Cycling Canada announces road and track teams for the Tokyo Olympics

OTTAWA — Cycling Canada has nominated its road and track teams for the Tokyo Olympics.

The organizations said Wednesday in a joint press release with the Canadian Olympic Committee that nine women and eight men will represent Canada in road and track cycling events at the Games in 2021.

The 13-athlete track team is the largest in Canadian Olympic history and will be anchored by the women’s pursuit team of Allison Beveridge (Calgary), Ariane Bonhomme (Gatineau, Que.), Jasmin Duehring (Coquitlam, B.C.), Annie Foreman-Mackey (Kingston, Ont.) and Georgia Simmerling (Vancouver). Beveridge will also compete in the Omnium event.

Duehring is seeking her third Olympic medal after helping Canada to women’s pursuit bronze in 2012 and 2016. Beveridge and Simmerling were also on the 2016 team.

“For any athlete, the opportunity to represent their country on an Olympic start line is a dream come true, and even after two previous Olympics I do not take that for granted,” Duehring said in a release. “With experience comes greater responsibility and I know that my teammates and I will face our biggest challenge to date next summer.”

Vincent de Haitre (Cumberland, Ont.), Michael Foley (Milton, Ont.), Derek Gee (Osgoode, Ont.) and Jay Lamoureux (Victoria) make up the men’s pursuit team, with Adam Jamieson (Horseshoe Valley, Ont.) named a non-travelling alternate.

De Haitre two-time Olympian in speed skating, joined the team after the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games.

Foley and Gee will also participate in the Madison event.

Lauriane Genest (Levis, Que.) and Kelsey Mitchell (Sherwood Park, Alta.) will compete in the women’s sprint and keirin events, with Sarah Orban (Calgary) a non-travelling alternate.

Hugo Barrette (Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Que.) and Nick Wammes (Bothwell, Ont.) are on the men’s sprint and keirin team.

Ottawa’s Michael Woods will be the lead Canadian rider in the men’s road competition, with Hugo Houle of Ste-Perpetue, Que., providing support. Houle will also compete in the time trial.

Woods, who competed in the men’s road race at the 2016 Olympics, was a bronze medallist at the 2018 road world championships and won the 2019 Milano–Torino single-day race. He also won a stage at the 2018 Vuelta a Espana. Houle is a veteran of four Grand Tour races and won the time-trial gold medal at the 2015 Toronto Pan American Games.

“Ever since the 2020 Olympic course was revealed, I’ve had a big X on my calendar, and although that X has had to move, my goal for the Olympics remains the same,” Woods said. “Competing at the 2016 Games in Rio was a dream come true, but I was unable to perform at my best due to an injury. Since then, I have proven that I am capable of competing and winning against the best riders in the world, and I hope to do the same in Tokyo on a course that really suits my abilities.”

Karol-Ann Canuel (Amos, Que.) and Leah Kirchmann (Winnipeg) will compete in the women’s road race and time trial, with Alison Jackson (Vermilion, Alta.) and Sara Poidevin (Canmore, Alta.) named as non-travelling alternates.

The Tokyo Games were originally scheduled for this summer, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back the opening to July 23, 2021.

The Canadian Press