A strong and experienced team of 19 riders will represent Canada at the 2021 UCI Road World Championships, to be held in Flanders, Belgium, September 19-26. Athletes will compete in the road race and time trial events in the junior, under 23 and elite categories.
Canada has qualified six riders for the elite men’s road race. The team will be led by Olympians and sports professionals World Tour Hugo Houle, Antoine Duchesne and Guillaume Boivin, who was crowned Canadian road champion on Saturday. They will be joined by development riders Ben Perry, Nickolas Zukowsky and Pier-André Côté. Houle, who became the Canadian time trial champion on Friday, will compete in the time trial alongside Zukowsky. Michael Woods and James Piccoli both declined selection for the road race, while Rob Britton declined selection for the time trial.
On the women’s side, Canada has qualified three runners and the team will be made up of the same athletes who represented Canada at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, namely Karol-Ann Canuel, Leah Kirchmann and Alison Jackson. The two former team time trial world champions will compete in both the time trial and the road race, while the stage winner of the Simac Ladies Tour and Canadian champion, Alison Jackson, will join them for the road race.
Due to the lack of scoring opportunities during the pandemic, Canada qualified only one starter in the men’s under-23 road race. Raphael Parisella will use the road racing experience he gained during the Tour de l’Avenir and will also participate in the time trial alongside Francis Juneau.
Both the men’s and women’s junior teams will approach the event in great shape after training in Europe and competing in several top international races over the past month. On the men’s side, the depth will be incredible, with junior world champion Dylan Bibic, backed by Michael Leonard, Matisse Julien and Quentin Cowan all having podium finishes in European road races this season. We can also expect some aggressive racing from the women’s team of Nicole Bradbury, Lilly Ujfalusi, Dylan Baker and Isla Walker. All four left a strong impression during their races in Spain and the Netherlands before the World Championships.
“Our development athletes have really shown that they are fierce competitors capable of applying what they learn to each new race,” said Cycling Canada’s elite road program manager, Shawn Clarke. “The growth we have seen over the past few weeks is impressive and we can expect to see an exciting run from them at the World Championships. »
The World Championships begin on Sunday September 19 with the elite men’s time trial and end on Sunday September 26 with the elite men’s road race.
