Team Canada to be selected Monday
The fifth and final mountain bike events of the Canada Cup series this weekend at Sun Peaks Resort has been cancelled, due to the forest fires in the area.
The Canadian Cycling Association monitored the situation closely before making the announcement on Tuesday.
According to the CCA, there was a one hour evacuation alert in effect for the area, and vehicle access to the area was restricted. In addition there was a general access ban to all the recreational areas surrounding Kamloops due to the dry and volatile conditions. With no relief in sight, the event organizers were forced to cancel.
The final Canada Cup event is important for the overall standings in cross-country and downhill mountain bike racing, but they will not have a bearing on the CCA’s selection of athletes to Team Canada for the upcoming UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Kaprun, Austria this September.
"With the deadline we have to meet, the Canada Cup results don’t have any bearing on who is selected to Team Canada," said Sean O’Donnell, the high performance coordinator for the CCA.
Several Whistler athletes are in contention this year, and CCA members on Thursday and Friday this week to review results from the competitive season and decide who will qualify for Team Canada. National team coaches, including Whistler’s Chris Colbeck with the downhill team, also have some input on the final team, which will include up to 50 athletes in the downhill, cross-country and four-cross disciplines.
The athletes will and provincial cycling associations will be informed on Monday, Aug. 11.
