DEVO – Escape Velocity’s youth development team – had a fantastic 2015. Supported by an exceptional coaching staff, the club continued to grow its membership to close to 60 riders across the disciplines of track, road, mountain and cyclocross.
Many of the club’s young athletes had breakout seasons this year. Emily Handford won both mountain bike events at the Western Canada Summer Games, and placed second at the 2015 Canadian Mountain Bike Championships. Her performances earned her a spot on Team Canada for the 2015 UCI World Mountain Bike Championships and qualified her for Cycling Canada’s NextGen program in 2016.
Fergus Horrobin garnered a spot on Team BC for both the 2015 Canadian Road Championships and the Tour de L’Abitibi, with standout time trial performances. In only his first year in the U19 category, he finished 11th at the National Championships, and went on to be recognized for his aggressive racing at the Tour de L’Abitibi.
Margaret Ovenell qualified for a spot on BC’s Team Pursuit squad at the 2015 Canadian Track Championships in Milton Ontario, where she won a silver medal. Finally, Angela Law, who only just began racing in 2014, demonstrated remarkable improvement during the year, garnering her a spot on Team BC for the Western Canada Summer Games.
In all, DEVO team members won 3 Western Canada Summer Games medals, 14 provincial titles, and over 30 provincial championship medals.
Looking forward to 2016, the club is excited to partner with Fortius Sport and Health as presenting sponsor. Fortius has already been integral in preparing the athletes for the year ahead with weekly strength and conditioning sessions and physiology testing. They are also bolstering the program by hosting weekly education sessions where DEVO’s riders learn about a wide range of topics from nutrition, to mental preparation, to goal setting. The team is also looking forward to growing the program and getting more kids to experience racing bikes in a fun and supportive environment.
DEVO is actively recruiting riders for its U13 and U15 programs in all disciplines. If you know a child in the lower mainland between the ages of 9 and 13 who might be interested in getting started in bike racing – be it road, track, mountain or cyclocross – please contact Andrew Pinfold at devocycling@gmail.com. No bike? No problem! The club has a fleet of loaner bikes for kids to use and kids are welcome to try the program for 3 sessions free of charge without any obligations to join.
2015 DEVO Coaches
Alison Sydor
Olympic medalist and multiple world champion, Sydor is both a coaching mentor and assistant coach.
Andrew Pinfold
Former professional road cyclist, Pinfold is the program’s head coach and technical director.
Amanda Sin
Former National Team member and Pam-Am Games Medalist, Sin is DEVO’s head mountain bike coach and also works with our U13 cyclocross riders.
Bob Welbourn
Current National Masters Cyclocross Champion, Welbourn is the Cyclocross program’s advanced rider coach.
Erich Harvey
Harvey is the head U13 road coach and manages the club’s communications.
Jay Loder
Loder is DEVO’s U17/U19 coach on the road and works with our intermediate level cyclocross riders.
Tim Sherstobitoff
Sherstobitoff serves as both the head U15 coach on the road, and head track coach for the program.
Mike Rothengatter
Rothengatter supports Tim as the U15 road assistant coach.
About DEVO
DEVO is the youth-development team of Escape Velocity. DEVO stands for development and Escape Velocity. The goal of the program is to provide members of all cycling abilities with a full spectrum of rider education, both on and off the bike.
Since its inception in 1999, DEVO has grown into one of Canada’s premiere youth development cycling programs. It has fostered athlete development from complete beginners up to national champions racing professionally. DEVO serves a fundamental role in rider education, providing a positive and fun team atmosphere for riders to develop not only bike skills and fitness, but also the mental skills and abilities to persevere through challenges, be part of a team, and realize both personal and team goals.
For more information about DEVO, visit Escape Velocity’s site here.
