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PIER-ANDRÉ CÔTÉ WINS TWO CONSECUTIVE STAGES AT GRAND PRIX CYCLISTE SAGUENAY

Chicoutimi, QC (June 16, 2019) – Canadian riders swept the podium on Saturday, in Stage 3 of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Saguenay, with Pier-Andre Cote of Team Canada taking his second straight victory. Evan Burtnik (X-Speed United) finished second and Emile Jean (Floyd’s Pro Cycling) took third. Canadian rider Nickolas Zukowsky (Floyd’s Pro Cycling) continues to lead the overall standings by 11 seconds after finishing fourth, with Adam Roberge (Team Canada) holding onto third in the general classification. Zukowsky also holds the Green (Points) and White (Best Young Rider) jerseys.

“Our men’s track endurance riders were really super today with good team work,” said Kevin Field, Directeur Sportif for Team Canada. “Zukowsky is riding really solid and taking a lot of time bonuses, so we are seeing some strong overall Under-23 rider performances at this tour.”

“Today was another stellar day for Cycling Canada with another victory,” said Cote. “The goal was to protect Adam’s GC position, since there wasn’t a lot to gain today, and we know that tomorrow might be a savage day. I managed to grab a few seconds on the stage and we were able to finish it off thanks to [teammate] Derek Gee, who was in the breakaway and forced Floyd’s to chase.”

June 16, 2019/by Communications

CANADIANS DOMINATE STAGE 2 OF GRAND PRIX CYCLISTE SAGUENAY

Chicoutimi, QC (June 15, 2019) – Team Canada finished 1-2 on Friday at Stage 2 of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Saguenay, while another Canadian rider donned three out of four jerseys.

Team Canada’s Pier-Andre Cote won the 156 kilometre second stage, finishing eight seconds ahead of teammate Adam Roberge. Canadians also took fourth with Ryan Roth (X-Speed United) and fifth with Nickolas Zukowsky (Floyd’s Pro Cycling). Zukowsky took the overall lead in the race, as well as leading both the Point and the Best Young Rider competitions.

“We’re pretty happy about today after a bad day yesterday,” said Cote. “The four track guys who aren’t specialists in road racing did a super job, managing to put me in a situation where I could get in a breakaway with Emile Jean [Floyd’s Pro Cycling]. We were away for 15 kilometres before the final climb and I managed to stay away to the finish and win the race. Adam was set up perfectly because he didn’t have to [chase] and took second, so we are really stoked about today.”

June 16, 2019/by Communications

TEAM CANADA ROSTERS REVEALED FOR SAGUENAY & BEAUCE

Ottawa, ON (June 12, 2019) – Cycling Canada has announced the teams that will race in Canadian colours over the next two weeks at the internationally sanctioned men’s stage races Grand Prix Cycliste de Saguenay (June 13-16) and Tour de Beauce (June 19-23). These UCI 2.2 level events are the only men’s internationally sanctioned stage races in Canada, and offer the opportunity to collect valuable ranking points for Canada.

For both events, Team Canada will include a core roster of Derek Gee, Adam Jamieson and Adam Roberge. In Saguenay, they will be joined by Chris Ernst, Jay Lamoureux and Pier-Andre Cote. Jack Burke was also named to the team but had to withdraw due to injury. In Beauce, Gee, Jamieson and Roberge will be joined by defending champion James Piccoli, as well as Michael Foley, Charles-Etienne Chretien and Laurent Gervais.

“We have three goals for these projects,” said Kevin Field, Directeur Sportif for the projects. “First, build fitness for our men’s endurance squad during the Olympic campaign build. Second, provide Worlds qualification opportunities for key road U23 men who are not racing at these events with their trade teams. And, finally, support James in an effort to repeat Team Canada’s 2018 success at Beauce.”

Matt Jeffries, Cycling Canada’s Executive Director, added, “Cycling Canada’s ability to field teams at races like Saguenay and Beauce has been made possible in the past few seasons by increased collaboration with the FQSC [Fédération québecoise des sports cyclistes]. We’re grateful for this active support and it is reflective of the direction the organization is moving toward.”

“During the Tour de Beauce, Kevin [Field] will also be delivering practical instruction to developing coaches from Team BC. This is an extension of instructional work recently delivered at two advancement camps in Penticton (BC) and Milton (ON). Additional initiatives to work more closely with the provinces are currently being developed.”

Team Canada Roster (* Under-23)

Grand Prix Cycliste de Saguenay
Pier-Andre Cote * – St-Henri-de-Lévis, QC
Chris Ernst * – Kitchener, ON
Derek Gee * – Ottawa, ON
Adam Jamieson – Barrie, ON
Jay Lamoureux – Victoria, BC
Adam Roberge * – Montreal, QC
Jack Burke – Squamish, BC [Injured]

Tour de Beauce
Charles-Etienne Chretien * – Amos, QC
Michael Foley * – Milton, ON
Derek Gee * – Ottawa, ON
Laurent Gervais * – Montreal, QC
Adam Jamieson – Barrie, ON
James Piccoli – Montreal, QC
Adam Roberge * – Montreal, QC

June 12, 2019/by Communications

LEAH KIRCHMANN WINS GPC GATINEAU FOR THE SECOND TIME

Gatineau, QC (June 7, 2019) – Team Canada’s Leah Kirchmann won the UCI-sanctioned Grand Prix Cycliste de Gatineau road race on Thursday, beating out fellow Canadian Allison Beveridge (Rally UHC) and American Kristabel Doebel-Hicock (Rally UHC) in a hard-fought sprint after 104 kilometres of racing through the Gatineau national park. Leah Kirchmann had previously won the road race in 2017 with Team Canada.

“It is a really hard finish,” said Kirchmann, “you come off of the ramp and then it’s a really long drag to the line. My team mates controlled it well for me to set up the sprint. Rally was attacking hard in the last two laps, so we had our work cut out for us. It was really a drag race against Allison and I was happy to come out on top.”

June 7, 2019/by Communications

KIRCHMANN TO LEAD TEAM CANADA AT GRAND PRIX CYCLISTE DE GATINEAU

Ottawa, ON (June 4, 2019) – European-based professional Leah Kirchmann will lead the team of six riders that will wear Team Canada colours at the internationally sanctioned Grand Prix Cycliste de Gatineau on June 6-7. The GPC Gatineau is the only UCI-sanctioned women’s competition in Canada, consisting of a road race and a time trial.

Former world champion Kirchmann, who has already appeared on the podium this season in Belgium and won the Gatineau road race in 2017, will be joined by 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Georgia Simmerling, as well as Marie-Soleil Blais, Maggie Coles-Lyster, Holly Simonson and Magdeleine Vallieres-Mill. Karol-Ann Canuel and Simone Boilard were initially selected, but had to decline due to injuries.

“I’ve led teams at Gatineau four times since 2014 for a total of six podiums, including winning the road race twice,” said Team Director Kevin Field. “I think we have a strong team and a great chance to do well as Team Canada.”

Team Canada

Leah Kirchmann – Winnipeg, MB
Marie-Soleil Blais – Montreal, QC
Magdeleine Vallieres-Mill – Sherbrooke, QC
Georgia Simmerling – Vancouver, BC
Maggie Coles-Lyster – Maple Ridge, BC
Holly Simonson – Victoria, BC

June 4, 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

WOODS TAKES BRONZE MEDAL AND CAPS SUCCESSFUL ROAD WORLDS FOR CANADA

Innsbruck, Austria (September 30, 2018) – Mike Woods became the first Canadian man in 34 years to win a medal in the Elite men’s road race at the world championships on Sunday in Innsbruck, Austria, when he took the bronze medal in a four rider sprint. Steve Bauer is the only other Canadian man to win a medal – also bronze – in 1984, in Barcelona. Alejandro Valverde of Spain won the title, with Romain Bardet of France taking silver.

It has likely been the strongest Road Worlds ever for Canada, with riders finishing with two bronze medals, a fourth, two fifths, a sixth and an eighth. In addition, Canadian riders were on Team Time Trial squads that won silver and bronze. In the nation rankings, Canada finished a remarkably strong fourth, behind the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium, but ahead of cycling powerhouses such as Australia, France, Denmark and Spain.

“This performance by Mike was absolutely amazing,” said Louis Barbeau, Team Manager for the world championships. “It concludes an equally amazing world championships, where Canada had tremendous success. It started off on a very good note with the Junior women’s time trial [fifth for Simone Boilard], the Elite women’s time trial [fourth by Leah Kirchmann and eighth from Karol-Ann Canuel], and the Junior women’s road race [bronze medal for Boilard]. And then Mike’s bronze medal, the first in the [Elite men’s] road race since 1984.”

The 258 kilometre men’s race had the most climbing in recent memory, finishing with a three kilometre climb that reached a maximum gradient of 28% before dropping back down to the finish line in the center of Innsbruck.

Canada’s Rob Britton was a member of an early 11 rider breakaway that took a massive 20 minute lead before the rest of the peloton began to reel them in. Britton was out in the break for nearly 200 kilometres before being caught, eventually finishing 76th.

“It was important for us to get in the break and that was my plan from the get-go,” explained Britton. “I tried to conserve energy the best that I could, so I could be there until the end to help Mike. We’re a small cycling country, but we used our riders the best we could, with Hugo and Antoine taking care of Mike, and myself in the break. I got caught on a brutal section of the second last climb and couldn’t go with them. For sure, this was the hardest day of bike racing I have ever done.”

For the main field, the race became one of attrition, as more and more riders were dropped on each of the seven laps of the 7.5 kilometre climb. Woods remained calm and protected in the field by team mates Antoine Duchesne and Hugo Houle, and stayed near the front as the field gradually shrank.

On the final lap, the race was quickly pared down to Woods, Valverde, Bardet and Gianni Moscon (Italy). Woods was clearly the dominant rider on the climb, moving to the front and setting the pace. He dropped Moscon, but could not shake Valverde and Bardet, and the three went over the top of the climb together, chased by Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands), less than 10 seconds behind. The trio reached the bottom of the descent ahead of Dumoulin, but the Dutch rider joined them with 1500 metres to go. Valverde led out the sprint, with Woods and Bardet both on his wheel as Dumoulin faded. Less than 100 metres from the line, Woods was hit by leg cramps and had to ease up, holding on for third.

“I was hoping I could do as well as Steve has done in the past, and get Canadians inspired to ride bikes,” said Woods. “I felt confident and pretty excited about the course, especially when we did recon – that final climb suited me. After a couple of hours on the bike, I started to think ‘yeah, this is going to be a good day’. On those types of climbs [extremely steep], the draft is irrelevant, so it’s better to just dictate the pace. You might as well put the hurt on others instead of them putting the hurt on you.”

“I was confident in my sprint, but unfortunately I got cramped up with only 50 metres to go and couldn’t keep the momentum up. There was a bit of disappointment; I wanted to win and I think I could have won if I didn’t cramp up. Certainly, this has been the best season of my career; these late results are a product of me losing my son … having Hunter pass away this summer really motivated me to train my butt off and do something big for him and my wife.”

September 30, 2018/by Communications

CANUEL SIXTH IN WORLDS ROAD RACE

Innsbruck, Austria (September 29, 2018) – Canadian women had one of their strongest performances in two decades on Saturday in the Elite women’s road race at the Road World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria. Karol-Anne Canuel finished sixth after challenging for a bronze medal, Sara Poidevin came back from a crash to finish 14th, and Leah Kirchmann finished 25th, to put three Canadians in the top-25. Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands won the world title in a solo breakaway.

The 155.6 kilometre race began in Kufstein with an 80 kilometre run into the final 24 kilometre circuit in Innsbruck, which the women rode three times. At the 60 kilometre mark, the riders faced the first significant climb of the day, the Gnadenwald, however, a crash on the early portion of the climb took down Poidevin, along with time trial world champion Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands. Poidevin made it back to the bunch, joining Alison Jackson, Kirchmann and Canuel.

Anna van der Breggen attacked on the second lap and powered away to win her first world title ahead of Australia’s Amanda Spratt. Behind, Canuel powered a chase with Tatiana Guderzo (Italy), who broke clear to win the bronze medal, while Canuel sprinted for fourth with Emilia Fahlin (Sweden) and Malgorzata Jasinska (Poland), finishing sixth.

“It was a long race and hard,” said Canuel, who was eighth earlier in the week in the time trial and won silver in the Team Time Trial. “I had trouble following attacks, but I could hold my pace. In the last climb I was able to get away with two other girls, and it worked for me to get my best [Worlds road race] result.”

“This was my first Elite Worlds road race,” said Poidevin. “I got unlucky with the crash, but I was with two really strong Dutch riders, so I knew their team would keep the pace slow in the pack and I was able to chase back conservatively, and try not to burn too many matches getting back to the group. There were a lot of attacks on the climb and it was super fast on the descent, so I just tried to position myself well, with lots of help from my team mates. I’m just happy to come away with a good result.”

Zach Bell, manager for the women’s race, said “We started today with a lot of good options for different parts of the course. After some hiccups with a crash early on, the team did great damage control. Sara [Poidevin] did well to climb with front group, and Karol-Ann and Leah did great work on the circuit to take advantage of tactical moves. The whole team rode at a world class level, and Karol-Ann finished it off with a great aggressive move. Anna [van der Breggen] was just so strong today, and a big congrats to her. Overall, I think this is a big step for Canada, and a clear demonstration that our women are at a world class level on the most challenging courses.”

September 29, 2018/by Communications

BOILARD WINS BRONZE MEDAL IN JUNIOR WOMEN’S ROAD RACE AT WORLDS

Innsbruck, Austria (September 27, 2018) – Simone Boilard of Quebec City won Canada’s first medal of the 2018 Road World Championships in Innsbruck, Austria, on Thursday in the Junior women’s road race, finishing third in a four rider sprint for the title. It is Canada’s first medal in the Junior women’s category since Clare Hall-Patch of Victoria also won bronze in 2000 – the year Boilard was born.

The 71.7 kilometre race featured two long climbs that split the field. Both times, Boilard, the Canadian time trial champion, was among the leaders. While much of the field regrouped after the first climb, the second one saw multiple attacks that whittled the lead group down to three – Boilard, Laura Stigger (Austria) and Barbara Malcotti (Italy). Boilard was dropped by the other two a couple of times on the long descent, but always fought back to the leaders. Coming into the final two kilometres, Marie Le Net (France) bridged across, making four for the final sprint. Stigger, who recently won the mountain bike world title, attacked with 100 metres to go, holding off Le Net at the line, with Boilard coming in at the same time for third.

“I was happy with my ride in the time trial [where she finished fifth], but I knew I could do better,” said Boilard, “so I really wanted this medal today. Stigger’s attack was really decisive, and I saw the Italian following her, and I thought, ‘this is it, I have to push’. I had to push really hard to catch them because it was a big gap to close. So it was three of us and then the French girl came back, and I thought ‘I want a medal so I have to do something’. I was cramping, but I gave everything I had to win this medal.

In other Canadian results, Magdeleine Vallieres Mill was 38th, despite riding with a broken thumb from a crash in the time trial, Kaitlyn Rauwerda was 48th and Elizabeth was 73^rd.

September 27, 2018/by Communications