5 Canadian road racers to keep an eye on in 2018

With the opening weekend of the springs classics behind us, the 2018 pro cycling season is well and truly underway. The UCI Women’s WorldTour starts on Sunday with Strade Bianche and stage racers on the men’s side will be lining up at Paris-Nice. While there are many exciting Canadians racing on the UCI level and a strong contingent of teams with big Canadian presences, these are five riders we are particularly excited to keep an eye on in the coming season.

Michael Woods – EF Education First-Drapac

The outright leader for EF Education First-Drapac at this year’s Giro d’Italia, Woods will be looking to confirm his potential as a general classification rider while at the same time chasing his first WorldTour win. Woods says he focused on his seated power, pacing and time trialing this off season in an effort to compliment his world-class climbing ability. At 31-years-old, Woods looks capable of producing a result that supersedes his seventh overall at the 2017 Vuelta a España and he looks primed to take a win when the road turns sharply up.

Karol-Ann Canuel – Boels-Dolmans

Entering her third season with what is often regarded as the strongest overall team in women’s cycling, Boels-Dolmans, Karol-Ann Canuel has continued to progress earning placing in individual time trials and showing her ability to climb with some of the best. While much of her race days will be spent dedicated to her teammates, Canuel has shown an ability to take her opportunities when they come like when she won Volta Limburg Classic last season. It will be interesting to follow whether she can earn placings in week-long stage races and perhaps score a win in a time trial or hilly race along the way.

Ben Perry – Israel Cycling Academy

Making the transition to UCI Pro Continental team Israel Cycling Academy last season, Ben Perry had a lot of DNFs during his spring campaign riding in breakaways, and learning the ins and outs of top echelon classics racing. The latter half of his season included a stage win at the Baltic Chain Tour, perhaps a sign of things to come. Perry was a skilled stage hunter on the North American stage racing scene and we will be watching closely if he can snag a stage win in 2018. Perry had an active race in the breakaway at Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne where fellow Canadian and teammate Guillaume Boivin took seventh place.

Sara Poidevin – Rally Cycling

The winner of the 2017 women’s Colorado Classic and a stage of the Cascade Cycling Classic, Poidevin has showed a lot of skill on the North American race circuit. An extremely talented climber, Poidevin is only 21-years-old but has shown she can take on the best in the sport. In 2016 she wore the polka dot jersey at the Tour of California and won the mountains classification at the Redlands Classic. Clearly very talented, look for Poidevin to show well alongside her Canadian teammates at Rally Cycling in North American stage races.

Leah Kirchmann – Team Sunweb

After finishing second on the inaugural Women’s WorldTour in 2016, Kirchmann had a quieter 2017 season in support of her teammates who stormed to some major successes in 2017. The winner of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Gatineau is a versatile rider with the ability to time trial, sprint and perform well in one-day classics. While she is expected to fulfil a role as loyal hard working teammate for the likes of Coryn Rivera and Ellen van Dijk, Kirchmann has the ability to chase her own results and we are looking forward to seeing if she can refind the consistency she demonstrated in 2016.

While these five riders present some of the most exciting potential for big results on the world stage in 2018, there are countless others who will be sure to factor in big races this season. With strong domestic UCI teams like Silber Pro Cycling and H&R Block there is also a lot of possibilities for breakthrough results by a developing crop of riders. See our full list of Canadian UCI professional riders and let us know in the comments below who you think is set to have a big 2018 season.