canadian cycling

When Devon Clarke lined up for the national gravel championship race this past April, most riders and fans didn’t really know how fast she was. Sure, she’d won the provincial road race the previous summer, but still, she wasn’t as well known as her competitors Maghalie Rochette and Ruby West. At the end of the 108-km event in Ancaster, Ont., Clarke became the country’s first national gravel champion, a year after she started racing bikes seriously. Since then, she’s won the Blue Mountains Gravel Fondo—which qualifies her for the gravel world championships in Italy this October—and the Reggie Ramble. She now has her sights set on bigger gravel events. Find out more about this rider from Collingwood, Ont.

How did Derek Gee do it? How did he get into breakaway after breakaway at the recent Giro d’Italia? And what’s next for the Ottawa rider who impressed and entertained throughout his first Grand Tour? In this in-depth interview, Gee analyzes his four second-place stage finishes. He also talks about the feisty young Israel-Premier Tech squad that made it to Rome, the state of his apartment following his arrival from the Giro, getting slapped in the face, telling Thibaut Pinot to cool it, his relationship with mountains and what type of rider he might be able to become.

As Hugo Houle crossed the line in Foix on July 19, he pointed to the sky. He had accomplished a goal he had had for close to 10 years: win a Tour de France stage for his brother, Pierrik, who died after being struck by a vehicle while he was out for a jog. In this episode, find out what went into that victory, the decisions made out on the road and how a rider can be transformed. Featuring Houle himself, Michael Woods, Steve Bauer and Antoine Duchesne.

This past June, Maggie Coles-Lyster won the national championship road race and the national championship criterium. Of the two results, the crit win was possibly less of a surprise. Coles-Lyster has been on the podium at American Criterium Cup races regularly throughout the past two years. Still, she’s no stranger to longer road events, including the Joe Martin Stage Race where she took the young rider’s jersey in 2021. In this episode, Coles-Lyster looks at the significance of both her national championships titles.

The rider from Maple Ridge, B.C., has also had much success on the track. In fall 2021, she competed in the UCI Track Cycling Champions League, where she won the first scratch race of the series. In 2017, she won the points race at the junior track world championships. As this episode comes out, she’s racing on the track (and road) at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

In this conversation, Coles-Lyster also discusses the vibe in the U.S. crit scene, a competitive approach to yoga, dissecting salmon and the races she’ll take on later this year.