April 16, 2007 – Dominique Rollin (Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada) won two events this past weekend at Florida’s Jacksonville Cycling Classic. Rollin won the criterium on Saturday and then won the 160-km road race Sunday.

“The criterium was an evening race. It was the most exciting and most spectacular for spectators. It was raining and I like that because I know that most other competitors are afraid of the rain. You’ve got to know how to steer your bike well, especially around the corners,” explained Rollin, 24 of Boucherville, Quebec.

“I wanted to do good and I knew that I could do something well. I left with a group of three cyclists after 15 minutes and I won the final sprint by a bike length. Sunday, conditions were more difficult with winds up to 80 km/h. I did this race as a preparation for some upcoming competitions. Two victories in two days gives me a good boost for the morale and points for the National Racing Calendar. I think that my present ranking is somewhere around 15th there,” added Rollin.

Coming up soon on Rollin’s calendar are the Tour of Ireland Cycle Challenge, the Commerce Bank race near Philadelphia, and the Tour de Beauce.

Meanwhile in France, six cyclists from the Canadian U23 team, including Keven Lacombe, Jean-Sébastien Perron, and David Veilleux, participated Sunday in the first of two preliminary races leading up to the Coupe des nations to be contested this Wednesday.

“It was a 120km race,” recounted Lacombe. “It went well. We managed to place one of our team members, Marsh Cooper, in third place. Christian Meir placed fifth and I finished eighth myself. Most of the big teams are here. With our good results, we are motivated for tomorrow (Monday). I’m not sure if I will be competing myself because I want to conserve my energy for Wednesday.”

“The Coupe des nations is registered on the World Cup circuit. It’s one of the important competitions that we will be racing in over the next two weeks. Next weekend we’ll be in Belgium for the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic. The following weekend, we will be in Italy for the Tour of regions (Giro delle regionni), taking place south of Rome,” added Lacombe