November 21/04 6:39 am - CCA AGM Report, U.S. 'Cross, Hughes Gold in Berlin

Posted by Editor on 11/21/04
 

CCA AGM

The Canadian Cycling Association held its Annual General Meeting today in Toronto. In addition to the Board and Committee elections (see below), the members passed a number of "housekeeping" amendments to the by-laws (to clear up contradictions and clarify early versions). One important point that was discussed was the lack of an audited financial statement for the year ending March 31st.

While a draft statement was presented at the AGM, the lack of an audited one meant that the CCA had their flow of funding from Sport Canada temporarily suspended at the end of the summer, until it could satisfy Sport Canada that the situation was in the process of being rectified.

The CCA Board stated that the Financial Coordinator, Debbie Villeneuve, has been released from her position, and agreed that the situation was unacceptable. A new hire is to be an immediate priority (Acting Director-General Brett Stewart said that the search would commence next week for a permanent replacement, but that contract staff would be hired as soon as possible). The Sport Canada delegate at the AGM stated that they were satisfied that the situation was being dealt with appropriately.

The only other point of interest was that it is pretty much confirmed that a road series will begin next season. The CCA hopes to release a list of events by the beginning of December. There is also still some discussion about dates for Nationals (Road, Mountain and Track), as the organizers and CCA try to avoid conflicts with major international events. Road Nationals will return to Kamloops, BC and Mountain Bike Nationals to Mont Ste Anne, Quebec.

The 2005 AGM is scheduled for Whitehorse, Yukon, and there is a plan to have the 2008 AGM in Quebec City for the 400th anniversary of the city.

The Sport Canada representative announced that they are in the process of updating the sport rankings, which should hopefully move cycling up. In a related note, there is a "significant" injection of High Performance money coming down the pipeline (we heard numbers like $250,000 being bandied about). Finally, the CCA has begun a process of longer term strategic planning, with further meetings to take place in January (this is long overdue, in our opinion).

Elections

Board of Directors

There were seven candidates for four positions (3 two year spots, and 1 one spot):

Andrew Feenstra (Nova Scotia)
Curt Harnett (Ontario)
Aaron Hershoff (Ontario)
Kevin McNaughton (Alberta)
Claude Pagé (Quebec)
John Tolkamp (British Columbia)

Feenstra, McNaughton and Tolkamp won the two year positions, with Hershoff taking the one year spot. They join Lesley Tomlinson (BC), Andreas Hestler (BC, Athletes Rep) and President Bill Kinash (Saskatchewan) on the Board. John Tolkamp is the only returning member.

Committees

There was only one election for Committee positions, with the rest being acclaimed.

On the Events Committee Dave Benson (Manitoba) beat Mathieu Boucher (Quebec) for the Road Member at Large spot. Louis Lalonde (Quebec) is the Road & Track representative for the Officials Committee, Andy Holmwood (Alberta) the Development member of the High Performance Committee and Natasha Word the ACDC Mountain Bike member. Henry Pejril (BC) becomes Chair of the Events Committee, and Louis Barbeau (Quebec) the Chair of the High Performance Committee.


Kona Rules Roost at Crank Brothers Cross Series
Courtesy organizers

Highland Park, NJ ˆ With a second place finish at the Highland Park Cyclocross Race on Sunday, Kona's Ryan Trebon claimed the inaugural Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross and a ticket to the 2005 world championships in St. Wendel, Germany.

Trebon used a mid-race sledge hammer of an attack to shake Canadian Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Giant) ˆ who has held the Crank Brothers leader's jersey since the third leg of the six-race series ˆ and set up his overall victory. The only racer able to cover Trebon's move was GT-Hyundai's Todd Wells, who then repeatedly gapped Trebon through the course's three mud baths and ultimately jumped away for a well-deserved victory.

"This is great," said Wells, the 2001 U.S. national champion. "It feels like I have done 50 of these races and I've finally broken through for a win."

Wells and Trebon were at the front for the entire race. The two were part of a 14-man lead bunch established on the first lap ˆ a group that included all the favorites, including Kabush and Adam Craig (Maxxis Giant), Barry Wicks (Kona), Ben Jacques-Maynes (Sierra Nevada) and Mark McCormack (Clif Bar ˆ Colavita).

Thanks to a torrential rainstorm overnight, much of Sunday's course was raced through ankle-deep mud. After two laps, the 14-man group split in two, and Kabush, Trebon and Wells found themselves with a small but sustainable gap.

"Geoff was riding pretty well the first three laps," said Trebon, who, after five races in the Crank Brothers series, was the only remaining challenger who could pose a challenge to Kabush's lead. "I thought then that it was going to be a pretty tough day."

But in the fourth lap, Kabush inexplicably lost contact with his rival, and fans started counting series points. If Trebon finished second and Kabush third, the Canadian could salvage his series lead. But Kona teammate Wicks came out of nowhere to overtake Kabush and give Trebon the cushion he needed to claim the overall victory. A clearly defeated Kabush could only manage a disappointing eighth on the day.

"I could see what was happening behind me," Trebon said after the race. "I felt a whole lot better once I saw Barry between Geoff and me."

That's because Trebon realized that Sunday was going to belong to his friend Wells. The Durango, Colorado resident was flying through the mud pits and all the transitions on the course and paid close attention to Trebon's reactions. "I could see Ryan was not coming back to me as fast as I expected him to, so I tried to pour it on," Wells said.

There was one unscripted moment when Wells' handlebars got caught up in the tape that lined the course. Wells went down and Trebon essentially ran over him. But both jumped up quickly, remounted and their lead was never really threatened.

Unlike nearly everyone else on the course, Wells never changed his bike. By the race's end, it was caked in mud three inches thick in places.

As for Trebon, he said his trip to World's is by no means certain. "It's been a long season and there's still a couple of months ˆ I really need to think about it," he said. "You know, winning the (Crank Brothers) series is a pretty nice reward in itself."


Hughes Wins World Cup

Clara Hughes won the 3000M title at the speedskating World Cup in Berlin, Germany, earlier today. Hughes also teamed up with Cindy Klassen and Kristina Groves to take the 2400M pursuit title.