February 20, 2004 – The CCA will be holding a “Training and Evaluation Camp” at the Brian Picoolo Park Velodrome in Cooper City, Florida from February 22nd to March 9th. The camp will be run by National Track Cycling Coach Eric Van Den Eynde and Erin Hartwell, six-time Olympic and World Championship medalist.

The purpose of the camp is to pre-select the most competitive team for the 2004 UCI World Cups in Mexico and possibly Manchester. The UCI World Cup in Mexico will be the next opportunity for our Canadian men to earn qualifying points for the Track World Championships in May in both the Team Pursuit and Team Sprint events. The Canadian National Team's number one priority for the season is to qualify for the Track World Championships to be held in Australia in May. There is also an added incentive to perform well at the World Championships as they hold a greater significance in qualifying for the upcoming Olympics in Athens.

The first opportunity to establish time standards will be on February 23rd. Objectivity in the qualifying process is required in this initial selection race and athletes will earn their place in the camp based mainly on individual-event performances. A “Training and Evaluation Camp” will follow the February 23rd qualifier in an effort to narrow the athlete pool. Selected athletes will remain in Florida for continued evaluation, culminating in a final subjective athlete selection sometime in the beginning of March.

The Canadian Cycling Association, the governing body for cycling, is Canada's oldest sport governing body. Its mission is to lead and support the development and growth of cycling in Canada through programs, leadership development and technical expertise.