Newly-crowned national champions Alison Jackson (Liv Racing) and Guillaume Boivin (Israel Start-Up Nation) will lead the Canadian selection for the elite women's and men's road races at the UCI Road World Championships held in the Flanders region of Belgium later this month.
Team Canada will field 19 athletes across the junior men's and women's, U23 men's, and elite men's and women's categories for events held from September 19-26.
Absent from the start lists will be Michael Woods and James Piccoli (Israel Start-Up Nation), along with Rob Britton (Rally Cycling), who declined their spots on the team.
Woods targeted the Olympic Games in July and recently completed the Tour of Britain where he finished fifth overall on Sunday. He is expected to next compete at the Giro dell’Emilia, Tre Valli Varesine, Milano-Torino and Il Lombardia.
"Although I won’t be taking part in this year’s world champs. I’m getting super excited to watch," said Woods in a post on Twitter, noting that he would be joining FloBikes for commentary during live streaming of some of the events. "Check for all Worlds related action, and a possible appearance, or two, by yours truly."
The men's team will include Boivin, time trial national champion Hugo Houle (Astana-Premier Tech) and Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ) along with Ben Perry (Astana-Premier Tech), Nickolas Zukowsky and Pier-André Côté (both Rally Cycling). Houle and Zukowsky will also compete in the time trial.
Canada qualified three spots for the women and the elite women's road race will consist of the same athletes who represented the nation at the Tokyo Olympic Games - Jackson, Karol-Ann Canuel (SD Worx) and Leah Kirchmann (Team DSM). Canuel and Kirchmann will also compete in the time trial.
Jackson is one of the fast-rising talents on the women's peloton, this year earning a spot to the Olympic Games, winning her first Women's WorldTour stage at Simac Ladies Tour where she finished eighth overall, and she won back-to-back time trial and road race titles at the Canadian Road Championships.
Canadian team for the 2021 UCI Road World Championships
Elite Men Time Trial (September 19): Hugo Houle (Astana-Premier Tech), Nickolas Zukowsky (Rally Cycling)
Elite Women Time Trial (September 20): Karol-Ann Canuel (SD Worx), Leah Kirchmann (Team DSM)
U23 Men Time Trial (September 20): Francis Juneau, Raphael Parisella (Rally Cycling)
Junior Women Time Trial (September 21): Nicole Bradbury, Lilly Ujfalusi (Devo Cannondale)
Junior Men Time Trial (September 21): Dylan Bibic, Michael Leonard
Junior Men Road Race (September 24): Dylan Bibic, Michael Leonard, Quentin Cowan (Z Junior Cycling Team), Julien Matisse (Hot Tubes Cycling)
U23 Men Road Race (September 24): Raphael Parisella (Rally Cycling)
Junior Women Road Race (September 25): Dylan Baker, Nicole Bradbury, Lilly Ujfalusi (Devo Cannondale), Isla Walker (Tripleshot Cycling)
Elite Women Road Race (September 25): Karol-Ann Canuel (SD Worx), Alison Jackson (Liv Racing), Leah Kirchmann (Team DSM)
Elite Men Road Race (September 26): Guillaume Boivin (Israel Start-Up Nation), Pier-André Côté (Rally Cycling), Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ), Hugo Houle (Astana-Premier Tech), Ben Perry (Astana-Premier Tech), Nickolas Zukowsky (Rally Cycling)
