February 28, 2009 – The Canadian Cycling Association has decided not to hold a spring competition project in Europe for the U23 athletes. Most U23 targeted athletes have declined the CCA’s offer to participate in the few rounds of the Nations Cup in Europe, including the Tour of Flanders in Belgium on April 11th. Several of these athletes are on trade teams and already have a full racing calendar; others are held back by school obligations and cannot abstain from these obligations for long periods of time. Finally, the fact that it was a self-funded project by the athletes themselves also limited the participation of a few.

The CCA would also like to thank all those who took the time to respond to the U23 project survey. This helped to develop a profile of many of our U23 riders in addition to their intentions in the short, medium and long term.

We also noted that many athletes currently enjoy the services offered by the various stakeholders such as provincial teams, teams/clubs or centers. The CCA recognizes that it has a role to play in the development of the riders and is willing to put a project on foot if necessary. However, the precise role of the CCA needs to be clearly defined. This will help determine how the CCA can better serve our athletes. We will therefore move the discussion a little further in the coming months on the role of the CCA in development projects with the financial conditions that we all know.

Finally, the CCA will maintain the Nations Cup in Saguenay. This project will be funded by the athletes. We will also maintain a pre- World Championships preparation project, and this will be funded by the athletes as well. The criteria for selection of these projects will be announced in the coming weeks.