05.02.07-Calabogie to host Para-Cycling competition

Ottawa, May 1, 2007 – Canada’s top Para-Cycling competitors are in action on Wednesday at the inaugural Calabogie (Ont.) International. Many of the riders competed this past weekend at the Défi Sportif in Montreal.

The competition is a stop on the ICU-IPC American Regional Cup circuit and will be held on the new 5.05 kilometre automobile race track at MotorSportsPark.

The time trials are scheduled for the morning while the road races are in the afternoon.

World championship silver medallists Stéphane Côté and Pierre-Olivier Boily headline the competition in the tandem event. Also in tandem racing are Brian Cowie and Devon Smibert, Gene Della Siega and Craig Deevers as well as Daniel Chalifour and Alexandre Cloutier. Chalifour and Cloutier were undefeated in three events at the Défi Sportif. The riders can also earn points to compete at the world championships set for Bordeaux, France.

In hand cycling, Rico Morneau and Mark Beggs are among the favorites as well as Mark Breton (LC1), Éric Bourgault (LC2) and Jean Quévillon (CP3) in the amputee (LC) and cerebral palsy (CP) categories.

‘’The Calabogie International is an opportunity to compete at a high level and to gain points for the Paralympic selection trials without needing to travel to Europe,’’ said Louis Barbeau, president International Cycling Union’s (ICU) Paralympic Cycling Commission.

Since February, the ICU is the international governing body for Para-Cycling and it has created the American Regional Cup to increase the development of the sport.

‘’The world championships will now be held annually instead of every four years. In the not too distance future we also hope to launch World Cup circuits for both the road and track racers,’’ added Barbeau.