Cycling Canada – International high-end bike manufacturer becomes Official Bike Supplier to Canadian Federation

Montreal, June 14, 2017 – Canadian high-end bike manufacturer Argon 18 announced today a multi-year partnership with Cycling Canada. Argon 18 becomes the Official Bike Supplier to Cycling Canada, supplying bikes to Canada’s National Team track, road and para-cycling programs through the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. In addition to the National Team programs the bike company will also supply frames to Team Race Clean, Cycling Canada’s NextGen road and track endurance program.
 
“Argon 18 is a worldwide company, and our roots remain Canadian. It is a natural collaboration to join forces with Cycling Canada, to build the best bikes for the track team, the best road bikes for the road team, and encourage the next generation of cyclists to grow into the sport,” said Gervais Rioux, founder and president of Argon 18 Bikes. “We are proud to support our nation’s top athletes with the best products on the market and help those athletes reach their goals of podiums in Tokyo 2020.”
 
Pierre Lafontaine, CEO of Cycling Canada, shared the federation’s excitement regarding the partnership with the Canadian-based bike company. “We are very pleased to be able to partner with Argon 18. ‘Made in Canada’ is central to our identity and working with Argon 18 proves that our program and our athletes can be among the best in the world with homemade, home-dreamed and home-supported world class bikes,” Lafontaine said.

Photo: Bojan Uzicanin
 
Through this partnership, Argon 18 joins Cycling Canada’s Podium 2020 committee, whose focus is on the development of proprietary, world-class products and technologies for Canadian cycling programs.  Argon 18 will work to develop specific elements for the bikes for the Tokyo Games. The collaboration between Cycling Canada and technology-driven Argon 18 will drive additional innovations for the athletes and their bikes in the years ahead.
 
“Not only is this a fantastic opportunity and partnership for both Cycling Canada and Argon, it is a first for us. Our goal is to place our best athletes on the fastest equipment in Tokyo in 2020. Our partnership with Argon will facilitate that goal through a collaborative effort, developing and engineering a bike that will complement the complete ‘aero package’ we are working towards. I am confident that we will see a beautiful, slick Argon bike delivering us to the podium in 2020,” said Craig Griffin, Head Coach for Cycling Canada’s Women’s Track Endurance program.
 
“We are so pleased to have partnered with Argon 18 for this Olympic and Paralympic cycle. There are added benefits to this partnership for Cycling Canada; on the one hand Argon 18 is a Canadian company that is manufacturing some of the top performing bikes in the world, which means that we will benefit from their existing products that are backed by flawless engineering. On the other hand, being a Canadian company wanting to get more Canadians on the podium, Argon is definitely at the forefront of building a partnership with Cycling Canada to create products to suit our high performance needs,” said Jacques Landry, Chief Technical Officer and Head Coach for Cycling Canada.
 
“Over time, numerous Canadian riders have ridden on Argon 18 bikes. For me personally, it’s a return to the team I spent 10 years of my professional career racing with,” Rioux added. “Today I come full circle back to Cycling Canada with the same pride I had when I was riding, now as the bike manufacturer.”
 
About Argon 18
Established in Montreal, Canada, in 1989, Argon 18 has built itself a strong reputation in the cycling world. Guided by Olympian and 3-time Canadian Champion Gervais Rioux, one of the most successful North-American racers of his generation, the manufacturing of all Argon 18 bikes is the result of brilliant expertise. The sophisticated and inventive design of Argon 18 bikes is based on handling, aerodynamics, and human performance at its core, fully in line with the morphology of each cyclist. All Argon 18 bikes integrate cutting-edge technologies, and are designed and developed in Canada. Argon 18 bikes are now distributed around the world in more than 70 countries. www.argon18bike.com
 
About Cycling Canada
Cycling Canada is the governing body for competitive cycling in Canada. Founded in 1882, Cycling Canada aims to create and sustain an effective system that develops talented Canadian cyclists to achieve Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championship medal performances. With the vision of being a leading competitive cycling nation by 2020 celebrating enhanced international success, increased national participation and world class event hosting, Cycling Canada manages the High Performance team, hosts national and international events and administers programs to promote and grow cycling across the country. Cycling Canada programs are made possible through the support of its valued corporate partners – Global Relay, Lexus Canada, Mattamy Homes, Louis Garneau and Bear Mountain Resort – along with the Government of Canada, Own The Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee. www.cyclingcanada.ca
 

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Source: Kelly Reed – Communications | Argon 18 | kelly@argon18bike.com
Information: Karine Bedard l Cycling Canada l 438-884-8771 l karine.bedard@cyclingcanada.ca