January 25, 2007 – The directors of the Vallée de l’aluminium (EVA-Devinci) team officially launched their various squads (male and female junior teams and male senior team) yesterday in Saguenay (which recently merged with Chicoutimi). About 300 people were present for the Second Salon industriel de la Société de la Vallée de l’aluminium (Industrial Exhibition of the Aluminum Valley Society).

There was a festive atmosphere and the 2007 EVA-Devinci team launch was attended by notable Canadian road cycling officials. Rémi Bérubé, Competition Coordinator at the Canadian Cycling Association (CCA), Louis Barbeau, director of the Fédération des sports cyclistes du Québec (FQSC) and Daniel Manibal, well-known cycling event organizer, warmly welcomed the new cycling team from Quebec’s Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region.

EVA-Devinci 2007 was introduced by a 90-second video showing the team colours (orange, grey and black), where the team will be racing in 2007, followed by proud coverage of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region.

The team chose to launch at this industrial exhibition to show off the industrial vocation of the region, and the strong production of aluminum there. One of the team founders, triathlete Pierre Lavoie, presented an honorary team captain jersey to Don McMillan, VP of Technology at Alcan.

With background techno music, stage lighting and smoke, the first cyclists presented by the technical director, Alexandre Lavallée, were Éric Boily, a local talent, and Raphaëlle Chrétien, a promising junior rider in 2006.

EVA-Devinci is one of the rare cycling teams in Canada to have both junior and senior squads. In total, the team has 15 cyclists, eight of whom are seniors.

Apart from Éric Boily, on whom EVA-Devinci has high hopes, team riders include Raphaël Tremblay, Frédéric Boivin and Charles Thibeault, from the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, as well as Mathieu Toulouse, Mathieu Roy, Joël Dion-Poitras and Bruno Langlois.

With these eight cyclists, Alexandre Lavallée, believes that the team will have a great season in 2007.

The junior male team includes Stéphane Cossette (2006 Canadian junior track sprint champion), Simon Brassard, Lenny Dion and David Maltais. The junior female team includes Janie Fortin, Gabrielle Duchesne and Raphaëlle Chrétien

EVA-Devinci, which now holds a UCI continental license, will hold its first training camp in Georgia this February. The team expects to start racing in Brazil, in March.

The local business reacted very positively to the team presentation. The team management hopes that this will translate into the necessary financial support to realize the team’s agenda. EVA-Devinci is supported by local companies such as Alcan, Desjardins Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean (regional credit unions), Devinci, Pearl Izumi, and other small and medium-sized companies.