Canadian Cycling Magazine Podcast

If you’re on top of your Canadian Cycling Magazine Podcast listening, you’ll recall that Guillaume Boivin was on this past summer. He was in the midst of his first Tour de France, while also looking forward to his first Olympic appearance. He was on track for a very good season. And then, things got really good. In mid-September, he won his second elite national road race championship. Later that month, he got a top-20 result at the world championships. Then, Boivin had a fantastic ride at Paris-Roubaix, finishing ninth, which is one of the best results by a Canadian ever at the Hell of the North. Could this have been his best season ever? In this episode, the Montreal rider on Israel Start-up Nation looks back at the highs, and heartbreak, from the 2021 road season.

At the beginning of September, the two young riders won rainbow jerseys at the junior track world championships in Cairo. Carson Mattern won gold in the scratch race and Dylan Bibic won the points race. They took home some other hardware, too. Mattern and Bibic got bronze in the madison and Bibic was in second place in the omnium.

If you’ve been keeping an eye on junior and under-17 racing, you’ll know that Bibic has an unofficial under-17 world record in the 2-km individual pursuit. At the 2019 Canadian track championships, he won seven gold, two silver and bronze. He set Canadian records in the 200 metre time trial and the team sprint, too. Mattern is also no stranger to the podium. He’s been racing steadily from an early age and is a diligent and dedicated athlete.

Bibic is 18 years old and from Mississauga, Ont., just west of Toronto. Mattern is 17, from Ancaster, Ont., close to Hamilton. They’ve both benefited from the legacies of major cycling events held in that province. Mattern has raced for NCCH, the National Cycling Centre Hamilton. That organization grew out of the world road cycling championships that were held in Hamilton in 2003. Both riders have honed their track riding skills on the velodrome in Milton, Ont., which was built for the 2015 Pan Am Games. Those events and their influence have had real positive effects on the cycling careers of these two riders.

Mattern and Bibic discuss the challenges and successes of racing in Cairo, and its overall importance. Remember, junior racing has been hit harder with cancellations than elite level racing throughout the pandemic. The two very ambitious and talented riders also speak about their future goals.

You know Jenn Jackson. She races cross country at the World Cup level, she digs cyclocross, she’s a bike mechanic, she sometimes bakes cookies and hands them out at events. And she’s all around into bikes.

Canadian Cycling Magazine editor Matthew Pioro spoke with Jackson not long after she returned from her second trip to Europe this year where she had raced the cross country world championships and the Lenzerheide World Cup. She was at her home in Horseshoe Valley, near Barrie, Ont., for a bit. Now, as this episode is coming out, she’s getting ready for the final World Cup of the season in Snowshoe, W. Va., and then is on to cross country nationals. It’s been a long season for Jackson.

Jackson has a lot of respect for Canada’s tradition and strength in the field of cross country mountain biking. But she’s concerned as things seem to be waning when it comes to results. She feels an internal pressure to carry on the legacy of riders, such as Catharine Pendrel, Marie-Hélène Prémont, Chrissy Redden and Alison Sydor.

While there is deep reflection on the season’s ups and downs, Jackson is also still having fun. Remember the Hawaiian shirt she wore at cyclocross races? That comes up as well as possible sartorial options for this year’s CX season. So have a listen to the ever-insightful Jenn Jackson.

Lately, on this podcast, the focus has been on athletes, on their successes, challenges and just what makes them tick. But this episode is a bit different. The discussion gets into just what makes bikes tick.

A few days ago, bike component maker Shimano launched its updated version of both the Dura-Ace and Ultegra road groupsets. It’s a big deal. These are the brand’s top and second-from-the-top component lines. You see the pros riding Dura-Ace in the major races. Calling Ultegra “second-tier” doesn’t do the lineup justice. Ultegra parts are usually pretty much the same as Dura-Ace, just a bit heavier and often friendlier on the wallet.

This episode's guests are Nick Legan and Dave Lawrence. Nick is the road brand manager at Shimano and Dave is the road product manager. (Nick says that they both love road and managing.) Dave is actually more involved in the nitty-gritty of making road components, while Nick’s priorities are letting people know about them. Dave cooks the steak, Nick sells the sizzle, if you will. They are both incredibly knowledgeable about bike components and their design.

What does Dura-Ace mean to the world of road cycling? How much did road group developers steal from the mountain bike side? What were some of the ideas that led to some of the newest features like wireless shifters, wired derailleurs and updated braking dynamics? These are just some of the questions that come up in the discussion.

Time to get techy.

Tristen Chernove is back at the Paralympics for a second time. He’ll be competing in all the cycling disciplines that he can—the road race, the time trial, and on the track, the pursuit and the kilo. In this episode he’ll preview a bit of what lies ahead at the Games.

In 2009, Chernove was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome. It’s a degenerative disease that affects the nervous system. The nerves start losing their ability to transmit signals. Chernove had been active all his life. He competed in whitewater paddling and even FireFit competitions for firefighters. Roughly six years after his diagnosis, his competitive nature had him riding the track and road as a paracyclist.

Chernove is classified as a C2 athlete. That means he rides a regular bike, as opposed to a tandem, tricycle or hand-cycle. The number in the classification indicates the level of limitations the riders have. C5 athletes, for example, have fewer limitations in their lower or upper limbs than C2 athletes. You’ll find out why Chernove might be reclassified in Tokyo.

Chernove is incredibly driven. He started a company that now manages the airport in Cranbrook, B.C. Juggling the duties of a CEO and a top athlete leads to late-night training sessions. But there’s a price for all that. In this interview, Chernove, quite candidly, delves into the strain all his commitments put on his family, that is, his wife and two girls, who are 14 and 11 years old.

The rider has 13 rainbow jerseys and he’s kind of lost track of which one goes with which win. Yet, his cycling ambitions go beyond his own victories, and they are centred on the roads and trails of Cranbrook. You find out what he hopes to accomplish while working with organizations like the Kootenay Adaptive Sport Association.

“Peter, how am I going to win this race tomorrow?”

It’s a question that Carter Woods occasionally asks his Norco Factory teammate, Peter Disera. It may seem a bit cheeky, but it leads to a discussion of race tactics and strategy. As Woods mentions in this interview, you can’t win World Cup races with sheer pedal power. Earlier this year, Woods nailed the race tactics on two notable occasions.

From about mid-April to July, Woods and his cross country team had a long European campaign, competing in a variety of events, including four World Cup races. Woods won the under-23 race in Albstadt, Germany—his first World Cup win and the first World Cup win by an elite Canadian man since Geoff Kabush won in Bromont in 2009. Then, just a week after Albstadt, Woods won another World Cup, Nové Město in the Czech Republic.

The Cumberland, B.C., native also speaks about the racing scene on Vancouver Island, which was important in his development as a rider. There’s some cyclocross talk, too. Remember, he’s the 2018 junior national champion.

The discussion starts with bikepacking. Before the interview, Woods had just gotten back from a tour on the island. It was a way to explore his home turf and prepare for the second part of his season.

Tristen Chernove is heading back to the Paralympics for a second time: he’s off to Tokyo later in August. He’ll be competing in all the cycling disciplines that he can—the road race, the time trial, and on the track, the pursuit and the kilo. In this episode he’ll preview a bit of what lies ahead at the Games.

In 2009, Chernove was diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome. It’s a degenerative disease that affects the nervous system. The nerves start losing their ability to transmit signals. Chernove had been active all his life. He competed in whitewater paddling and even FireFit competitions for firefighters. Roughly six years after his diagnosis, his competitive nature had him riding the track and road as a paracyclist.

Chernove is classified as a C2 athlete. That means he rides a regular bike, as opposed to a tandem, tricycle or hand-cycle. The number in the classification indicates the level of limitations the riders have. C5 athletes, for example, have fewer limitations in their lower or upper limbs than C2 athletes. You’ll find out why Chernove might be reclassified in Tokyo.

Chernove is incredibly driven. He started a company that now manages the airport in Cranbrook, B.C. Juggling the duties of a CEO and a top athlete leads to late-night training sessions. But there’s a price for all that. In this interview, Chernove, quite candidly, delves into the strain all his commitments put on his family, that is, his wife and two girls, who are 14 and 11 years old.

The rider has 13 rainbow jerseys and he’s kind of lost track of which one goes with which win. Yet, his cycling ambitions go beyond his own victories, and they are centred on the roads and trails of Cranbrook. You find out what he hopes to accomplish while working with organizations like the Kootenay Adaptive Sport Association.

Guillaume Boivin is toughing it out now in the final stages of the Tour de France. He's faced crashes, heat, mountain climbs and a lack of vegetables. Listen to find out exactly what's going on with his diet.

Boivin also discusses the Olympics. Near the beginning of July, he was named as the third rider, after Michael Woods and Hugo Houle, who will be at the road race in Tokyo. While still in the midst of his first Tour, Boivin looks ahead to his next big objective. In a way, the two events are similar: Boivin's role is to help Woods cross the finish line first.

Boivin has been with the team Israel Start-Up Nation in its various forms since 2016. Before that he did a season with U.S. team Optum presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies. There were also two years on the Cannondale WorldTour team with riders such as Peter Sagan, Matej Mohorič and Elia Viviani. Going way back, Boivin was on the influential Canadian pro continental squad SpiderTech. In 2010, he famously tied for third-place with Taylor Phinney at the under-23 world championship road race.

While Boivin loves to mix it up in a bunch sprint, throughout the past few years, he’s developed into a skilled support rider with a range of abilities. Take the current Tour de France, for example. Boivin’s first job has been to help a climber like Michael Woods with his goals of stage wins and the KOM jersey. Yet, Boivin can also help out a fast man like André Greipel.

The Tour de France is stressful for riders. But was Boivin dealing with an added stress at the start of the Tour? He’s a big hockey fan and his team is the Montreal Canadiens. (Also, make sure to listen to this story of Boivin's about catching a Habs game in Montreal with Sagan.) The Tour started just before the Stanley Cup finals got underway. With the time difference between France and North America, was Boivin losing precious sleep over his struggling Habs? That's where the conversation begins with this very Canadian rider.

Adam de Vos can throw a punch. Most cyclists, it seems, can’t. Every few years though, there’s a dust-up in the peloton. It’s always a bit shocking, while the riders’ technique is usually cringeworthy.

“That’s what I’m training for: that one time that it goes down in a race,” deadpans de Vos in his interview. “No. I’m just kidding,” he adds quickly.

The rider from Victoria has been a pro since 2015. His results have largely been at a simmer and occasionally bubble up. He won a 1.2 level one-day race in Austria in 2017. That year, he led an important race in the North American scene: the Joe Martin Stage Race. He was at the top of the GC for most of the event. In 2018, de Vos won a stage of the Tour of Langkawi and held the yellow jersey for two days. But, as with most riders, the results only tell part of the story.

Find out more about the long-reigning national champ Adam de Vos as he talks boxing, wine and especially cycling.

National road race champion Karol-Ann Canuel has held the maple-leaf jersey since 2019  – thanks to the pandemic. In this episode, she speaks about why it’s somewhat just that she still has the jersey that she’s so proud to wear.

Canuel has been competing since she was 11. She came up through the influential Club cycliste d’Amos. She was fifth at the junior world championship road race in 2006. She has seen women’s road cycling evolve from the final days of races such as  le Tour de Grand Montreal  and le Tour de PEI to where it is today, a much more professional discipline. Still, there are things Canuel feels are missing in the Women’s WorldTour

In late May, Canuel had just helped her teammate Anna van der Breggen take a stage win and the race overall at the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas. Soon after, Canuel left for altitude to train for the Tokyo Olympics. Find out what’s ahead for this rider who has stood on the podium here in Canada and on the world stage. Will Canuel continue to race beyond 2021?