October 20/07 10:09 am - First Ever Canadian Cyclo-Cross Team Heads to `Cross Nationals

Posted by Editoress on 10/20/07
 

First Ever Canadian Cyclo-Cross Team Announced ˆ Team will travel to Canadian Championships
Courtesy The Cyclery

The first ever fully sponsored Cyclo-Cross Team was announced in Ottawa recently. The joint venture between Stevens Bikes and The Cyclery, a leading local bicycle retailer, was made in order to help racers compete throughout Ontario and Quebec, as well as in the United States and Europe.

The sport of Cyclo Cross is a combination of cycling on fields, running up hills, riding down hills, through twists and turns throughout the landscape. Courses are primarily held on a variety of 1-kilometre circuits. Ottawa is the nation's leader in this activity as races are held every Sunday with an excess of 200 riders competing regularly.

This Team is sponsored by Stevens Bikes, the number one bicycle manufacture in Germany who has recently decided to enter the North American market with a line of bikes that includes Cyclo Cross Bikes, road bikes, city ˆcommuting bikes and Mountain bikes.

In addition, local retailer, The Cyclery supports the Team with a variety of equipment and financial support, and Shimano Canada has generously donated shoes for the team.

The Stevens Cross Team is excited at this joint venture, as several podium finishes have already occurred, but even more importantly, the Team is focusing on the Canadian Championships this weekend in Kamloops, B.C. Some top results are expected.

Local racer Natasha Elliot has already had 2 top 3 finishes in the United States this past weekend, while the Men have consistently battled it out with top racers in the United States against very stiff competition.

The Team consists of the following local riders

Natasha Elliot (Ottawa)
Steve Proulx (Ottawa)
Osmond Bakker (Ottawa)
Marc Boudreau (Ottawa)
Vicki Thomas (Ottawa)

Stevenscross.blogspot.com is a newly set up blogspot for the rider's race reports.