November 10/13 16:23 pm - Saguenay Drops U23 Nations Cup for UCI .2.2 Event

Posted by Editoress on 11/10/13
 

The organizers of the U23 Nations Cup that has taken place in the Saguenay region of Quebec for six years have decided to replace their event with a UCI 2.2 level stage race that is no longer restricted to Under-23 riders.  The Grand Prix Cycliste de Saguenay will take place during June 5-8, just before the Tour de Beauce on June 10-15.

According to an interview in the newspaper La Presse, the decision was made to in order to reduce the financial cost (from $530,000 for a Nations Cup to $350,000 for a 2.2 event), and as a way to work with Beauce to attract more teams for both events and share costs.

In La Presse, the Chair of the organizing committee, Bernard Noël, stated "After six editions of the Nations Cup, we wanted to renew and provide a new and improved event. We proved that we were able to organize international cycle races. Like the Grand Prix of Quebec and Montreal and Tour de Beauce, we wanted to come up with a professional cycling event will allow us to attract more Canadian Quebec teams and North American ones, but also teams from South America and Europe."

The organization has received support from the Quebec federation for their plan and submitted it to the UCI.

Read the La Presse article Here