June 8, 2006 – Bromont, Que. promoters are presently negotiating to have all four Canadian Cycling Championships at the same site – here’s an update on this story first reported at pedalmag.com on April 30/06.

“We want to hold the Canadian Cycling Games”, says Richard Deslandes, Director for the Mondial du Vélo, which has put on many events and recently staged the MTB Canada Cup races in Bromont and Tremblant. “We have all the venues and all the human resources to make this a 12-day event,” he added.

Deslandes is right about the venue. Bromont has the National Track Training Center, as well as a super-cross trail that would be more than suitable to hold the BMX Championships. For the road nationals, the organizing committee has the experience, having staged the Canadian Road Championships in 1999. And as for the MTB Championships, the Bromont Ski Center is already in use for this type of event.

“And we plan more,” Deslandes proudly continued. “We plan to build a second BMX trail to better accommodate the competition if we get the bid. It will be a more aggressive trail, a legacy for our National Team to train on in the years after the event.”

As it often is the case with such elaborate plans, Deslandes has to get support from both sides of the fence. He is expecting a deal with the CCA some time around mid-July, which would give the committee a year to plan the event. The other side of the fence is the support from the business community in the Eastern Townships. “There is work being done in that area already”, Deslandes says. “And I am not worried about the volunteers. I know they will respond – they are as passionate as we are.”

In the meantime, Mondial du Vélo continues to organize big events. On July 9th, Bromont will host the Canadian Track Championships (Juniors and Masters), as well as the Handisport championships and the Cyclotour. On July 29th and 30th, it will host a 24-hour MTB event.

Stay tuned as Bromont gears up to become Canada’s Cycling Capital in 2007.