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Canada sends distinguished team to the paracycling World Cup opener in Italy

Cycling Canada Cyclisme
May 9, 2014
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Canada will send a strong team to this weekend’s first round of the UCI road paracycling World Cup in Castiglione Della Pescaia, Italy.

Several well-decorated athletes are included in the squad.

Shelly Gautier is the defending World Cup champion in the T1 category.

In the C1 class, Jaye Milley holds two bronze medals from the 2014 UCI paracycling track world championships and two bronze medals from the 2013 paracycling road world championships.

Marie-Êve Croteau, a T2 racer, won silver medals in both the road race and the time trial at the 2013 paracycling road world championships.

Marie-Claude Molnar, who competes in the C4 bracket, won silver medals in both the road race and the time trial at last year’s paracycling road world championships.

Paracycling categories are based on the degree of athletes’ disabilities. In the classification system, letters indicate the type of cycle used. In the ‘C’ categories, athletes ride normal bicycles, while athletes in the ‘T’ categories ride tricycles. There are also categories for athletes using hand-cycles, designated with an ‘H,’ and categories for the blind, designated with a ‘B.’ Numbers indicate the degree of impairment that affect the athletes. Lower numbers indicate more severe disabilities.

The Canadian team intends to compete for podium placings in Italy. Its main objective for the season is the paracycling world championships, which will be held in Greenville, S.C., this summer.