June 2, 2006 – National Cycling Centre riders have been on a roll since the Victoria Day weekend when Olympian Ryder Hesjedal finished fourth overall in the Volta a Catalunya, an important stage race in Spain. Whether on the road or on the trail, a number of riders produced some great performances over the weekend, both here on the Island and abroad.

A quick glace summary of the results for PacificSport NCC riders is included below.

Locally in Victoria, PacificSport’s power was felt at the Cardinal Law Sooke Classic Road race (#3 in the FloraGLO BC Cup) on Saturday with Christian Meier and Derek McMaster breaking away with three-time Olympian Eric Wohlberg to finish a close one-two-three — only 12 seconds apart. The second pack to finish included other National Cycling Centre riders — Svein Tuft, 10th, Rob Britton, 13th, and Trevor Connor, 18th. The women’s event saw Claire Cameron, Mandy Poitras and Melanie McQuaid take 3rd, 4th and 6th respectively.

At Sunday’s Bastion Square Criterium Meier and Tuft pulled together with Symmetrics teammates, and Canadian time trial champ Tuft lapped the pack on his way to a second place finish. McMaster hung in for 9th and also earned himself a La-Z-y Boy recliner as Victoria’s top male in the downtown criterium. In a close women’s race, Poitras made the podium again in 2nd with Cameron 6th and McQuaid 8th.

In Montreal, Erinne Willock hit the road for a high caliber women’s World Cup that included 11 climbs up Mount Royale. The Victoria native proved she’s among Canada’s best and that her work with NCC Head coach Houshang Amiri is paying off.

“This year’s race was tougher than the past couple years,” Amiri said, “results were promising”.

Kris Westwood, High Performance Director for the Canadian Cycling Association, added “The women’s World Cup in Montreal was a great race for the spectators this year, and Canadian athletes stepped up to fill the void left by Lyne Bessette’s retirement. Erinne Willock confirmed she is a world-class athlete and Sue Palmer-Komar’s ride shows she still can compete with the best.”

The CCA announced today that Willock has been chosen to be part of the team that will represent Canada at the Pan American road and track championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 4-11. Willock is scheduled for the road race and time trial.

Other NCC riders included for the Pan American championships include: Matt Barlee, track sprint, Mandy Poitras, track endurance and road race, Svein Tuft, track endurance, time trial and road race.

Off the road, PacificSport mountain bike women Alison Sydor and Kiara Bisaro were braving the cold rain and high winds in Scotland at the Fort William World Cup. Sydor placed 13th, Bisaro 15th, while the men, Seamus McGrath and Geoff Kabush finished 18th and 46th respectively.

Closer to home in the Canada Cup circuit, coach Amiri liked how his up-and-coming mountain bikers were fairing at the recent Mt Tremblant (#2) and Bromont (#1) races, most notably Max Plaxton, two-time World relay team champion, who is undefeated in the senior elite men, and finished with solid victory margins. Other NCC riders finished strong — Neal Kindree, first year U23, took two fourths, while Roddi Lega was 7th (Mt Tremblant) and 18th (Bromont), and Brendan MacIntosh 13th (Mt Tremblant) and 27th (Bromont).