The trip started a little differently from a dream for what is called the “Atlantic Dream Team” at the Tour de Guadeloupe. Actually, 3 days later, we are still recovering physically and especially mentally from what we’d rather call a nightmare. After about 30 hours of delayed flights, lost baggages, airport time, the team was welcomed in Guadeloupe by, not the organizers, but the custom agents! This was very serious; the biggest local team was caught with EPO and was arrested that same morning. Now, the procedures are on, everyone is completely searched with no exception! This is when the Canadian representatives lost there vitamins! This process is so complicated that, to this date, we still have some missing baggages, namely our tool box and our water bottles! Try to race at 37 degree with no water bottle! The race finally started for the team composed of Dustin MacBurnie, Ryan Belliveau, Garrett McLeod, Ryan Taylor, André Tremblay (replacing his sick team mate Geoff O’Toole), and Cam Evans (replacing his teammate Christian Meier who has now signed with Garmin, and not allowed to race this event). Under pissing rain, we attacked the prologue with not too much expectations, but I think frustration more then anything else. Performance was nothing short of great. All our boys were in the top 17, including a 9th position for Garrett McLeod who immediately took the Espoir (U23) jersey! In fact, this was a little too good and we were marked for the 1st stage. 37 degree was the temperature on the road at the start of the grueling 170 km stage one. Early on, about 25 guys went up the road to battle the formation of the decisive breakaway. Our boys did very well once again by sending four of us to the battle field (Belliveau, Evans, MacBurnie, McLeod). After about 50 km, the selection was clear, 10 riders were left, including Evans. Now, the complicated job of car feeding startsed! On these small roads and lack of cooperation from the local teams, it became very, and I mean very, hard to cover all our boys. No feed zones were established to help us either. In my 10 years in the caravan, I’ve never seen anything like it! It took me over 40 kms to finally feed my 6 guys spread in three groups; in the heat, not funny! The “non-cooperation” got even worst when I was covering the break and Garrett punctured. Not a single local team, including neutral support, offered the young leader a wheel. When I came back to the main pack - and of course, race radio (every team vehicle is offered a radio to communicate with the organization) was not working - I did not know where he was or what had happened the him. We waited for the next group to come by, and we then figured he was with the broom wagon and was either sick from the heat or was riding slowly to the finish to rest it up for the next day. Overall, we served over 60 water bottles, meaning more then 10 each rider on the hard day. “Luc, this is crazy, everyone race this first stage like if was a one day race;” MacBurnie was saying after crossing the finish line. When we got the final results, Evans was 6th for the day, and now lies in 5th overall. Taylor, MacBurnie and Tremblay finished in the back at 6 minutes and Belliveau was a little back as he flatted 50 km from the finish. After many questions to the organizers and commissaires to know where McLeod was, we finally got a set of wheels that was his… but not the body. I seriously started to get worried, but finally someone told me he was in another bus with the volunteers. When he showed up, he explained his whole story. 45 minutes on the side of the road, and not a single team car, nor neutral, offered him a wheel! Once the broom wagon showed up, they did not have any wheel either! He had no choice but to abandon the race with a leader’s jersey on his shoulder. Disappointing for him, but embarrassing for the organizer who did not know what to say about it. We (organizer and other foreign teams) tried everything possible to get him back into the race, but not much we can do since he did not cross the finish line on his bike. Today, a double day awaits us with a 100km circuit race and a 30 km Team time trial. Our team is pumped for the TTT, even without our strongest TT rider. We’ll show them not to cooperate! This project is made possible under the Centre’s Selection program, sponsored by Giant, Nelsons, Yakima, Croissant Soleil, Université de Moncton, Shimano and Gu. For this special project, we also want to send a special thank you to some very special donations which made it possible for us to get here: - Terry Tomlin Sport Marketing - Nick and Cory Jay - Gavin Giles - Mike’s Bike Shop (who also supplied TJ Worden-Rogers as a mechanic) - Velo NB - Cycling PEI - Bicycle NS

Group A 1. Julien Cormier 2. Sarah Martini Group B 1. Luc Comeau 2. Ian Myatt 3. Odette Comeau Group C 1.Jean Richard Cormier 2. Ryan S MacDonald 3. Ben Green Group C 1. Jean Richard Cormier 2. Ryan S MacDonald 3. Ben Green

Due to crummy weather we had to do the prologue on the road. Here are the times and the category groups for tomorrow's road race in Pre d'en Haut: Name 2000.0000 rank group Stuart Wight 2.2593 1 A Alain Goguen 2.2902 2 A Adam Douthwright 2.3043 3 A Don Ricker 2.3424 4 A Jean Richard Cormier 2.3427 5 A Charles Blanchet-Levesque 2.3443 6 A Paul Goobie 2.3458 7 A Charles Cormier 2.3690 8 A Mike Leblanc 2.3849 9 A Denis Hebert 2.3958 10 A Jeff Currie 2.3962 11 A Pablo Vergera 2.4221 12 B Todd MacKenzie 2.4524 13 B Jean Leger 2.4621 14 B Ryan MacDonald 2.4718 15 B Patrice Boudreau 2.5008 16 B Zuzana Ecerova 2.5218 17 B Justin Mallet 2.5814 18 B Michelle Chase 2.5849 19 B Melanie Bordage 3.0074 20 B Andre Hebert 3.0822 21 B Julien Roussel 3.3704 22 B Caroline Belliveau 4.0700 B Guy Pellerin 4.0700 B Philippe Theriault 4.0700 B

It's not raining in Dieppe at the moment (6:50 AM) so we look okay for BMX. Velodrome status will be updated by 8:00 AM

The forecast changes by the minute so we will have to wait and see as regards both the morning BMX races and the track 101 course - check back here at 7:30 in the morning for updates. It is clear right now so both BMX and velodrome are a go for practice rides tonight from 6-8 PM

MBS Cup crits start on Tuesday - we are going to try a new course. It is on Grand Trunk Ave which is off Millenium Boulevard (formerly Pacific Ave) -. It's right across from the Tim Horton's Four Plex entry for thoe of you that play hockey. So Tuesday Aug 5 - registration at 6:00, race at 6:30. $5.00 entry - all welcome.

closed due to heavy rain

The BMX track will be open Aug 1 from 2-4 PM and again from 6- 8 PM for riders who wish to practise and get used to the track in advance of the Speed Warp weekend races on Saturday morning. Anyone wishing to access the velodrome during those hours should contact Sheila at the ACC to arrange to have the track open - this offer is available only to riders with track experience - track 101 will be offered for new riders on Saturday morning as per the Speed Warp schedule

Want to support the National Cycling Development Centre? And look pretty cool at the same time? Get your own genuine ACC team issue jersey for only $80. We also have very cool toques for only $30. Interested? - contact Sheila at 877-7809 or sheila@atlanticcyclingcentre.com for sizes

The Speed warp weekend (August 2 & 3) technical document is now available. This document included all the regulations and description of the events. That weekend will include BMX, Track and Road Racing, fun for everyone. Note we will have a special 300$ gift certificate (Mike's Bike Shop) for every participant in the 2000m prologue!

release by Symmetrics Cycling July 23, 2008 (Vancouver, BC) – Less than three weeks ago Sussex, New Brunswick's Christian Meier won the 2008 Canadian Road Championships in Saint Georges, Quebec. He was the first rider from Atlantic Canada to ever win the Canadian road championships - and he did it on the heels of winning the Under 23 Championship in 2007. Now Meier has more good news as he has signed on to be a 'stagiaire' with the leading US team, Garmin-Chipotle presented by H3O, for the remainder of 2008. Team Garmin-Chipotle is currently riding at the Tour de France. Canada's Ryder Hesjedal from BC also rides for Team Garmin-Chipotle - ed. When Meier joins the team in early August he will be competing in the highest echelons of the sport. "Riding pro in Europe is every biker's dream," said Meier, "I can't wait. Garmin has a fantastic program. They're doing everything right and culturally it will be a good fit," adds Meier. Team Garmin-Chipotle is an American team with North American style management and a strong commitment to clean sport. Meier is no stranger to Europe however, last year at the Road World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany he was Canada's strongest under 23 (Espoir) rider featuring in several pivotal attacks in the race’s closing kilometers before finishing in the lead group of riders. In April's Under 23 World Cup race in Belgium - the classic Liege Bastogne Liege - Meier finished 7th. Those results, coupled with a slew of strong performances over Meier's last three seasons racing with his current Symmetrics Cycling Team, have made more than one European-based team director take note of the young Canadian. Last October, Meier finished second overall in the five-day Vuelta Chihuahua International race in Mexico. Team Garmin - then team Slipstream Chipotle - was at that race with its Danish Director Johnny Weltz. Meier actually finished the mountainous Chihuahua tour tied for overall time with Spain's Francisco Mancebo. But Mancebo edged Meier for the win on stage points. It is extremely rare in professional cycling for races to be decided this way - normally after a week of hard racing, race times will separate competitors. Mancebo formerly finished fourth in the Tour de France - professional cycling's marquee event. Chihuahua featured seven European team entries including Saunier-Duval, a pro tour team. When Weltz saw Meier's grinta in Mexico, he knew the young man had what it takes to make it in the climbing-intensive races of Europe's professional racing circuit. A 'stagiaire' position is like a try-out. Meier has no guarantees he'll be riding with Team Garmin-Chipotle in 2009. But it's an important first step. The team will be looking for Meier to ride well, integrate with his team mates and demonstrate he has the capacity to be a solid team player. Meier is scheduled to race the tours of Limousin and Poitou-Charentes in France before returning to North America for September's Tour of Missouri. Meier's season is set to end with the prestigious classic Giro di Lombardia in Italy. As the newly crowned 2008 National Road Champion Meier will wear a special jersey with a maple leaf design. This will be the first time since 1997 that the Canadian Road Champion's jersey has seen action at a pro level in Europe. "This is a fantastic validation of our program," said Kevin Field, Meier's director on the Symmetrics team. "It’s our goal to develop Canadian cycling by building our team and its individual talents. Ideally we build our team on the same trajectory as our athletes, if we can't do that, we are very proud to see them move on to the highest levels of the sport." The Symmetrics Cycling Team has had tremendous success in the past three seasons. Last year the team won the UCI Americas Continental Tour - for professional teams competing in North and South America. Team Garmin-Chipotle regularly competes on the Europe Tour and Pro Tour, higher rated competitions in cycling's traditional hot-spots of western Europe. With their European focus and recent multimillion dollar signing of Garmin as title sponsor, Team Garmin-Chipotle is on the trajectory Meier needs in his pursuit of cycling success. "It is our long-term goal to be where Garmin is right now," adds Field, "Realistically we're not there yet. It’s all still in the works but it takes some time and sponsor relationships that we haven't established yet. It’s definitely positive for us as we can leverage this with our partners to show we have credibility when we say our goal is to develop athletes and a program at that top level." About Team Garmin-Chipotle To find out more about Team Garmin-Chipotle visit www.slipstreamsports.com About the Symmetrics Cycling Team To find out more about Team Symmetrics visit www.symmetricscycling.com More About Christian Meier Follow Christian from his personal website: www.bikingbros.com

Four riders from the Centre's Provincial Tier program are competing in the 2008 Tour De L'Abitibi. Jean Richard Cormier (NB), Andrew L'Esperance (NS, Derek Hughes (PEI) and Kyle Kneabone (PEI) left from Dieppe on Tuesday for the long drive to one of the world's top Junior races. The riders are accompanied by their team director Sacha LeBlanc. The four will be riding for the Quebec based Elicycle-Kuota-Apogee team; a team that often partners with the ACC to provide excellent competitive experiences for riders from the region. SO good luck to all our boys - watch for race reports!

The track is a bit rain roughened but it's dry so tonight is a go!

Mike’s Bike Shop Cup Week 9 results – July 22, 2008 The Mike’s Bike Shop Cup series held the third and final track race on Tuesday on the Caisse Populaire Velodrome in Dieppe. The events held for this week were match sprints followed by a 20 lap scratch race. The overall winner for the evening was Alain Goguen. Goguen arrived at the track just in time to race having driven all day from Bromont Quebec where he had been to compete in the Quebec Provincial Track Championships – an event at which he placed well taking second in the Kilo and third in the 200 m. Despite the tired legs from the drive, Goguen proved his strength on the track, easily beating all comers in the match sprit and taking a close second place to cadet rider Stuart Wight in the scratch race. Even with a heavy handicap Goguen remained in top place after the race was handicapped. Series leader Derek Keith held his top spot in the overall series by finishing 5th and gaining 70 points for the night – Keith now leads Mike LeBlanc by 215 points as LeBlanc was not present on the track last night. The Mike’s Bike Shop Cup is a series of weekly races held on Tuesdays nights at 6:30pm. The series also includes criteriums, BMX and cyclocross events to be held later in the summer and fall. The overall winner of the series will pick a charitable organization to which a donation from the registration proceeds will be made. The series takes a week off and resumes with criterium races starting on August 5. Race details will be available on the Atlantic Cycling Centre website next week. Go to www.AtlanticCyclingCentre.com for more information. Full results – with handicap applied: Name adjusted pts 1 Alain Goguen 3.60 2 Charles Cormier 6.00 3 Ian Dennis 7.20 4 Stuart Wight 8.00 5 Derrick Keith 10.40 6 Jeff Currie 11.00 7 Jean Leger 11.05 8 Pablo Vergera 11.70 8 Philippe Theriault 11.70 10 Denis Hebert 12.00 11 Melanie Bordage 12.50 12 Don Ricker 14.40 13 Patrice Boudreau 14.95

Well it's dry for the moment so the plan is we will attempt to have the MBS Cup track race tonight - same time same place - event TBA (first rider here with their $5.00 bucks gets to pick - no Stuart we are not doing a madison)6:00 PM registration - 6:30 race