November 7/06 5:45 am - FQSC Awards

Posted by Editor on 11/7/06
 

FQSC honors Athletes and Cycling Builders
Translation Courtesy Claire Bonin

The FQSC honored the best athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers, clubs and events of the 2006 season during the Merites Cyclistes Quebecois brunch hosted at the Chantecler in Ste-Adele, Qc.

Anne Samplonius and Dominique Rollin claimed the best road and track athlete of the year awards, Marie-Helene Premont and Raphael Gagne won the mountain bike category, while Stephane Cote and Pierre-Olivier Boily took the honors in Handisport.

The best young up and coming athletes awards were presented to Alexandra Gelinas-Hamelin and Hans Lambert (mountain bike), Karol-Ann Canuel and David Veilleux (road and track), as well as Sarah Biron and Hugo Leduc-Benoit (BMX). In the Espoirs category, the winners are Laurie-Anne Dupont-Renaud and Simon Lambert-Lemay (road and track), Andréanne Pichette and Jonathan Boucher (mountain bike), and Megan Vachon and Émile Lajoie (BMX). Julie Houde and Marc-Patrick Benoit (mountain bike), Annick Dufour and Stéphane Lebeau (road and track), and Jean-Luc Bellemare (BMX) were recognized as the best master 30+ riders.

The honors for the best development clubs were presented to the Club Lessard Bicycles, Club Espoirs Laval and St-Charles-de-Drummond in mountain bike, road and track, and BMX respectively. L'Equipe Louis Garneau Optik (road and track) and Specialized Team (mountain bike) were recognized as the best high performance teams.

The best provincial event organizers award went to Marathon Extrême Bras du Nord (mountain bike) and the Saguenay Road Espoirs and Handisport Quebec Championship as well as the Cap-de-la-Madeleine BMX Quebec Cup. The Tour of Abitibi (road and track), the Mont Ste-Anne MTB World Cup and the Crabtree UCI BMX race were honored as the top national and international events of the year.

Temple de la renommee
Four new members will be inducted this Fall to the "Temple de la renommee du cyclisme quebecois" by the FQSC. Aurelio Battello, Claude Langlois and Vincenzo Meco will be inducted in the athletes category while Richard Michaud will be recognized as a sport builder. The ceremony took place from 6:30-9:30 pm on November 4 at the Chantecler during the 20th anniversary banquet of the Temple de la renommée du cyclisme québécois.

Vincenzo Meco
Before moving to Canada in 1968, Meco had a brillant career as a professional cyclist in Italy. Amongst the list of his accomplishments one can find a stage victory and he wore the pink jersey in the 1962 Giro d'Italia. Due to his professional status, Meco was not allowed to race in Quebec in 1968, but made a remarkable entrance the following year. From 1969 to 1974, he won the majority of the top races in Quebec including in 1969 "Tour de la Nouvelle-France" and the Tour de l'Estrie, l'Omnium Corneli (1971), and the Hamilton GP Capri twice in 1970-71 as well as Montreal-Quebec (71-72). Today at the age of 66, he still maintains his form, riding over 10,000 kilometre a year.

Aurelio Battello
One of the only two riders to have registered 3 victories at the Montreal-Quebec classic, he is the only one to have accomplished this feast in 3 consecutive years. A rider with exceptional sprinting abilities, he dominated the racing scene between 1963 and 1965. He was named "Mr. Cyclist" in 1964 and 1965. During his career he won the Tour du Saguenay Lac St-Jean (1963 & 1964), the Monteal-Nord circuit (1963 & 1964), the Labatt Circuit in 1964 as well as the Quebec 100km championships and the Madonna Di Pompei that same year. He retired in 1965 at the young age of 24, way too young according to many. He died in March of 2005.

With a career that spanned 1977-1982, Claude Langlois rapidly made a name for himself on the Canadian racing scene. In 1979 he established numerous Canadian track records include the flying 200m, flying 500m and the Hour record. That same year, he won gold in the individual pursuit at the Pan Am Games in Puerto Rico. Although a track specialist, Langlois also distinguished himself in road races, individual and team time trials. During his career he took part in many international six-day races with Steve Bauer and Gordon Singleton, two other well-known Canadian cyclists of international reputation. Langlois now lives in Germany, where he enjoy a career as photographer.

Richard Michaud
Although Michaud was a racer from 1970-1980, it is as a sport builder that Richard Michaud made his mark during all his years of involvement on the cycling scene. Founder of the CC Lemoyne in 1975, he helped start many other clubs during the 70's. A well-known and reputable organizer, he put on the Quebec and Canadian national cyclo-cross championships in 1992. Michaud also established himself as a coach - many riders including Dany Delongchamps, Carol Vanier and Dominique Perras, to name a few, benefited from his advice. Unfortunately, Michaud died in 1996 at the age of 44 while still passionate about and involved with cycling. In his honour, the Richard Michaud Award is given to the best road and track volunteer of the year.