November 10, 2005 (Ottawa, Ontario) — Five riders will represent Canada in the Tour de Okinawa, a 200 kilometre road cycling race held on the island of Okinawa, Japan this Sunday, November 13. The race is part of the UCI Asia Tour.

The Canadian squad will include: Phillippe Abbott, 20, Calgary, Alberta; Bradley Fairall, 20, North Vancouver, British Columbia; Phil Cortes, 23, Dieppe, New Brunswick; Christian Meier, 20, Knightville, New Brunswick; and Max Plaxton, 20, Tofino, British Columbia.

“This is a development opportunity for some of our young riders,” said Sean O’Donnell, the Canadian Cycling Association’s High Performance Coordinator. “Okinawa is always a difficult race, with a good level of competition, inlcuding representation from the strongest Asian teams as well as some foreign national teams. All five guys have enjoyed strong seasons and this is a great way for them to finish the year.”

Team Canada riders have reached the podium twice in this race in recent years: Mark Walters won the race in 1999; last year, Jacob Erker finished third behind four-time winner Kam Po Wong of Hong Kong and Japanese rider Shinichi Fukushima of Team Bridgestone Anchor.