July 17/00 10:32 am - Olympic Road Team, Selection and Analysis

Posted by Editor on 07/17/00
 

Olympic Road Team Announced

After the Road Nationals yesterday in Peterborough, Ontario, the Canadian Cycling Association has officially announced the Canadian Olympic road squad for Sydney.

Men
Gord Fraser
Czeslaw Lukaszewicz
Brian Walton
Eric Wohlberg

Women
Lyne Bessette
Clara Hughes
Genevieve Jeanson

No surprises here - the women's team was pretty well set, barring some unexpected win at the Nationals by Anne Samplonius or Annie Gariepy. Hughes and Jeanson will ride the time trial as well as the road race, so Canada could potentially have two medals in this event.

The men's side was a little harder to call. Fraser and Lukaszewicz were automatics in the men (highest UCI ranked, and national championship win), Walton has both the experience and an agressive ride yesterday, and Wohlberg also has the international experience and power to help set Fraser up in a sprint situation. The only potential different selection we could see was Dominique Perras instead of Wohlberg, if the CCA had wanted to include a young rider for future development. Perras' fine ride yesterday (out at the front for nearly 200 kilometres) was only marred by his cracking at the crucial moment. If he had managed to stay up at the front, it quite possibly would have been him rather than Wohlberg going to Sydney As Gord said after the race "I think we have a sleeper team here, and Canada could surprise a lot of people in Sydney."