October 30, 2007. (Drummondville, QC) – The Fédération québécoise des sports cyclistes (FQSC) held a gala on Sunday to honour Quebec’s best cyclists, trainers, officials, volunteers, clubs and events of the 2007 season.

The top cyclists named at the ceremony were Anne Samplonius and Martin Gilbert (road-track), Marie-Hélène Prémont and Raphaël Gagné (mountain bike) and the tandem made up of Daniel Chalifour and Alexandre Cloutier in paracycling.

The best aspiring cyclists named were Andréanne Pichette and Hans Lambert (mountain biking), Laurie-Anne Dupont-Renaud and Stephane Cossette (road-track), as well as Sarah Biron and Michael Beaudoin (BMX). In the espoir category are Audrey Bernard and Joakim Albert (road and track), Kristina Laforge and Patrick Chartrand (mountain biking), as well as Sara Dussault and Pol-Emil Doucet (BMX). The FQSC also honours those athletes 30 years-old and more (Masters) with Josée Tremblay and Christian Fournier mountain bike), Al McKay and Eric Provost (road and track), and Jean-Luc Bellemare (BMX) picking up the honours.

The coaches of the year are Domenica Lemaire (road-track), Jude Dufour (mountain biking), and Charles Mathys (BMX). The officials honoured were Paul Harvey (mountain bike), Genevieve Marcotte (road-track) and Nathalie Paré (BMX). The volunteers of the year are Sylvie St-Arneault (BMX), Denis Lévesque (road-track), and Manon D’ Auteuil (mountain biking).

The best clubs for talent development are the Mountain Bike Club of Val-David, the Club Ste-Foy Québec Métro (road-track), and the St-Charles-de-Drummond Club (BMX.) On the high performance side, the winners were Team EVA Devinci (road-track), and Rocky Mountain Haywood (mountain biking).

The best provincial organizations are the Quebec BMX Championship in St-Augustin de Desmaures, the Tour de l’Avenir Saguenay (road and track), and the Finale of the Jeux du Quebec in Sept-Iles (mountain biking). On the national and international scene, the winning events are the Women’s Montreal World (road) Cup, the St-Félicien MTB World Cup and the Tim Hortons Canadian BMX Championships in Bromont.

The FQSC also inducted three new members into the Quebec Cycling Hall of Fame. Two cyclists, Bernard Vermette and Patrice Bonneau, and a builder, Oswald Van den Abeele, were inducted. Vermette distinguished himself in mountain biking in the early 1990s while Bonneau made a name for himself in paracycling through the mid 1990s. Van den Abeele, who received this honour posthumously, was instrumental in bringing Six Day events to Montreal in the 1960s.