Road nationals headed to Beauce as 2019 Canadian cycling calendar confirmed
Road nationals return to Quebec, Tour de Saguenay makes comeback for 2019, cyclocross nationals stay in Peterborough and Pan Ams remain in Midland for another year
Cycling Canada has released the calendar for the upcoming year of national and international events taking place on Canadian soil in 2019. The road calendar is largely unchanged with nationals moving from Saguenay to Beauce and the return of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Saguenay after it wa cancelled because of the G7 summit. In cyclocross, Pan Ams will return to Midland, Ont. while Milton will once again host a round of the track cycling UCI World Cup.
“We are very excited to announce our complete 2019 national and international race calendar,” said Cycling Canada events manager Josh Peacock. “Through the support of our provincial partners and event organizers – both new and returning – we are confident that this calendar will provide athletes in all disciplines every opportunity to perform at their best on Canadian soil.”
Road calendar
Road racing gets underway in June for the masters national championships in Victoria. The racing then heads to Quebec with four UCI events. The Grand Prix Cycliste Gatineau and the Chrono de Gatineau return for the women’s peloton while the GP de Saguenay and Tour de Beauce stage races mark an important period of racing leading towards nationals.
Last season, the GP Saguenay was cancelled because the region could not support the security requirements for both a UCI stage race and the international gathering of world leaders. Organizers vowed they would return for 2019 and ended-up hosting the national road championships after Kamloops failed to come up with the necessary funding to host the event.
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Nationals for elite, under-23 and juniors takes place from June 28 to July 1 and will take place in Beauce again after two years in Ottawa and one in Saguenay. The region in Quebec hosted the championships in 2014 and 2015.
The summer of racing continues with the Tour de la Relève Rimouski in early July. Then the calendar moves back over the B.C. for BC Superweek with the UCI sanctioned Delta Road Race and Global Relay Gastown GP. From July 15 to 21, junior racers from around the world will come to Quebec for the 51st edition of the Tour de l’Abitibi.
Finally, the road season concludes with the two big highlights of the calendar in the Grand Prix Cyclistes de Quebec et Montreal on Sept. 13 and 15.
Track
On the boards, Canada’s junior and under-17 riders start the seasonw with the Western Challenhe on Jan. 18 to 20 in Burnaby, B.C. followed by the Eastern Challenge from Feb. 9 to 10 in Milton. The U17, junior and para national championships take place in Milton from April 12 to 14.
Canadian elite and masters nationals will be held in the autumn on an unconfirmed date. The UCI Track World Cup will also return to Milton at some point during the 2019-2020 track season which will be an important preparation event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Cyclocross
Peterborough, Ont. is fresh off hosting the Canadian cyclocross championships where they will return for 2019. Midland, Ont. hosted the Pan American championships on Canadian soil for the first time which they too will do again in the coming season. The rest of the cyclocross calendar has yet to be confirmed.
Para cycling
Four UCI para events take place in Canada in 2019 with the Para track nationals on April 12 to 14 in Milton, the Défi Sportif AlterGo road event in Montreal on May 4-5, para road nationals in Beauce on June 28 and 29, and finall the UCI Para Road World Cup in Baie Comeau, Que. on Aug. 8 to 11.
