August 19, 2009 (Summerside, PEI) – There was no race scheduled for Wednesday so the cycling teams headed to the road race and criterium courses for short training rides. Both routes use the same start-finish area in downtown Summerside. Even though it was only training the friendly Summerside community cheered on the riders as they passed.

On Thursday, August 20 the women’s 80km road race starts at 1:00 pm and the men’s 120km race starts at 4:30 pm. Huge crowds are expected to line the course on Harbour Drive over looking Summerside Harbour.

The battle for overall Provincial and Territory ranking is close in both the women’s and men’s categories. The overall ranking will add another strategic dimension to the race with team managers not only going for the road race win but also trying to maximize their team’s points by getting the best possible placing for their top three riders.

Below are the current standings after the mountain bike and time trial cycling events earlier this week.

Overall Team Standings

Men (XC – ITT) Total Points

1. QC (275 – 270) 545
2. BC (248 – 272) 520
3. ON (228 – 227) 455
4. AB (234 – 185) 419
5. SK (202 – 181) 383
6. MB (206 – 173) 379
7. NS (148 – 200) 348
8. NB (198 – 149) 347
9. YK (121 – 142) 263
10. PE (195 – 51) 246
11. NL (156 – 0) 156

Women (XC – ITT) Total Points

1. ON (274 – 264) 538
2. QC (262 – 273) 535
3. BC (222 – 251) 473
4. MB (228 – 200) 428
5. AB (224 – 193) 417
6. SK (193 – 197) 390
7. YK (187 – 165) 352
8. NB – 132 – 173) 305
9. NL (64 – 50) 114
PE (0 – 0) 0
NS (0 – 0) 0