April 26, 2008 – The Canadian women’s team began its European project with a fabulous 6th place finish by Alex Wrubleski at the Ronde van Drenthe World Cup in the Netherlands on April 12. The objective of the team is to score as many UCI points as possible in order to guarantee a place among the top 16 nations by May 31 to secure the maximum number of spots (3) for the Olympic Games in Beijing

Wrubleski, who is racing for her first time in Holland, experimented well and has managed to put herself in great position on the cobblestone sections and find herself with the leaders. The racing was high speed and Chantal Beltman of Team High Road, who was in a breakaway since the middle of the race, was able to resist all attacks and finish alone. Alex led the sprint in a group of 22 riders at six seconds behind Beltman and finished in 6th behind Marianne Vos, Ina Teutenberg, Suzanne De Goede and Rochelle Gilmore.

The next day at the Novillon Eurocup van Drenthe, another UCI 1.1 race, Wrubleski continued where she had left off the day before finishing 9th in a small group sprint behind Kristin Armstrong who soloed in for the win. The team drove back to Belgium where we have established our base in the beautiful Ardennes region. It’s an ideal place to train and prepare for Fleche Wallonne, round 5 of the World Cup, which takes place a few kilometres from our place.

In the meantime, we made a brief trip to Holland to compete at the Ronde van Gelderland (UCI 1.2) on Saturday, April 19. This time it was Anne Samplonius’ turn to shine, snatching the victory with a solo breakaway in the final kilometers of this Holland classic against the cream of the world’s best women riders. The win secured Canada another very important 40 UCI points.

Finally it was time for the Fleche Wallone Women’s race. All the best women cyclists in the world are on the start line: Vos, Arndt, Cooke, Luperini. The course is very difficult with several narrow and steep rises in the last 50km. The pack is nervous. More than 160 participants will be fighting for the lead. After a few attacks by Britain’s Nicole Cooke and a breakaway threat by Italy’s Luperini, a group of 14 riders with Alex Wrubleski followed by a second group of 20 riders with Anne Samplonius take the lead on the coast of Ben Ahin before the last difficult sections just over 10 km from the finish.

The two groups join up as they approach the city of Huy at reach the mythical wall of Huy, a 1.3km ascent with sections that are a 20% grade, and dense crowds that can be very animated. Finally Marianne Vos manages to escape and claim the victory followed closely by Italy’s Bastianelli, with German Judith Arndt in 3rd followed by Canada’s Alex Wrubleski who did an incredible job to overcome all competition on the Huy wall and collected 30 valuable UCI points.

With these results, Canada has earned 97 points! In the most recent UCI rankings as of April 14, we were 15th in the world. With the next rankings we should climb to 13rd in the world – a much more than satisfactory position! The team will conclude this Euro project with two other races UCI – the Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs (UCI 1.2) in Luxembourg on Saturday, April 26, and the next day, the team will be on the start line at the GP Stad Roeselare Belgium (UCI 1.2).

This project would not have been possible without the valuable assistance of L2RCP (Love to Ride Cycling Partners), a group of individual Canadian businessmen. I want to thank them for their support and especially their confidence in our project. They believe in our women riders and especially the chances of our Canadian athletes to perform well in the Beijing Olympic Games this summer.

Canadian Women’s Team in Europe

– Alex Wrubleski
– Anne Samplonius
– Erinne Willock
– Leigh Hobson
– Felicia Gomez
– Sue Palmer-Komar
– Betina Hold
– Gina Grain

Joining the team for the last two races:
– Moriah Jo McGregor
– Joelle Numainville (last race only)

And without forgetting our mechanic Serge Grail, and our soigneur who makes us all happy Michel L’Hoest. These two team staffers are important elements for the success of this project and I would like to sincerely thank them for their work.

Vincent Jourdain
National Coach / Entraîneur national