September 6, 2006 – With only a week ago Luc Arseneau, Head Coach of the Dieppe National Training Centre, was a little worried at the lack of entrants for the 2006 Canadian National Track Championships being held in Dieppe, New Brunswick from September 7-10.

“It went from 30 entrants a week ago to over 65 now – everyone registered at the last minute,” said Arseneau, who was expecting approximately 50 riders and is happy that they have exceeded that mark.

In preparation for the Track Championships Arseneau, who is also the Technical Director for the event, said there have been some other challenges.

“We were worried our facility wouldn’t be up to par,” he said. Arseneau put in a lot of time over the summer, along with the city of Dieppe and many volunteers, to improve the track and the infield. He is happy with what they’ve accomplished in such a short time adding, “Sthey pulled through.”

With concerns about the track under control, Arseneau was then able to focus on the event itself. Due to the new competition format, a new schedule had to be created.

“Without the Junior or Masters events, the competition schedule is not as heavy as it used to be,” said Arseneau. “Even if there are rain delays we are confident we will be able to run everything.”

However, Arseneau was quick to add that even with the flexibility of having just the Elite racers competing he would like to see the Juniors as part of this competition in the future.

“With my coaching hat on, I believe it is important for Junior riders to see world class athletes,” said Arseneau, who went on to mention two of Canada’s top track cyclists, Travis Smith of Alberta and Gina Grain of British Columbia, who will be racing this weekend.

Arseneau also hopes that good weather and fierce competition will bring out good crowds. He said that the community of Dieppe is an active community and supports local events.

Stay tuned for great racing to come!