Drouin’s First World Championships

Following four days grueling days of time trial competition that saw the Under-23 Men’s 165.7 kilometre race road race get underway at the Road World Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Quebec’s David Drouin was the top Canadian rider finishing in 42nd place, which was the exact same time as race winner Kristoffer Halvorsen of Norway.

Drouin who is attending his first world championships told the media “It was an all-out and very nervous race, complicated by the many roundabouts and we had two adversaries in the race: our opponents and the heat!  I really enjoyed my experience here, even if the course did not really suit me. I want to thank Cycling Canada for the opportunity.”

A group of nine (9) riders shaped the front of the race for the first of ten laps, but never gained more than three minutes on the field, which was led by the Norwegian team.

Five Canadian riders continue to be tucked into the peloton with St. Catharine’s Ben Perry (Under-23 national champion) protecting the riders for the sprint finish.

The pace increased in the final laps pulling back the break, but the riders began to get dropped from the field.

Perry was in good position with five kilometres remaining when an unexpected crash opened a gap to the front of the race, knocking him out of contention.

Perry continued and eventually finished 59th, a short 11 seconds down on the lead group.

Hamilton’s Sean MacKinnon finished 135th, seven minutes and 32 seconds down and Canada’s two other entrants – Nicolas Masbourian (Montreal, QC) and Alexander Cowan (Calgary, AB) failed to finish the race.

New Partnership Announced

Cycling Canada is pleased to announce a new partnership with Bici Amore Mio, an operator of Italian-based cycling hotels.

Bici Amore Mio is a network of 5 bike hotels in 5 renowned cycling regions around Italy that are working together to deliver bespoke cycling holidays.

The hotel network includes the Garda Bike Hotel (Lake Garda – Verona), Piedmont Bike Hotel (Piedmont – Pralormo), Silva Splendid Hotel (Fiuggi – Rome), Lungomare Hotel (Adriatic Coast, Cesenatico) and Funivia Hotel (Stelvio, Bormio).    Cycling Canada athletes, staff and partners will be provided with access to Bici’s network of hotels for training camps as well as competition projects.

Bici Amore Mio will also donate vacation packages that will be used by Cycling Canada in fundraising and promotional initiatives.

Additionally, Cycling Canada members will be able to access discounts and special offers through Bici Amore’s exclusive Fidelity Program.

Every member will be eligible of 10% discount on cycling packages and will be also offered customized discounted packages for teams and cycling groups.

To kick-off the partnership Cycling Canada will be auctioning off a weeklong cycling trip for 2 at its upcoming Olympic Cycling Celebration in Ottawa on October 28^th.

Stay tuned for more info on this!!

Thanks to http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1010929/doha-awarded-2016-world-road-cycling-championships for the photo