January 19/09 9:29 am - New Canadian DH Team Launches

Posted by Editoress on 01/19/09
 

New Canadian DH Team Launches

It is with great pleasure that we announce today the creation of a new DH race team in Canada. The Xprezo / Impact Designs / NOVATEC Racing Team originated from the mind of Patrick Bisson (Team Manager) and Jean-Philippe Simard (Team Manager & Team Mechanic). The main reason behind this project was to help some of Quebec best DH athletes to develop themselves in order to achieve their goals and participate/perform at 2010 UCI World Championships that will be held here in Mont-Ste-Anne, where all eyes will be turned towards Canadian & mainly Quebec own athletes.

"We have a long term objective for our athletes. We want to offer them all the support they need - technical, financial and logistic - which should help them to reach their personal goals for the next two years. We picked our athletes based out of their past results, but mainly for their potential, their attitude, the intensity they put in their training and the implication in the community and the biking world. We also believe that it is important for an athlete to be able to count on some stability and the confidence he gets from his team mates and managers, so we opted for racers that were ready to help each other out and work together towards their mutual development; either at the races or during their daily training."

Based out of Quebec, this new race team will be competing in the Canada Cup Series, the Quebec Cup Series, World Cups, Crankworx and a few other races.

Athletes

Yann Gauvin: Gold medalist at last summer Junior Canadian Championships, Yann as shown his incredible talent to everybody not only recently but since the beginning of his career. Yann has a motivation to perform; he was selected on the National Team in 2008 and his 23rd position at last year UCI World Championships, his first ever international race, shows just how much he can perform under pressure. His implication as a BMX coach for the youngsters also proves that he is a good ambassador for the sport.

Marie-Eve Marcotte: Bronze medalist at last year Canadian Championships, Marie-Eve has huge determination and loads of talent. She was also selected on the National Team in 2008, and managed to finish in the Top 20 at a World Cup as well as securing a 4th place during the US Open. Her unique way to demonstrate her passion to the media and to newcomers made our choice even easier when it was time to select our athletes.


Official Team Sponsors

Xprezo - A Quebec based team needed nothing less than a frame manufacturer from Quebec. Based out of Sheford, near the mountain bike mecca that is Bromont, Xprezo will provide our racers with their new flagship DH bike platform, the Furax. All of Xprezo's frames are developed and custom hand build by biking enthusiasts. These people are passionate by cyclists of any kind especially those who represent them. Thus, we are very proud to become a new member of their family.

Impact Designs - With its solid reputation and its multiple creations traveling around the world, especially on the World Cup circuit, our renown airbrush artist decided to partner up with this project in order to support Quebec's fastest racers. The originality of his designs and above all the quality of his work will help to give our team bikes and helmets that special and authentic touch.

Novatec - Novatec is an experienced company within the cycling world. Established in 1971 in Taiwan, they have build up a reputation for high-quality hubs and wheel set through out the years. Without settling for OK quality hubs, they have a product ready to compete against the top brands of the sport. They were seduce by our project and decided to join the team supplying us with wheel sets for our Furax team bike.

Additional sponsors:

Dakine (Riding gear & Apparel)
Oakley & Fox Eyewear (Goggles)
NSK (Bearings)
Gamut USA (Chain guides & Chain rings)