November 15, 2012 (Victoriaville, QC) – The Quebec Cycling Federation (FQSC) awards and presentations were held on Sunday, Nov. 11 at the Hôtel Le Victorin following the AGM on the previous day and about 300 people were on hand for the annual affair. Among those being honoured with awards were Serge Arsenault’s GP Cycliste de Quebec and Montreal, Senior Men’s road cyclist Hugo Houle, Senior Women’s road rider Joelle Numainville, Senior Women’s MTB rider Marie-Helene Premont, Paracyclist Marie-Claude Molnar and many others.

Jacques Landry, now Director, High Performance and Head Coach with Cycling Canada, was inducted into the FQSC Hall of Fame along with Michael Belcourt and Alain Levasseur.

After a modest beginning in the junior category in 1984, Landry demonstrated the extent of his talent when making his entry among the juniors. A specialist in ITTs, he won the Quebec title two years in a row and at his last season garnered him the title of “junior athlete of the year” in Quebec.

His transition to the senior ranks in 1988 was impressive as he won three Quebec titles (RR, ITT, and TTT) and was selected to the national team for the Grand Prix of the Americas, a race reserved almost exclusively for professional cyclists.

Landry remained a member of the Canadian team throughout his pro cycling career. From 1989 to 1991 he signed with a French cycling team to start the season in Europe in 1992. His stage win in the Tour of Italian and 23rd place overall at the Week Bergamasque earned him a berth to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where he finished 62nd in the RR.

From 1993 to 1996, Landry divided his time between Europe and Quebec, bring home several international victories including the Tour of Flanders (1993), the Grand Prix of Nations (amateur in 1994), Tour de Beauce (1994) and a stage of the Tour North IZERE (1996).

At the national level he figured on all Canadian National ITT podiums between 1995 and 1998, and picked up the bronze in the RR (1995). To these honours, he adds Canadian TTT gold (1990).

After retiring at the end of the 1998 season, Landry remained involved in cycling, first as national coach on the road with the Canadian Cycling Association (CCA) from 1998 to 2003. Then he left for New Zealand, where he took on the role of coach of the national road team from 2004 to 2008, as well as coach in the individual and team pursuit in 2008. He finally returned to Canada and was named Director of High Performance and Head Coach at Cycling Canada, a position he still holds.

Landry spoke about how watching cycling at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics inspired him to first take up the sport. His first racing bike was a green and yellow Marinoni and his parents insisted that he pay for it himself. It was a real treat to see Giuseppe Marinoni himself up on the stage for an award of distinction that he shared with five others.

A former racer from the 1970s who has been manufacturing high end racing bikes under his own name for decades, Marinoni had a surprise for the audience announced by MC, Randy Fergusson. Apparently Marinoni celebrated turning 75 this year by establishing a new world speed record in September at a velodrome in Brescia, Italy for men aged 75+ years – he achieved a distance of 35.728km in one hour.

Marinoni did this on the same bike he crafted for Jocelyn Lovell – a Canadian cycling icon of the 1970s – some 35 years ago. In fact, Lovell won ITT silver at the Track World Championships on the very same bike in 1978.

Also inducted into the Hall of Fame were Michael Belcourt (athlete) and Alain Levasseur (builder). Belcourt was a road and track cyclist from 1984-1992, with many podiums over that period. In 1989 he rode for the Evian team and held the Quebec ITT and TTT titles. Levasseur, meanwhile, presided over the Dynamiks de Contrecoeur bike club where 450 young cyclists have ridden since 1976. Some 16 Quebec champions in RR and track have come from this one club that was founded by Levasseur’s father.

Marie-Claude Molnar was honoured as an excellent paracyclist. This was based on her 2012 Paralympic bronze won in the ITT in London as well as a brilliant World Cup performances and two bronze medals won on the track at the Los Angeles World Championships.

Hugo Houle (SpiderTech p/b C10) was honoured as an upcoming men’s cyclist after his ITT win at the Canadian nationals including a stellar 4th place in the U23 Men’s RR and 13th in the U23 Men’s ITT at the 2012 Road Worlds. Also honoured with this award were Gaby Malenfant in BMX and Leandre Bouchard in mountain biking.

Joelle Numainville (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit) was among those honoured for being an exceptional women’s cyclist (road and track).  She was very happy with her performances this year, finishing 12th at the London Olympics and 13th at the Road Worlds. Numainville mentioned that it was sometimes difficult to balance cycling with her studies at Université de Québec à Montréal where she hopes to finish her B.Sc in Administration this year. Also honoured with the same award were Sarah Biron in BMX and the legendary Marie-Helene Premont in mountain biking.

The star-studded affair was a big success although some of the biggest names in Quebec cycling were not present – among those absent were: Lyne Bessette (injury), Clara Hughes (off to Rwanda), Genevieve Ouellet, Premont (in school), Emilie Roy, and David Veilleux (his Dad accepted his award).

For the complete list of awards click HERE.