Canada’s first downhill world champion is being inducted into the Hall of Fame

The first world champion in mountain biking is being inducted into the Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame this Saturday. Cindy Devine was the first rider to don the rainbow stripes of a UCI champion when she won the women’s downhill race in 1990.

Devine also won the women’s downhill at the unofficial mountain bike world championships the year prior, in 1989. Those wins were followed by four more UCI world championships podiums before Devine retired from competition in 1994. Devine also won numerous Canadian national titles and the won iconic Kamikaze Downhill in California three times.

Devine’s contributions to the Canadian mountain bike community didn’t stop when she left racing. She continued to help develop the next generation of mountain bikers through the West Coast School of Mountain Biking and the Shimano Dirt series.

For all those accomplishments, Devine was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame back in 2003. Cycling Canada is catching up, recognizing Devine’s accomplishments and leadership, on and off the race course, as part of the 2021 group of inductees.

Devine isn’t the only mountain biker on this year’s list. Patrick Drouin and Chantal Lachance first brought the world to Canada in 1991 for the Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup. Since then, GESTEV, the pairs company, have built the Quebec venue into one of the most iconic and longest-serving race venues on the international circuit.

RELATED: Mont-Sainte-Anne celebrates 30th UCI Mountain Bike World Championships

If you want to find out more about Cindy Devine, Canada and the world’s first mountain bike world champion, or just watch some cool racing from the 80s, check out the three videos below.

The Queen of Downhill

For a more in-depth look at Devine’s accomplishments and contributions to mountain biking in Canada, watch Free and Fearless below. It expands Devine’s story by adding interviews with friends and competitors, like fellow Canadian icon Elladee Brown.

Free and Fearless

Retrospectives are great, but how about some racing. Check out the live video from Canadian Tire Canadian Mountain Bike Championships way back in 1989 at Kelso Conservation area in Milton, Ont.  Devine features in all three races, an uphill sprint and the dual downhill, going head-to-head with Elladee Brown, and the mass-start cross country Pro-Am race.

1989 Canadian Tire Mountain Bike Championships