December 30/07 7:06 am - 2007 CC Awards: The Winners Are...

Posted by Editor on 12/30/07
 

Svein Tuft & Marie-Helene Premont Picked as Canadian Cyclists of 2007

Svein Tuft of Langley, BC and Marie-Helene Premont of Chateau Richer, QC were chosen by thousands of cycling enthusiasts as the top Male and Female Canadian cyclists for 2007 after eight days of voting on CanadianCyclist.com.

Premont, who finished second in the season-long World Cup of mountain bike racing and is ranked fifth overall in the world, took nearly 53% of first place votes, finishing well ahead of Pan Am Games mountain bike gold medalist Catharine Pendrel of Kamloops, BC (22%) and national road champion Gina Grain of Vancouver (18%).

Tuft finished the season ranked number one in the international Continental ranking for North and South America, as well as winning the U.S. Open and Tour of Cuba road races. Tuft captured nearly 60% of first place votes, with national mountain bike champion and Pan American cycling champion Geoff Kabush of Courtenay, BC a distant second at 22%. Dominique Rollin of Boucherville, QC was third (11%).

Tuft, reached at his home, commented: "This year has been the best ever not just for me but for the team. It's a real honour for me to get this award, and the US Open win was one of the best days of my life. I couldn't have done it without the boys so I really gotta share this with them."

Tuft also took a second honour in the Best Individual Performance category, with his U.S. Open victory selected by voters as the top ride of 2007. Tuft finished ahead of Catharine Pendrel's gold medal performance at the Pan Am Games, with Geoff Kabush's Pan Am mountain bike cycling title and Martin Gilbert's (Chateauguay, QC) Pan Am road cycling title tied for third.

Canadian Cyclist also selects a winner each year for the Roger Sumner Award, for the Best Newcomer to the sport. For 2007 we have selected Canada's newest track star - Monique Sullivan of Calgary.

In addition, Canadian Cyclist is making one additional CC Award this year to the Symmetrics Pro Cycling Team, in recognition of their incredible efforts throughout the season, which resulted in their being ranked the number one team in the UCI America Continental Tour. Symmetrics was also instrumental in Canada gaining three spots for the men's road race next year at the Beijing Olympics.

Now in their 11th year, the Canadian Cyclist of the Year Awards are recognized as the premier cycling awards in Canada.