August 22, 2016 (Montreal, QC) – Former Canadian road champ, Guillaume Boivin (Cycling Academy), recently injured his knee and consequently will miss the 2016 Tour of Alberta according to his Facebook posts. Boivin does, however, hope to be on the start line at the WorldTour races in Quebec City and Montreal (GPCQM) in September. He previously took a bad fall at the GP Cycliste de Saguenay in June and broke his collarbone.

“After a painful fall during the GPC de Saguenay and a rehabilitation period where I invested myself 100% every day, I was ready to go for broke at the end of the season. Unfortunately, bad luck struck again. During a sprint workout, I was victim of a mechanical problem that made me crash seriously. Apart from road rash, my right knee absorbed the 53 teeth (of my gears). The stitches will remain in place until August 27, making my participation at the Tour of Alberta almost impossible.

“I hope to return quickly from the injury and to be able to prove that I have earned my place on the start line of the GP Cycliste Montreal and the GP Cycliste Quebec City and the Road World Championships.

As the Olympics have been teaching us now for almost two weeks, we should never give up and we should keep fighting until the end. …,” reads his FB page.

Boivin, 27, was the 2015 road champion (he also won that title in 2009). He distinguished himself this year at the Tour of Croatia on Stage 1 getting a breakaway and capturing the KOM jersey. In 2015 he won bronze in the men’s 165km road race at the Toronto Pan Am Games and the same year won the Stage 3b Criterium at the Tour de Beauce.

At the 2015 Road Worlds in Virginia fans were thrilled to see him in a late race break with Taylor Phinney (BMC) and two others that was caught with about 40km to go.

Boivin was with Cannondale in 2014 and Optum p/b KBS in 2015 but had difficulty finding another team until he signed with Israeli-based Cycling Academy for 2016. He won the Beit Guvrin race in Israel on February 13.

The 2016 Tour of Alberta stage race runs from September 1-5 while the 2016 GPCQM will race in Quebec City on Sept. 9 and in Montreal on Sept. 11.

Pedal joins the cycling community in wishing him a speedy recovery.