Professional Canadian cyclists operating in the U.S.

Has Canada infiltrated U.S. pro cycling? Canadian riders are mostly indistinguishable from their U.S.-born teammates. Except for the pronunciation of some words, and the occasional use of “eh,” often there isn’t much to tip off those American riders that Canadians are in their midst. And really, our U.S. cousins have nothing to worry about. Feb. 16 marked 200 years since the Treaty of Ghent was ratified by the U.S. Senate, ending the War of 1812. That’s 200 years of peace. We are their largest trading partner and we share an 8,891-km border that is undefended. But make no mistake, when it comes to professional road cycling in the U.S., Canadians are there, at all levels. They ride, direct and manage. Yes, they’ve infiltrated, eh. Below is the third of three parts looking at just where the Canucks are lurking.

While U.S. teams Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies and Team SmartShop have fairly high-numbers of Canadians on their rosters, there are other Canucks working south of the border. Davide Frattini of UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling is secretly Canadian. Although the Italian-born all-rounder has a UCI licence from Italy and has been racing for a team based in Oakland, Calif., since 2011, he lives in Barrie, Ont., with his family. In 2015, Laura Brown of Vancouver is joining Frattini on the blue train. Brown’s move from Colavita began in September after a serious crash. As she waited for surgery, she got a call from UHC director Rachel Heal. Not long after, the contract was signed. One of Brown’s duties in 2015 will be similar to that of her Canadian team pursuit colleague Jasmin Glaesser on Optum: to help her respective U.S. squad get on the podium at the world championship team time trial race in Richmond, Va.

While 2015 will mark Brown’s first year with UHC, it will be her third racing for a U.S. team. She doesn’t really see any notable challenges as a Canadian among the Americans. “Other than getting poked fun at every time I say ‘eh,’ there really is no difference between me and my teammates,” she said. “For the most part, we are all away from home when we are racing or training. Any challenges I face are not unique to me being Canadian. It is nice to have diversity on the team. This year, we will have riders from Canada, the U.S., New Zealand and England. I’m sure it will make for an interesting and dynamic environment.”

Anika Todd from Victoria will be starting her second year as pro with Team Tibco. She noted that U.S. teams have a challenge when signing Canadians. “It is far more expensive for an American team to sign a foreign rider than an American one,” she said. One expense that adds to the team’s budget is airfare, flying riders from north of the border to races. A Canadian rider has to be that much better than her U.S. colleagues for that spot on pro team. “Fortunately, Linda has always followed Canadian racers and given them opportunities on the pro circuit,” Todd said of Tibco founder and president Linda Jackson, who is a multiple Canadian national road race champion. “If I hadn’t met Linda at the 2013 Canadian national championships, I don’t think that I would have had the opportunity to go pro.” Todd has one Canadian teammate, Alizée Brien from Saint-Jérôme, Que. Together with the rest of Tibco, they’ll work to match their 2014 success in the USA Cycling’s National Race Calendar. The team finished first in the teams standings and Tibco rider Lauren Stephens was first in the women’s individual general classification.