Canadian National Team Sets Big Targets for the 2022 BMX Season
Ottawa, ON (May 19, 2022) – Following a successful 2021 BMX Racing season that saw Drew Mechielsen (Langley) qualify for the final at the Olympic Games, Molly Simpson win her first Elite World Cup medal and Teigen Pascual (Squamish) finish second at the UCI BMX World Championships, the National Team is setting bigger and bolder objectives for the coming year.
For the first time ever, athletes will be able to compete in the new UCI Under-23 category which will be pivotal for the development of Canada’s young National Team. Both Simpson and Pascual will be strong contenders on the women’s side, while Elite Canadian champion Ryan Tougas (Maple Ridge) and former Junior national champion Curtis Krey will be on the athlete watch list in the men’s competitions. Tokyo 2020 Olympian James Palmer (North Vancouver) will also be representing the maple leaf in the Elite field, where he is targeting his best results yet.
“We’ve had lots of great training at the track in Abbotsford over the winter,” said National Team Coach Adam Muys. “We have a great group of athletes who are highly motivated and improving every day and we’re excited to have integrated seven new Junior and U23 athletes into our daily training environment. Our biggest goal this year is for our National Team athletes to be competitive at the World Cup level and to win medals, while also giving our development athletes invaluable international racing experience.”
The season will encompass a total of eight World Cups, with each country hosting between two and four rounds. Racing kicks off in Glasgow, Great Britain, in late May before moving on to Papendal, The Netherlands, and concluding in Bogota, Colombia in the fall. The team will also be competing at the UCI BMX World Championships in Nantes, France, in July, as well as various domestic competitions throughout the summer. The full calendar of events can be found here.
Source: Cycling Canada
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Cycling Canada is one of the oldest national sport organizations in Canada and has one simple purpose: to inspire Canadians to cycle. Cycling Canada administers programs to promote and grow cycling across the country, hosts national and international events and manages the National Team in all levels of international competition.