March 25, 2013 – Quebec’s U23 Men’s road team is in Belgium to get a jump on the season and compete in European races. The five cyclists involved arrived in Belgium on March 18 and will be there until April 2 according to Veloptimum.

This is apparently the second time that this has happened with a previous experience in 2011 as part of the U23 – Un jour Pro-Tour (U23 – One day ProTour) program. Currently there is still deep snow on the ground in “La Belle Province”.

FQSC road, track and para-cycling head coach Pascal Choquette indicates that the objective of this program is to give young Quebec riders the greatest possible exposure to European races and help ensure their development. This endeavour will also help in the preparation of selection of cyclists for the Quebec team at the Coupe des Nations. To date, Pierrick Naud has had the best results of the group.

The U23 Riders:
• Jordan Brochu
• Antoine Duchesne (2012 Canadian U-23 champ)
• Simon-Pierre Gauthier
• Pierrick Naud
• Yohan Patry

Races (Kermesses) on the program:
• 20 March: Esplechin 1.12          – where Naud finished 24th – results HERE.
• 23 March: Avaing 1.13                – where Naud finished 8th – results HERE.
• 24 March: Beloeil 1.12                – where Naud finished 21st – results HERE.
• 30 March: Amay 1.12
• 31 March: Florennes 1.12
• April 1: Bury 1.12 or Hannut 1.12

This project would never have been possible without the financial support of Groupe Serdy, which is also the organizer of the WorldTour races in Québec City and Montréal.

Read more in French HERE.