April 29, 2008 (Montreal, QC) — The Fédération québécoise des sports cyclistes (FQSC) held dual press conferences late last week (on Thursday, April 25) in Quebec City and in Montreal announcing plans for the 2008 season. Under the banner of “Roulez gagnants,” the FQSC’s educational anti-doping program, three speakers from the FQSC spoke about Quebec events planned for 2008, Quebec’s top and upcoming cyclists, and programs to recruit more people into cycling. The conference also provided a sneak preview of Canada’s potential Olympic cycling team.

Among those attending the conference in Montreal were paracyclist Rico Morneau, David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medfast), and various event organizers. Notably absent were major media representatives from Montreal. FQSC Director general Louis Barbeau joked that “hockey fever” (the Montreal Canadiens are in the playoffs for the Stanley Cup) was diverting the attention of Montreal-based sports writers, but that soon “bicycle fever” would take over…

With Barbeau at the conference table were Sylvain Richard (the FQSC coordinator for road, track, and paracycling) and Bruno Vachon (coordinator for BMX and paracycling), both of whom have recently assumed their new roles at the FQSC.

Barbeau spoke first, explaining why “bicycle fever” may indeed sweep la belle province, which he described as “the mecca of cycling in North America.” Indeed, an incredible 342 events are organized under the FQSC this year – almost two per day over the six-month season. This total includes 139 road, 113 mountain bike (MTB), 10 track, 56 BMX, 7 cyclo-cross, 11 paracycling and 6 recreational cycling events. Twelve of these are international events, including two MTB world cups (Mont Ste. Anne from July 26-27 and Bromont from Aug. 2-3 for XCO, DH & 4X), the May 2-4 Defi Sportif paracycling competition in Montreal, the May 31 Montreal Women’s Road World Cup, the U23 Nations Cup in Saguenay from June 5-8, the June 10-15 Tour de Beauce, the July 25-29 Tour de l’Abitibi and the Tour de Quebec from September 4-7.

Barbeau, who as also the President of the UCI Para-cycling Commission is going to Beijing himself as a UCI official for the September 6-17, 2008 Paralympics Games, also put much emphasis on Quebec athletes who might end up on the Olympic team. As reported earlier, the CCA is expected to announce the Canada’s Beijing roster for the Olympics on June 15.

Canada will be sending two male mountain bike riders and two female mountain bike riders to Beijing for the cross-country events there. Marie-Hélène Prémont (Rocky Mountain-Haywood) is virtually assured of a spot on the Canadian MTB team, and that Mathieu Toulouse (Maxxis) could be a contender. Barbeau added that Premont, 31, will probably retire from cycling after the Olympics.

Regarding Canada’s two track cyclists going to Beijing, Barbeau repeated the still unofficial news that Canada will be sending two non-Quebecers, Gina Grain (Webcor) and Zach Bell (Symmetrics) to Beijing, but added that there might be a third spot opening up for the Madison which could go to Martin Gilbert (Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast).

The three spots on the Canadian men’s road team are still up for grabs and a handful Quebec riders are contenders, including Charles Dionne (Successful Living), Dominique Perras (Kelly Benefits Strategy/Medifast), Francois Parisien (Symmetrics), and Dominique Rollin (Toyota-United). The women’s team will likely consist of three riders (recent performances have increased Canada’s ranking) to Beijing with Anne Samplonius (Cheerwine) being the only contender from Quebec.

No BMX riders from Quebec will be going to Beijing this summer.

The Paracycling team will include eight spots for the Sept 7-14 paracycling events in Beijing. The sport now includes hand cycling (for those with leg disabilities), tandem cycling (where visually-impaired cyclists are twinned with seeing pilots), and tricycle/adapted bicycle racing (for cerebral palsy patients). Among those contending for spots on the national team are: Jean Quevillon (cerebral — CP3), Eric Bourgault (amputee — LC2), Mark Breton (amputee — LC1), Rico Morneau (paraplegic hand cyclist — HCB), Mark Beggs (HCB), as well as the tandems (where visually-impaired cyclists are twinned with seeing pilots), including Stéphane Côté — Pierre-Olivier Boily (tandem pair), Daniel Chalifour — Alexandre Cloutier (tandem pair), and Geneviève Ouellet — Mathilde Hupin (tandem pair). Barbeau mentioned before his speech that it is more difficult to recruit women paracyclists for such events.

Richard spoke after Barbeau, naming upcoming Quebec road cyclists of note including Eric Boily (Team VW), Joelle Numainville (GSD Gestion), Karol Ann Canuel (Specialized-Carrefour-Multisports), David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medfast), Keven Lacombe (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast), and Simon Lambert-Lemay (Hot Tubes).

Among mountain bikers he noted Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain), Andreanne Pichette (Opus/OGC), Francis Morin (Devinci), and junior rider Hans Lambert (Norco). Track stars included Lawrence Leroux, Stephane Cossette (EVA-Devinci), and Laurie Ann Dupont (CIBC Wood Gundy), while top BMX’rs included Sarah Biron, Pascale Rousseau, Hugo Leduc-Benoît and Michaël Beaudoin

Richard noted that Quebec riders are well represented in the various disciplines on the national team, and compose 80% of the paracylcing team.

Vachon touched on the subject of recruitment. He brought down the house with laughter as he tried find a way to politely say that Quebec’s paracyclists tend to be older than cyclists in other disciplines. Vachon also talked about an educational caravan the FQSC sends to schools, trying to recruit more cyclists into the competitive events, measures to increase safety for cyclists, and efforts to increase the number of suitable BMX tracks in Quebec from the current 12.