December 8/21 17:35 pm - Cycling Canada Adds to Coaching Staff with Olympians & World Champions

Posted by Editoress on 12/8/21
 

This has been in the works for a while, but Cycling Canada has finally officially announced the hiring of four coaches and the promotion of one other.

Dan Proulx, the long-time Mountain Bike Head Coach, has been promoted to the position of Head Coach, overseeing all of the national team coaching staff. We have an interview with Dan which will be posted shortly.

Dan Proulx and Catharine Pendrel in Rio 2016

The four coaches that have been hired include three Olympians - two of them medal winners - and two world champions, plus the return of a former national coach:

Catharine Pendrel recently retired from a prolific mountain bike career which included world titles in 2011 and 2014; winning the 2010, 2012 and 2016 World Cup series; bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games; and gold medals at the 2007 Pan American Games and 2014 Commonwealth Games. Pendrel will build on her years of experience in her new role of National Team Coach, working with endurance athletes. She also recently enrolled in the Commonwealth Women Coach Internship Program and will be at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games [she won the 2014 title in Glasgow] this summer alongside Team Canada athletes.

Catharine Pendrel

Laura Brown was a member of both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic teams and won a bronze in the Team Pursuit at the 2016 Olympic Games as well as gold medals at both the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games. Brown has spent the past several years in a part-time assistant coach role with the National Team, as well as working with Cycling BC and several road trade teams. Brown will join Cycling Canada in a full-time role as a National Team Coach based in Vancouver, working with endurance athletes.

Laura Brown (far left) with Team Canada Men's Pursuit squad at the 2020 Milton Track World Cup

Tanya Dubnicoff will be returning to Cycling Canada in the newly created role of Advancement Camp Coach, after coaching the women's Team Pursuit squad to world championship and Olympic medals in the early days of the program. The Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame inductee's sprint career includes three Olympics as an athlete, a world title in 1993, four Pan American Games gold medals, and coaching the 2012 Olympic Team Pursuit squad to a bronze medal. Dubnicoff will be responsible for leading Cycling Canada's Advancement Camp initiatives, contributing to coaching and athlete education programs, and leading talent identification efforts across the country, including through RBC Training Ground.

Tanya Dubnicoff(front left) with Team Alberts at the 2021 Junior Track Nationals

Richard Wooles is one of Canada's most experienced and accomplished cycling coaches. His career has included leadership roles with British Cycling, the UCI World Cycling Centre, Cycling Canada and Cycling BC. Wooles spent the past year working with Cycling Canada in a part-time capacity and played a key role in leading last summer's Junior and U23 road programming in Europe. Wooles will officially join Cycling Canada as a full-time National Team Coach based in Vancouver and will be working with endurance athletes.

Richard Wooles with Tara Whitten, 2012 Olympic Games, London

"The cohort of National Team coaches we have assembled is truly exceptional," said Proulx. "When you bring good people together like this, it creates an x-factor that raises the bar for everyone. The aim is to continue developing great riders who compete alongside the best on the world stage. At the same time, we want to improve the athlete experience, empowering them to achieve success on the bike and beyond. The coaches we've brought together have a track record of bringing out the best in others and this will certainly help the entire system to improve."

In addition to providing technical and tactical expertise within their respective focus areas, National Teach Coaches help lead, mentor and empower Canada's network of provincial, club and affiliate coaches to build a robust athlete pipeline and provide racing and skill development opportunities for athletes while increasing coaching knowledge, expertise and capacity across the country.

"One of our goals is to increase the knowledge, expertise and capacity amongst coaches in the Canadian system," said Cycling Canada's Chief Sport Officer, Scott Kelly. "It's important that we continue to invest in and develop Canadian coaches. These additions to our team reflect a commitment on the part of Cycling Canada to do just that."