Canada names Willock for women's team

Canada's governing cycling body, the Canadian Cycling Association, has announced Erinne Willock as its nominee for the women's road racing team for the upcoming Olympic Games to be held in Beijing, China this August. The 26 year-old joins Alex Wrubleski and Leigh Hobson as the North American nation's women's representitives for the upcoming games.

"I am very excited and proud to be representing Canada at the Olympics," said Willock. "I have been working towards achieving this dream for many years. Canada has an incredibly strong women's team and it is exciting to be a part of it. We've really stepped it up this year and showed we can compete with the best."

Wrubleski and Hobson had been announced as the first two nominees two weeks ago, however an appeal over the third spot prevented it from being confirmed. That appeal has since been dropped allowing Willock, a strong climber, to be confirmed as the third nomination.

Willock has been a national team member since 2000 and raced for Canada at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia in 2006. She placed 10th in the time trial and 11th in the road race there and at last year's UCI World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany she placed 16th.

Willock's father Martin competed in the team trial at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, United States of America. Her uncle Bernie won bronze in the team trial at the 1979 Pan Am Games and was also the 1980 road race national champion.