Canadian team to the Tour de France?

Probably not for a few more years, but this article in the
Province details how the BC-based Symmetrics cycling team is aiming for the Tour within five years.

"No, we're not ready yet," said Cunningham, who thinks it could be done within five years. "We still have a ways to go, not only from an infrastructure perspective and a sponsorship perspective, but we need the cash. We need more team management and we need to add a few riders. There are other strong Canadian riders and we've talked to them, but it comes down to budget."
Symmetrics started with a $30,000 budget. Last year that budget grew to $800,000 and next year it will be $1 million. By comparison, top teams have budgets in the $15-million range.
Cunningham thinks it would take an annual budge of $5 million to $7 million to get a team into the Tour de France.
He said potential sponsors are intrigued by the idea of an all-Canadian team in the Tour, even though doping scandals have plagued the event in recent years.
"The doping issue is a major issue," Cunningham said. "When you walk into a boardroom full of executives, the first thing they start to talk about is Floyd Landis.
"But we have a very clear mandate. We're truly anti-drug. Kevin and I made an agreement amongst ourselves that if there's any hint of doping, we'd shut the team down and give all the money back to the sponsors. We'd shut it down, and the riders know that."

If they manage this, then it would be a big step from the last few years that I've been following pro cycling, in which there have been no Canadian riders in the Tour de France - we were really hoping to see Mike Barry (T-Mobile) there this summer, but then he came down with pneumonia a month or so before.

A new type of "Bike Race Adventure"

On Sunday, Ed and I plus our friend Alan went to Argyll Park (by the Velodrome) to watch the GP Jim Horner cyclocross races. For the first time, the race had a UCI C2-level ranking (meaning that the results even get posted on Cyclingnews.com).

We arrived during a warmup session, so we explored along the course looking for good vantage points. We chatted with some friendly course marshals right before the first downhill stretch - thanks for your tips! We checked out the longest downhill, with a tricky corner at the bottom (had to make sure you took the right line or you'd get stuck in loose dirt and not be able to turn properly). We also checked out the following uphill, with some logs across the path as barriers - one rider bunny-hopped and rode up the hill in the warm-up, but we didn't see anyone try that during the race, instead it was an opportunity to see how smoothly the best riders get off their bikes, pick them up and run, all in one motion (and same smoothness usually to get back on again at the top - it looked painful when the bike mounting part didn't work so well).

We decided to watch the racing from the bottom of that tricky downhill - first would be the elite women followed a few minutes later by the junior men. Except the women came sooner than we expected (it was only 1 pm by my watch and that was the race start time) so no pics until the junior men came around. Everyone slowed considerably at that corner.

After a few laps we moved along to watch the uphill section. It quickly became clear that Wendy Simms was going to win the women's race unless something drastic happened, and that David Larson would win the junior men's race - in the end, I think he even passed all the women.

We went up to the start area for the callup and start of the elite men's race - racers from Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatchewan, and BC I think. (of course, the Cycling News report mentioned that Tim Heemskerk is from the Netherlands as though he'd travelled here for the race, though I understand he lives here). I recognized some of the names (and faces) from having read various local racers' blogs in the last year since I decided that maybe I should pay attention to (and try to support) local racing not just international stuff ;-) .

Next we watched at the end of the paved section before a corner and a downhill - Alan was impressed at how fast they went by. We also watched them run up the stairs before returning to our favourite downhill and uphill sections, then returned to the start area in time to see the finish. After the first lap, Tim Heemskerk took the lead and didn't relinquish it.


Our photos for the day are here.

It was good to see a mention in the local paper about the weekends' races (even with photos from the following day's Oktobercross race), though it never makes the sports section it seems - this time one of the city columnists mentioned it, and a few times there has been mention of local cyclists in the Outdoors section.

Cyclo-crossers pedal fast to extend racing season
Mountain bikers take on road racers in European cross-country hybrid competition that tests stamina, flying ability
Nick Lees, The Edmonton Journal Published: Wednesday, October 10
Snow, rain, high winds, cloying mud, "bring it on," say hardy cycling devotees who want to extend the racing season. There were more than 200 entries on the weekend for two local cyclo-cross races that saw mountain bikers go head to head with road racers.

"Cyclo-cross racing is growing rapidly," says Daisy Blue Groff, whose United Cycle store organized Monday's Mammoet Oktoberfest race at Goldstick Park. "Competitors are cyclists in denial about winter closing in. They want to extend the racing season."
The origins of cyclo-cross are uncertain, but some say the sport began in Europe in the early 1900s when road racers competed with one another in races to the next town. They were allowed to cut through farmers' fields, jump fences, pedal through forests and run over hills. The sport is strongest in countries such as The Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech Republic. Temperatures force an end to the Alberta season in mid-November," says Groff. "But races in Europe are run through January."

No one was surprised when Dutch-born coach-athlete Tim Heemskerk scored a double victory on the weekend. After winning Sunday's Union Cycliste International race, named for a late Juventus-club founder, Jim Horner, Heemskerk on Monday won the Mammoet Oktoberfest. "Races are usually laps on a 21/2-to-31/2-kilometre route, making them very spectator friendly," says Edmonton's Heemskerk, a former Dutch national mountain bike champion, who in August with his partner Roddi Lega, won the international Panorama-to-Fernie TransRockies Challenge. "Young racers have improved incredibly during the last five years. Some qualified for the world championships last season. I can see Edmonton having a world champion in the next few years."

Cyclo-cross bikes are hybrids featuring traits of both racing bikes and mountain bikes. They are lightweight with drop handlebars, but they use narrow, knobbly tires and old-style, more mud-proof cantilever brakes. Obstacles, such as steps, barriers and hills force riders to dismount and run.

Heemskerk wrote to Mammoet in the Netherlands to ask if they were interested in helping sponsor Monday's race. "I was referred back to Edmonton because this is where their North American headquarters are," he says. "They have clients in the oilsands plants."
Awards went deep when Mammoet donated $3,500 in prize money.

"Cyclo-cross bikes cost in the $1,500 to $2,500 range," says Groff. "Bike companies have seen the interest in the sport grow and are making advances in designs and materials." She added: "People who turned out to watch the races for the first time on the weekend said they were really cool. I'm sure some will be back with their bikes."