November 10/05 4:04 am - CCA Announces Team for Tour de Okinawa

Posted by Editoress on 11/10/05
 

Team Canada for Tour de Okinawa
Courtesy CCA

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
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, including 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.