds for us. If we include the Omnium podiums, we tied our best Worlds ever. This is great to see in our athletes, one year away from the Paralympic Games. Although we haven’t put everything together for peak performances, I happy to see how everyone worked together as a team. I have been relying on personal coaches as well as national coaches to get our athletes ready, and everyone has done an amazing job.We developed a four year mission plan following Rio and we continue to progress according to this plan. We are confident that this will lead to key performances in Tokyo 2020 .”

March 17, 2019/by Communications

CHERNOVE WINS SECOND MEDAL AT PARA TRACK WORLDS

Apeldoorn, NL (March 16, 2019) – Tristen Chernove took his second medal of the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships on Friday, in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. The Cranbrook, BC, rider won the bronze medal in the men’s C2 1000 metre time, after winning the silver medal on Thursday in the Individual Pursuit. Ross Wilson, winner of the bronze medal in the men’s C1 Individual Pursuit on Thursday, finished seventh in the C1 1000 metre time trial.

For the first time, the world championships include a 200 metre flying start time trial event. While not a medal event, the 200m standings for each category count towards an overall Omnium standings, a test event for the 2024 Paralympic Games. Both Wilson and Chernove finished second in their respective categories for the 200m time trial, while Marie-Claude Molnar was third in the C4 women’s competition.

Chernove now leads the C2 men’s Omnium standings after three of four events, while Wilson is second overall in C1 men. Molnar is fourth in the women’s Omnium standings after two of four events.

“It was a challenging day for me,” admitted Chernove. “I haven’t been feeling great, but I’m super happy with the incredible staff support to keep me in the competition today, and I’m glad I persevered. It’s really great to be leading the Omnium and I hope to get the overall win, but it will come down to the Scratch race on Saturday.”

March 16, 2019/by Communications

TWO MEDALS FOR CANADA AT PARA TRACK WORLDS

Apeldoorn, NL (March 15, 2019) – Canada opened the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, on Thursday with silver and bronze medals.

Defending men’s C2 world champion Tristen Chernove of Cranbrook, BC, had to settle for silver in the Individual Pursuit. Chernove qualified first, but in the medal final finished behind Australian Darren Hicks, who took the gold medal.

“I tried something I hadn’t tried before and it didn’t work,” said Chernove, “so the game plan will have to change for next time. I went out there trying to win the final by catching my opponent in the first kilometre and that didn’t work out. It’s a well deserved win for Darren Hicks.”

In the men’s C1 competition, Ross Wilson of Sherwood Park, Alberta, qualified third and maintained that position in the medal final, beating Pierre Senska of Germany for the bronze medal.

“I’m happy to see that my riding has improved,” said Wilson, “although the results don’t necessarily show my potential and abilities. Unfortunately, I had a bit of a mechanical in the qualifier [and did not make the gold medal race], but I was able to put in a repeated effort [in the bronze medal final] and it was rewarding to finish the race as strong as I did.”

In other Canadian results, Marie-Claude Molnar and Keely Shaw both competed in the women’s C4 500 metre time trial, finishing 11th and the 12th, respectively.

March 15, 2019/by Communications

CANADA SENDS STRONG TEAM TO PARA TRACK WORLDS

Ottawa, ON (March 11, 2019) — Cycling Canada is sending a small but powerful team of four athletes to the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, on March 14-17.

“We look forward to racing in Apeldoorn again, as we have had success on this track in the past,” says Sebastien Travers, Para-cycling head coach at Cycling Canada. “The 2019 Track World Championships will be a great way of evaluating how our athletes stack up against the world. Our eyes are set on Tokyo and we will use Apeldoorn to refine our processes, fine tune our preparation, equipment and strategies in the final push towards the Games.”

In addition to Time Trial, Pursuit and Scratch Race events, the 2019 world championships will add the Flying 200 metre time trial, so that a comprehensive Omnium standing can be awarded.

The team will be led by defending world champion Tristen Chernove, who won the 2018 world title in the Men’s C2 Pursuit, took the silver medal in the Time Trial and bronze in the Scratch Race. For the men, he will be joined by C1 rider Ross Wilson, who won the silver medal in the Pursuit last year.

In the Women’s C4 category, Canada will be represented by Marie-Claude Molnar and Keely Shaw. Molnar finished fourth and Shaw fifth in the Pursuit at last year’s world championships.

Marie-Claude Molnar – St-Hubert, QC [Women’s C4 500m time trial, Pursuit, Scratch, Omnium]
Keely Shaw – Saskatoon, SK [Women’s C4 Flying 200m time trial, Pursuit]
Ross Wilson – Sherwood Park, AB [Men’s C1 1000m time trial, Pursuit, Scratch, Omnium]
Tristen Chernove – Cranbrook, BC [Men’s C2 1000m time trial, Pursuit, Scratch, Omnium]

March 11, 2019/by Communications

CALL FOR ATHLETES COUNCIL CANDIDATES

Ottawa, ON (November 20, 2018) – Cycling Canada is presently looking for current or recent National Team members who are interested in being part of the Athletes Council. If you would like to play a part in decisions that affect the future of Cycling Canada’s national team programs, you can do this by becoming a member of the Council.

The terms of reference for the council can be found in Cycling Canada’s Policy on Organizational Structure. To summarize:

The Athletes Council is made up of one male and one female representative each from Road, Track, Mountain Bike, BMX and Para-cycling
Members serve two-year terms
The council chair sits on the Cycling Canada Board of Directors
The vice-chair sits on the Cycling Canada High Performance Committee
The current members are:
- Lex Albrecht (Road female)
- Meghan Grant (Track female)
- Hugo Houle (Road male)
- Geoff Kabush (MTB male)
- James Palmer (BMX male)
- Rémi Pelletier-Roy (Track male)
- Catharine Pendrel (MTB female)
- Amelia Walsh (BMX female)
- Ross Wilson (Para male)
- Para female position is vacant

If you are interested in being part of the Athletes Council,

please complete the online form. The deadline is Dec. 2, 2018. If there are more candidates than positions available, the current national team members will be asked to vote for their preferred representatives before Dec. 9. The new AC composition will be announced on Dec. 10.

If you have any questions, please contact High Performance Committee Chair Kirsten Frattini, or Cycling Canada Head of Performance Operations Kris Westwood.

November 20, 2018/by Communications

CYCLING CANADA ANNOUNCES 2019 NATIONAL CALENDAR

Ottawa, ON (November 14, 2018) – Cycling Canada is pleased to release the national and international events competition schedule for 2019. Beginning in February and running through to December, the competitions calendar spans the country, with events ranging from the Atlantic provinces to the Pacific coast.

“We are very excited to announce our complete 2019 National and International race calendar,” said Josh Peacock, Events Manager at Cycling Canada. “Through the support of our provincial partners and event organizers – both new and returning – we are confident that this calendar will provide athletes in all disciplines every opportunity to perform at their best on Canadian soil. Our overall calendar continues to expand both in quantity and in quality of competition offered. We would like to extend a very special thank you to all of our dedicated organizers and host communities who continue to support the sport of cycling across the Nation, and look forward to another great year of racing.”

The Mountain Bike Canada Cup series opens the off-road calendar with what is becoming the traditional start to the XCO season at Bear Mountain in Victoria, BC, on March 31st. This year, the Series offers an expanded number of races, with eight taking place from coast to coast. The Canada Cup Series concludes in Kentville, Nova Scotia, on August 17-18; the second year for this venue.

Under-17 Men and Women were added as official Canada Cup Mountain Bike categories on the XCO side last year and will continue this year. Riders will be awarded the same points scale as the Juniors and will be required to race the same number of events as the Juniors to qualify for an overall Series ranking. The number of UCI-sanctioned Junior XCO events will be doubled to six – including four at the UCI Junior Series level – offering Juniors maximum opportunities to gain UCI points. After a five year absence, the XCO National Championships will return to Hardwood Ski & Bike in Ontario for 2019 and 2020. The domestic cross-country program concludes on September 7-8 with the Marathon National Championships in St-Felicien, Quebec.

The highlight of the season will be Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec, which will play host for a record third time to the UCI World Championships for both Masters (August 21-23) and Elite/Under-23/Junior (August 28th – September 1st) in XCO and Downhill.

The Downhill Canada Cup Series will cap off in Mont Tremblant as a part of the Crossroads event weekend, before returning to British Columbia, at SilverStar Resort and then Fernie for the second and third rounds. Silverstar and Fernie will create a July triple header western race schedule for Downhill, which will conclude with both the Downhill and new Enduro National Championships at Panorama, BC, on July 27-28. The domestic downhill program will conclude with the Canadian Open in Whistler on August 18^th.

The national Road calendar begins in June, starting with the Masters Nationals in Victoria, BC, followed by four UCI-sanctioned events in Quebec – GP Cycliste Gatineau and Chrono de Gatineau for women, and the GP Cycliste de Saguenay and Tour de Beauce for men. From June 28 to July 1^st, the National Road Championships for Elite, Under-23, Junior and Para riders will take place in Beauce.

Road racing continues through the summer, with the Tour de la Relève Rimouski in Quebec at the beginning of July, followed by the UCI-sanctioned Delta Road Race and Global Relay Gastown GP in BC’s Lower Mainland. The Tour de l’Abitibi, one of the premier stage races for Junior men in the world, returns for its 51st edition from July 15-21. The Road calendar concludes in early September with the Quebec City and Montreal WorldTour races on September 13th and 15th.

The BMX national calendar events will take place in July and August. Three Canada Cup events, all with a UCI C1 sanction, will take place in Toronto (July 6-7), Drummondville, Quebec (July 13-14) and Calgary (August 17-18), the host of the 2016-2017 national championships. The National Championships will take place in Toronto on the same weekend as the Canada Cup event, and will be the primary qualifying event for the 2020 BMX world championships in Houston, USA.

Canada’s national track program will be centered around the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, with four of five events on the calendar taking place there. For Junior and Under-17 riders, there will be a Western Challenge (January 18-20) in Burnaby, BC, and an Eastern Challenge (February 9-10) in Milton. These will lead into the National Championships at Milton on April 12-14 for U17, Junior and Para athletes. The Elite and Masters riders will have their National Championships in Milton in the Fall, and the UCI Track World Cup will return to Milton for the 2019-20 season.

Peterborough, Ontario will once again play host to the 2019 Canadian Cyclo-cross Championships following a successful season-closing event in 2018. Cyclo-cross enthusiasts should expect another exciting season in 2019, with finalized details of the upcoming calendar to be released in the coming weeks.

Finally, the Para national schedule consists of four events, all on the UCI calendar. On April 12-14 the Para Track Nationals will take place in Milton, followed by the Défi sportif AlterGo road event in Montreal on May 4-5. The Para Road Nationals will take place in Beauce, on June 28-29, and the UCI Para Road World Cup returns to Baie Comeau, Quebec, on August 8-11.

November 14, 2018/by Communications

CYCLING CANADA STREAMLINES MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

Ottawa, ON (September 18, 2018) – Canada’s national cycling governing body has revamped its organizational structure to better service its athletes and members.

After a thorough review process Cycling Canada’s Board of Directors has approved a streamlining of the organization that will see the roles and responsibilities of the vacant CEO and CTO positions distributed among the existing senior management team, while bringing in a highly respected sport advisor to help set the stage for future success.

“The Board recognized that we have tremendous expertise and leadership capacity within our existing team,” said Cycling Canada President John Tolkamp. “We have great faith in this team to work together to deliver on our collective vision for the sport of cycling in Canada. As an organization we need to be more agile, transparent and responsive to the needs of our members and stakeholders. We believe flattening and re-organizing our leadership structure goes a long way toward achieving that.”

Marketing Director Matthew Jeffries, who was appointed Interim CEO after Pierre Lafontaine’s departure in May, will continue as Executive Director. Jeffries will work closely with the Board of Directors and the other senior executives in leading the organization while continuing to manage and oversee commercial affairs.

As Head of Development & Operations, Mathieu Boucher will remain responsible for events and domestic development programs while taking on additional leadership responsibilities alongside Jeffries related to business operations and stakeholder relations.

Brett Stewart will continue to manage the organization’s finances, human resources and day-to-day operations as Head of Finance and Administration.

After two years leading Cycling Canada’s road programs, Kevin Field moves into a new role as Head of Performance Strategy. Field will be responsible for overall strategic development for the organization, working closely with the management team to harmonize business and sport. Key areas of focus for Field will be sport-system architecture, performance pathways and alignment within Cycling Canada’s high performance programs.

Head of Performance Operations Kris Westwood will continue to manage the delivery of national team programs, including coaches, managers and other high performance staff.

The High Performance department will be strengthened by the addition of a High Performance Advisor in Peter Keen. Well-respected in the cycling world as both former elite performance director at British Cycling and former UK Sport performance director, Keen will provide support on a short-term contract basis, working as a consultant to help guide performance strategy and provide technical expertise. Keen will work closely with Kris Westwood and Kevin Field in conducting a high performance review that will help set Cycling Canada on the path for sustained success in the future.

September 18, 2018/by Communications

2018 EVENT OF THE YEAR FAN VOTING NOW OPEN

Ottawa, ON (September 11, 2018) – After a very successful season of racing across the country, Cycling Canada invites all cycling fans to vote online over the next few weeks to determine the 2018 Cycling Canada Events of the Year. Fan vote will count for 50% of the overall consideration for Road, Track, Mountain Bike, BMX, Para-cycling and Cyclo-cross events of the year.

2018 Event of the Year winners will be determined by an equal proportion of public voting (this survey) and evaluation of the review of the following criteria by relevant staff & committees:

Communication with Stakeholders
Event Promotion
Event Presentation & Execution
Organizing & Planning

Cycling Canada would like to thank all the organizers & volunteers who have contributed to the success of these events throughout the season. Great Canadian events contribute to international success and to the growth of the sport in Canada.

The survey will be live until September 30^that 11:59PM EST. Category winners will be announced at the 2018 Annual Congress, to be hosted in Ottawa from October 12^th to 14^th. Click here to access the survey.

September 11, 2018/by Communications

CANADA FINISHES PARA WORLD CUP WITH 12 MEDALS

Baie-Comeau, QC (August 20, 2018) – Canada had a strong finish to the para-cycling road season on Sunday at the final round of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, with four medals on the last day of competition, including two golds. Canada finishes the final round of the World Cup with a total of 12 medals, including six gold; tied with Great Britain and Germany for the most gold medals. Overall, Canadian athletes won six gold, two silver and four bronze medals over the week.

On the final day of competition, world champions Shelley Gautier of Toronto in women’s T1, and Tristen Chernove of Cranbrook, BC, in men’s C2, each won their respective road races. In men’s C1, Ross Wilson of Edmonton took the silver medal, and in women’s C4, Marie-Claude Molnar of St-Hubert, Quebec, won the bronze medal.

In the final World Cup standings, Shelley Gautier finished off an incredible road season that saw her sweep all six World Cup events – three time trials and three road races – for a perfect 360 points, in addition to her two world titles earlier in the month. Tristen Chernove finished second overall in the men’s C2 World Cup rankings, despite competing in only four of six events, while Michael Sametz of Calgary finished third in men’s C3 standings, despite racing in only half of the events; all of which he won. Holly Dapp of Fort Erie, Ontario, was second overall in women’s H2, Charles Moreau of Victoriaville, Quebec, finished second overall in men’s H3, while Nicole Clermont of St Denis de Brompton, Quebec, was third overall in women’s C5.

“It was a really, really good World Cup for us,” said Sebastien Travers, Para head coach for Cycling Canada. “Twelve medals is a new record for the Para group, and it is comprised of medals from the High Performance and the NextGen groups, which is exactly what we hoped for. The athletes that came on board for this event showed a lot of potential, and we can be assured we will see more of them in the coming years. Points-wise, we are in a good position; we have already earned a spot for the Paralympics, so things are looking good. Of course, 2019 and 2020 are still part of the qualification process, so we have to make sure we are qualifying as many spots as we can for the Games. I’m happy and proud of everyone, and it was a good event for us.”

August 20, 2018/by Communications

CANADA WINS 4TH GOLD AT BAIE-COMEAU PARA WORLD CUP

Baie-Comeau, QC (August 19, 2018) – Holly Dapp of Calgary won Canada’s fourth gold medal and eighth overall on Saturday at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Baie Comeau, Quebec.

Racing in the women’s H2 category, Dapp completed the three lap, 28.4 kilometre race with a time of one hour, 37 minutes and 20 seconds.

“I learned a lot today,” said Dapp, “it was my first road race and I loved it. I’m very appreciative of the crew here, who made it a lot of fun but were professional and helpful. I’ve come a long way in the last two years, but I know I still have a long way to go.”

In other Canadian results, Myriam Adam of Saguenay, Quebec, was fourth in the women’s H3 road race, as was Kara Douville of Calgary in the women’s H4 event. The men’s H3 road race had four Canadian competitors, led by Joey Desjardins in fifth, followed by Alex Hyndman in sixth, Charles Moreau in eighth and Rico Morneau in 14th. In the men’s H2 road race, Matthew Kinnie was the top Canadian in eighth place, followed former world champion Robert Labbe in ninth and Eric Page in tenth. Patrick Desnoyers, at his first World Cup, finished sixth in the H5 men’s road race.

August 19, 2018/by Communications