August 11/03 3:12 am - 2003 Mountain Bike Worlds Team Announced

Posted by Editor on 08/11/03
 

Canadian 2003 Mountain Bike Worlds Team

The Canadian Cycling Association is pleased to announce the following team that will participate at the MTB World Championships in Lugano, Switzerland, August 31 - September 7, 2003.

Note: Athletes are listed in alphabetical order - the order does not refer to the order in which they were selected and whether or not they received a funded position.

Elite Men XC:
Roland Green - BC
Ryder Hesjedal - BC
Andreas Hestler - BC
Geoff Kabush - BC
Seamus McGrath - ON
Chris Sheppard - BC
Mathieu Toulouse - QC
Peter Wedge - NB

Elite Women XC:
Kiara Bisaro - BC
Karen Dewolfe - NS
Marie-Helene Premont - QC
Chrissy Redden - ON
Trish Sinclair - BC
Alison Sydor - BC
Sandra Walter - BC

Espoir Men XC:
Ricky Federau - BC
Mike Garrigan - ON
Matt Hadley - NB
Will Routley - BC
Kris Sneddon - BC
James Van Toever - PE
Andrew Watson - ON

Junior Men XC:
Andrew Erb - ON
Bradley Fairall - BC
Jamie Lamb - NS
Jean-Sebastien Perron - QC
Max Plaxton - BC
Chris Thorpe - ON

Junior Women XC:
Brook Baker - BC
Kylie Case - MB
Olivia Gagne - QC
Meghan Kindree - BC
Catherine Vipond - ON

Elite Men DH:
Dustin Adams - BC
Hugo Donais - QC
Mike Jones - BC
Mathieu Laurin - QC
Jordie Lunn - BC
Trevor Porter - BC

Elite Women DH:
Claire Buchar - BC
Michelle Dumaresq - BC
Deb Mackillop - BC
Caroline Milot - QC
Sheila Morris - ON
Danika Schroeter - BC

Junior Men DH:
Jamie Biluk - MB
Justin Brown - ON
Sean Brown - QC
Dominic Provost - QC

Junior Women DH:
Brook Baker - BC


Yury Kashirin, the National Team Head Coach will lead the team to Lugano. He will be accompanied by Michel Leblanc, Chris Colbeck and a full team of mechanics and massage therapists.

Our comments:

There are no real surprises among the names announced, although, it is somewhat disturbing to see so few new names on the list. As has been pointed out in the Open Forum, leaving out Canada Cup winner Jesse Jakomait does dilute the value of competing on the CC circuit. However, having said that, this pre-Olympic year is a critical one for racking up UCI points in the cross-country Elite categories, so the selectors can not be blamed for staying with tried-and-true performers. It should be noted that a number of these positions are not fully funded, and some riders may therefore decline the opportunity to attend the Worlds.