April 28, 2014 – Bad luck hit the junior Iamgold-Specialized Team on the road when their trailer caught fire reports the Abitibi Express. This happened Saturday morning; the team was coming back from a training camp in Virginia and was getting close to home.

“It was a complete loss; the fire took everything,” Iamgold-Specialized president Francyne Dussault told the newspaper. She notes that the trailer, bikes, luggage, uniforms, and material belonging to the team are all destroyed. Luckily, nobody was hurt.

Seven of the team members were on the trip, together with two cadets from the Club cycliste d’Amos. The cause of the fire, which happened near the town of Maniwaki, remains unknown.

“Many people have already offered to lend us bikes so that our cyclists can continue their training and we are very grateful for this. We are also going to contact Specialized to see if we can rapidly obtain new bikes… and we’re also going to have to order new jerseys,” explained Dussault.

Although Iamgold-Specialized has insurance, the deductibles are high and the team is appealing for donations in order to replace lost equipment. Pedal is in touch with Iamgold officials and will provide this info for readers asap – pls stay tuned for updates…

The team’s next races are May 4 in Brossard and May 10 in Granby.

Iamgold-Specialized Men’s squad:
– Samuel Périgny (returning)
– Olivier Proulx-Fournier (returning)
– Jean-François Soucy (new recruit)
– Mathieu Roy (new recruit)
– Charles Roy (new recruit)

Iamgold-Specialized Women’s squad:
– Noémie Armstrong (returning)
– Roxane Boucher (new recruit)
– Olivia Baril (new recruit)
– Laurence Beaumier (new recruit)

Abitibi Express article (in French) here.