June 20, 2014 (St. Catharines, Ontario) – The name Josée Larocque may not be familiar with some readers but this talented, powerhouse woman has been involved with the sport for many years most notably as the better half of the management duo with Steve Bauer behind Team Spidertech p/b C10, Canada’s only UCI Continental Professional team to date. She’s also the first women to become a UCI-certified professional road team director.

With news of a new effort to launch a Canadian World Tour team rekindling Bauer’s and Larocque’s efforts we recently noticed her name on the list of nominees for the Ontario Cycling Association’s Board of Directors elections coming up next week on June 24.

A quick look at her resume revealed an interesting and varied involvement in the sport dating back to 1999 (including several we didn’t know about) so we decided to reach out to Larocque and find out what she’s been focused on recently and why she’s thrown her hat into the ring and running for election to the OCA Board of Directors.

It has been about a year and a half since the Team Spidertech Pro road team began to wind down. What has been your focus since?
Josée Larocque: It’s been nice to spend more time with family. The Pro team was a big challenge and we dedicated all of the time and energy we had to its success. Last year was a year of observation. After traveling for over ten years and working with the team and other cycling related contracts it was time to slow down and take a step back to look at the state of cycling in the province and nationally helped me to understand where the sport is going. That is something that is important for me.

I also worked on some of our Steve Bauer Bike Tours trips and brought back our Niagara tours as well. I helped Steve organize the Yellow Jersey Experience at the Centurion last September and we raised thirteen thousand dollars for the Mattamy National Cycling Centre Velodrome.

Have you always been involved in cycling?
JL: Sports have always been part of my life. I come from a very small village from the Eastern Townships in Quebec and sports were a must do in my family. There was no just sitting around and doing nothing. My parents had me in all kind of sports: skating, swimming, baseball, handball, snowshoeing, etc. I got my first 10-speed at 9 years old – a Triumph burgundy. In my neighbourhood, my friends where mostly guys and we would ride our bikes in the fields behind our houses until the new streets were put in and then new houses were built on that field. I remember, my class rode from school to my teacher’s house to go for a swim and picnic and then back to school at the end of the day. The ride was about 9-10 km.

At Cegep and University I continued to ride my bike. One summer I gave my name to volunteer for the MTB World Cup in Bromont where they hosted the World Master Championships a few weeks later. The following season as a student I worked with the same organizer, Sport Event Bromont, to host a Quebec  MTB Cup, the World Master Championships, and a UCI Golden Bike event.

The following winter at the Toronto Bike Show, I met with the marketing director of Cycles Devinci. Their team manager was looking for a guy to manage their North American Demo Tour. They were impressed with my work and decided to hire a woman instead. I went on the road all over North America for two seasons, meeting with bike shops and cycling clubs presenting the Devini demo bikes, riding with customers, racing some criteriums and MTB events, attending bike shows, doing neutral support at events at Hardwood Hills or the Tour de l’île with 25,000+ participants.

We did also some athlete support at NORBA, Mont-St-Anne World Cups, Grouse World Cup, the National Championships in Bromont and Whistler. The Demo Tour stopped after two years however it was an excellent experience for me in logistics, marketing and customer relations.

I begin to work for Expodium and directed the Montreal Bicycle Show few years and I also spent one month in California to help set up Specialized USA’s annual product launch. This was certainly an eye opener for me to see the magnitude of a world giant enterprise like Specialized. We monopolized part of the Santa Cruz university campus for the event and had a fleet of 250-plus road and MTB bikes for Specialized’s dealers and distributors from all-around the world to test ride. I have been in cycling for as long as I can remember.

You’re the first women to become UCI-certified professional road team director – a unique accomplishment. What do you feel about the role of women in cycling and who were some of your role models?
JL: Despite being a small cycling nation, we really do have many Canadian women that play an influential role in cycling at an international level and all of these women inspired me in their own way working in different sectors or performing as an athlete on the world stage.

Louise Lalonde and Josee Bedard, are two female UCI commissaires working at races around the world and are also  involved in anti-doping mandates.

Josée Robitaille, who for decades was the director, manager and “step mom” of the Trek Volkswagen Team; Gestev’s Chantal Lachance, co-founder and VP along with Lisa Linton, Senior Director Sponsorship also at Gestev for their professionalism as an event organization which has influenced the standards for the UCI MTB world cup circuit.

Our athletes like Lynne Bessette, Clara Hughes, Emily Batty, Alison Syder, Marie-Helene Premont, Kiara Bisaro have shown the world of what Canada is capable of.

Katy St-Laurent, a former pro cyclist, who had a vision and started her own cycling apparel line for women and produced here in Canada is another notable person.

I can continue to name more. There are so many women who have helped and play important roles in the build of the sport of cycling in Canada and I feel that women’s cycling is gradually gaining strength in Canada and the world. Cycling is ideally a sport for life and for all – the entire community, men, women and youth.

You most recently directed a composite team of the Real Deal Racing women’s team at the UCI Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau. What were your different experiences like with these women?
JL: After having worked with a men’s team for the past six years, this was a nice change. All of the women were very unique in their personality, but rapidly bonded together for this event of 2-3 days. We have great women cyclists, but just like the men when Steve and I took over the challenge to grow a UCI men’s continental team, there are very limited opportunities in elite programming for a woman to achieve the top level. Many women cyclists still have to carry a full-time job so they can race. Women cyclists are still fighting to get at least a quarter of what the men earn in prize money. This was quite similar 15 years ago. We have the Gatineau GP and Tour of Delta as UCI races however we don’t have the Montreal WC, Tour of PEI or Tour of Saguenay anymore. I feel that more work can be done to organize and promote women’s racing. We need to have more racing opportunities and support for ladies.

If you are elected to the OCA Board what do you hope you can achieve?
JL: I always do any job to the best of my ability and with attention to detail. First I would listen to the current Directors and members to undertand the situation and challenges they’re facing. Once this initiation period is past, I am keen to work with the Board on a strategic plan for the OCA. Currently there is not a transparent plan available for the members and I believe we should get this right. The members deserve to be able to have an action-oriented document that clearly outlines a plan of direction and the priorities of the Association.

The other area I am keen to review is youth racing and how to continue to grow this sector. Youth racing should be more affordable to ensure that the maximum number of young athletes possibile are registering and participating at races. These participants are the future of Ontario cycling and the more riders we can engage means that the future will be promising.

Thanks for your time and good luck with the election and your other endeavours.
JL: Thank you.