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Courtenay rider joins Cycling Canada coaching team

Cycling Canada has hired former professional road cyclist Nigel Ellsay of Courtenay for the position of national team coach – road lead.
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Nigel Ellsay is pictured with the junior development squad at Tour de l’Avenir. Cycling Canada

Cycling Canada has hired former professional road cyclist Nigel Ellsay of Courtenay for the position of national team coach – road lead.

Based out of Victoria, Ellsay will work with clubs, provincial sports organizations and trade teams in order to grow Cycling Canada’s development road programming.

Ellsay retired in 2020 after six years of racing for teams Silber Pro Cycling and Rally Cycling.

READ: Courtenay siblings compete with professional cycling team

Over the course of his career, he won several medals at the Canadian Road Championships, including a title in the time trial as a junior in 2012. Since stepping away from racing, he has worked as an athlete mentor for Bridge the Gap, a sports director for TaG Cycling Team’s U23 team, and has led several European projects for Cycling Canada.

“Nigel has raced throughout North America and Europe, and represented Canada on numerous occasions,” said Cycling Canada head coach Dan Proulx. “We’re incredibly excited to see him build on these experiences in this new role and help us deliver the next generation of champions to the world stage.”

Along with providing technical and tactical expertise within their focus areas, national coaches help mentor provincial, club and affiliate coaches to help build a “robust athlete pipeline,” and to provide racing and skill development opportunities for athletes.