February 6/08 2:19 am - Atlantic Cycling Centre News

Posted by Editoress on 02/6/08
 

Winter Cross Championships
Courtesy Luc Arseneau, Head Coach NCC Atlantic

For the 3rd year, the City of Dieppe will be hosting the most fun event on the cycling calendar, the winter cross championships! This event, organized by the National Cycling Centre and the Mike's Bike Shop Cycling Club, takes place in the Friendship Winter Carnival environment.

With the incredible amount of received this winter, this year's edition promises to be one to remember. We have to do a lot of work on the course. Thanks to the city staff, we are using the snowmobiles and the cross country ski trail groomers to make sure cyclists can enjoy a fun 45 minutes on the bike.

The event will take place Saturday, February 9th, beginning at 2 pm. Registration (free of charge) will be taken in site at the Atlantic Cycling Centre. Everyone is welcome to this fun event (mountain bikes too). Click HERE for some photos of last year's event from Don Ricker Photography.

2008 Giant Elite Program

For the Centre, the event marks the official start of the 2008 cycling season as many Giant elite riders will soon be heading south to train for the coming season. "Some riders have had to change their plans this winter. The incredible amount of snow we have received in the past weeks make the roads pretty much impossible to ride. Usually, we can use the roads in this region, but it's a no go this winter" commented the Centre's head coach, Luc Arseneau.

The Centre will once again count on a talented group of riders for the 2008 season. Although limited in number of licensed riders, the Atlantic riders keep on going against all odds and pack up the good results. Here are this year's riders:

Gold A
Christian Meier, New Brunswick, Symmetrics Cycling

Gold B
Dustin MacBurnie, Nova Scotia, Team R.A.C.E.
Zach Garland, Newfoundland, Team Kona Adobe
Ryan Belliveau, New Brunswick, Équipe Kuota Apogée
Phil Cortes, New Brunswick, Team Amore e Vita MacDonalds
Matt Hadley, New Brunswick, Xprezo Mountain Bike Team
Ian MacAvity, New Brunswick, Bikes and Beans
Jamie Lamb, Nova Scotia, Cyclesmith
Garrett MacLeod, Nova Scotia, Équipe Kuota Apogée

Silver
Sacha LeBlanc, New Brunswick, Mike's Bike Shop Cycling Club
Tim Clarke, Newfoundland, TBA
Alain Goguen, New Brunswick, Mike's Bike Shop Cycling Club
Geoff O'Toole, Nova Scotia, Équipe Kuota Apogée
Ryan Taylor, PEI, TBA

Bronze
Ami Raviv, Israel, Isreal National Team (Paracycling)
Mélanie Bordage, New Brunswick, Mike's Bike Shop Cycling Club

The positive impact of the Cycling Centre located in our region opened not only the eyes of the cycling community, but of the complete sport community. A recent document was prepared to evaluate the success of such Centre in its initial years. To view the document: NB Sport Plan (PDF).

2008 will also see the arrival of the Provincial Tier. Newly named assistant coach, Andrew Feenstra, will now be working directly with the respective provincial coaches and team members to help them progress into the developmental stages. For this 1st year, we are pleased to announce a roster of 19 riders who will be the pioneers of this program:

Provincial Tier (NB)
Stuart Wight
Jessica Dahn
Julia Cormier
Jean-Richard Cormier
Charlie Evans
Ian Forbes
Jérémie Hébert

Provincial Tier (NFL)
Sheldon Smith
Kim Manual
Landon Fraser
Jordan Hodder

Provincial Tier (NS)
Andrew Lesperance
Paul Slaunwhite

Provincial Tier (PEI)
Mike Christie
Dereck Hughes
Kyle Kneabone
Willam MacKenzie
Duncun Sturtz
Aaron Whiteway