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.”

Rouyn-Noranda, QC (July 12^th, 2019) – Cycling Canada has announced the team of 6 riders who will be racing for Canada at the 2019 Tour de l’Abitibi Junior men’s stage race from July 15^th to 21^st. In its 51^st edition, the UCI sanctioned Tour de l’Abitibi is the oldest and most prestigious Junior men’s race in Canada, and the only Junior Nations Cup race to be held in North America.

A pool of riders was selected based on early season results and the recent National Road Championships. The final selection contains riders from British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec, including National Road champion Raphael Parisella of Boucherville, QC, and National Time Trial champion Jacob Rubuliak of Kelowna, BC.

Two riders are returning from last year, including Riley Pickrell of Victoria, BC, who won three of six stages at last year’s race. Tristan Jussaume, of Contrecoeur, QC, will also return, after finishing second in the time trial at the national championships.  The final two team members are first time attendees Jackson Kinniburgh of Calgary, AB, and Felix-Olivier Moreau of Saint-Ferreol-des Neiges, QC. Following Abitibi, three riders from the team will represent Canada at the Junior Track World Championships in Frankfurt, Germany – Jussaume, Kinniburgh and Pickrell.

Team Manager Kevin Field recognizes the importance of the Tour de l’Abitibi for his young cyclists. “Tour de l’Abitibi is one of the highlights of our domestic calendar as the only Nations Cup race we have for Junior or U23 riders in Canada. Over the years, it has become such an important stepping stone for our athletes.”

“This year we built a team to balance our opportunities with stage wins and GC. Tristan and Jacob really distinguished themselves at Nationals in the Individual Time Trial, while Raphael and Riley are really strong sprinters, which Riley proved last year when he won three stages in Abitibi. We’re rounding out the team with Jackson and Felix-Olivier who are two very consistent riders.”

The Tour de l’Abitibi kicks off on Monday, July 15^th, with the Challenge Sprint Abitibi competition.

Team Canada
Tristan Jussaume – Contrecoeur, QC
Jackson Kinniburgh – Calgary, AB
Felix-Oliver Moreau – Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, QC
Raphael Parisella – Boucherville, QC
Riley Pickrell – Victoria, BC
Jacob Rubuliak – Kelowna, BC

Team Manager – Kevin Field

Saint-Georges, QC (June 29, 2019) – The road race competition at the 2019 Canadian Road Championships kicked off on Saturday with the Para, Junior men and Elite women’s categories. Former ITT champion Karol-Ann Canuel (Boels Dolmans) won the Elite women’s road title for the first time in her career, as did current ITT champion Olivia Baril in the U23 category (Magocep Tornatech Specialized p/b Mazda).

Athletes faced a tough course that took them from Saint-Georges to Saint-Odilon, where they completed three loops of a steep 15 kilometre circuit, before coming back to the finish line. Junior men and Elite women both completed a distance of 108.5 kilometres under difficult conditions, with rain and heavy winds picking up throughout the day.

The women’s race saw many breakaway attempts, but the peloton remained in control until the last 30 kilometres, where 15 of Canada’s top female athletes attacked and rode away from the main field. Karol-Ann Canuel waited until the final few kilometres before attacking and riding to a solo victory, followed closely by Leah Kirchmann (Team Sunweb), Ariane Bonhomme (The Cyclery Racing), Allison Beveridge (Rally UHC Cycling), Lex Albrecht (Tibco Silicon Valley Bank) and Alison Jackson (Tibco Silicon Valley Bank). Friday’s ITT champion Olivia Baril took the title in the U23 category, with her teammate Ann Pascale Ouellet taking silver and Anna Gabrielle Traxler (La Charente Maritime Women Cycling) bronze.

Riders from Quebec completely swept the podium in the Junior men’s race, with Raphael Parisella (Équipe du Québec) sprinting to victory, followed by Mathis Julien (Espoirs Élite Primeau Vélo) and Lukas Carreau (Vélo 2000/Rhino Rack). In the Para races, most of the gold medallists were former Canadian champions, including the highly-decorated tandem team of Jean-Michel Lachance and Daniel Chalifour.

Quotes
Phil Abbott, Para-cycling NextGen Coach (West): “It was nice to see such a big group of athletes race so hard over the last two days. The results we witnessed this weekend have helped us make our final selection for the Para Pan American Games that will be held in Lima later this month.”

Raphael Parisella, Junior Men: “I decided to attack with one kilometer to go and I managed to create a gap of a few seconds between myself and the other riders in the front group. I took the last turn with a head start and was able to keep them off in the final sprint. I would like to thank my teammates from Team Quebec who controlled the peloton throughout the race.”

Karol-Ann Canuel, Elite Women: “It’s really difficult tactically when you’re alone. My goal was to be patient and not wait for a sprint, because it does not benefit me personally. My strategy was to attack as much as possible and to use the other riders who were in the same situation as me. I think I attacked at the right moment and it allowed me to break away in the last kilometers. I’m so happy, I’ve been in Europe for a long time and being able to represent Canada in Europe is going to be incredible.”

Results
C4 Women: 1- Keely Shaw, 2- Marie-Claude Molnar
C4 Men: 1- Lachlan Hotchkiss
T1-2: 1- Michael Shetler, 2-Louis-Albert Corriveau-Jolin, 3- Marie-Ève Croteau
H1-5 Women & H1-2 Men: 1-Kara Douville, 2-Matthew Kinnie, 3-Christine Molnar
H3-5: 1- Mark Ledo, 2- Joey Desjardins, 3- Charles Moreau
Tandem Women : 1-Carla Shibley & Meghan Leminski, 2-Annie Bouchard & Evelyne Gagnon, 3- Robbi Weldon & Erin Rutta
Tandem Men: 1- Daniel Chalifour & Jean-Michel Lachance, 2- Lowell Taylor & Andrew Davidson, 3- Benoit Lalumière Cloutier & Maxime Vives
Junior Men: 1- Raphael Parisella, 2- Matisse Julien, 3- Lukas Carreau
U23 Women: 1- Olivia Baril, 2- Ann Pascale Ouellet 3- Anna Gabrielle Traxler
Elite Women: 1- Karol-Ann Canuel, 2- Leah Kirchmann, 3- Ariane Bonhomme

For full results and schedules, please click here.

Saint-Georges, QC (June 24, 2019) – Defending Tour de Beauce champion James Piccoli came just short of winning the title for a second year, finishing second overall, 14 seconds behind American Brendan Rhim (Arapahoe/Hincapie). Canadian Nickolas Zukowsky (Floyd’s Pro Cycling), who went into the final stage wearing the Yellow Jersey, dropped to third overall, but won the Best Young Rider jersey. Canada had five riders in the top-10 overall, with Team Canada finishing third in the team classification after 644 kilometres of racing over five days and six stages.

Piccoli was one of the strongest riders in the final stage, but wasn’t quite able to take his second title. “The last stage is very selective and hard to control. Considering how close people were to the lead it was a really open race, and we did our best. I went to the front on the final climb because the field was only ten seconds away, so we needed to keep the pressure on. Brendan had a teammate with him, so I just went to the front and rode as hard as I could but didn’t manage to drop him. I hope I did Team Canada proud this week.”

Tour de Beauce Highlights
Stage 1: Silver – Nickolas Zukowsky (Floyd’s Pro Cycling)
Stage 2: Gold – James Piccoli (Team Canada)
Stage 3: Silver – Adam Roberge (Team Canada)
Stage 4: Silver – Jordan Cheyne (Team B.C.), Bronze – Adam Jamieson (Team Canada)
Overall: Silver – James Piccoli (Team Canada), Bronze & Best young Rider – Nickolas Zukowsky (Floyd’s Pro Cycling), Best Team – Floyd’s Pro Cycling

Saint-Georges, QC (June 20, 2019) – Team Canada had a strong start to the 34th edition of the Tour de Beauce on Wednesday, with Adam Jamieson part of a race-long breakaway in the 177 kilometre stage, finishing sixth and donning the Polka Dot jersey as best climber. Fellow Canadians Nickolas Zukowsky (Floyd’s Pro Cycling) and Bruno Langlois (Brunei Continental) were also in the break, finishing second and fourth, respectively. Zukowsky wears the Best Young Rider jersey.

Jamieson, a track specialist who is racing at Beauce for the first time, won all three KoM contests to take a solid lead in the climbing competition. “That’s a tough course, but it suits me better than Saguenay did last week. I was feeling great out there until about the four hour mark [about 15 minutes before the finish]. I started to come apart a little bit coming into the finish – my cassette had loosened up and I was getting dropped on the descents. I guess that’s racing, but I’m super happy with how the day turned out.”