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Canada’s Michael Woods rethinks retirement, targets Montreal win after Vuelta triumph

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Michael Woods thought Father Time had finally come calling.

Instead, he’s winning Grand Tour stages — and hungry for a big result at home.

The 37-year-old from Ottawa rides into this weekend’s Montreal cycling Grand Prix as a recent Spanish Vuelta stage winner despite dealing with an early-season illness that had him struggling at the Giro d’Italia and considering calling it quits.

“I thought I was just getting old, and that’s why I wasn’t going as well at the races,” Woods said. “It really held me back and made me contemplate retiring, until I found out actually what was going on.”

Woods withdrew from the Giro in May after a crash left him with mild concussion symptoms. Further testing revealed he had been battling Helicobacter pylori — a bacterial stomach infection his team believes he contracted during training camp in South Africa.

After months of re-finding his stamina, Woods, who became the third Canadian to win a Tour de France stage last year, triumphed on the mountainous 13th stage of La Vuelta on Aug. 30. It was his third career win in Spain.

The world-class climber ranked this Vuelta win among his biggest career achievements, given the circumstances.

“To be in a position where I was really considering quitting, and then to finally get back into form and work my way all the way back up to the top of the sport was really a great feeling,” said Woods, who finished 41st in the road race at last month’s Paris Olympics. “Something that I’m really proud of.”

With a stage win in hand, Woods pulled out of the Vuelta before the 17th stage and shifted his focus to preparing for Montreal as a late addition to the start list.

The race is set for Sunday, while Quebec City’s event takes place Friday. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.

Quebec’s course features 16 laps totalling 201.6 kilometres and 2,976 metres in altitude, and is well-suited to puncheurs.

Meanwhile, Montreal’s race covers 209.1 kilometres over 17 laps. The challenging course in and around Mount Royal includes 4,573 metres in total altitude, making it ideal for climbers like Woods.

“Once I was able to get the stage win, the team knew I was moving well, I was moving well, and Montreal has definitely been a huge goal of mine in my career, having a good result there,” said Woods, whose best finish in Montreal is eighth.

“I just thought I’d like to take a stab at it, and the team was keen on it.”

Woods, who will only race in Montreal, joins fellow Canadians Derek Gee of Ottawa, Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., and Guillaume Boivin of Montreal in the peloton. All four cyclists ride for Israel-Premier Tech.

But they’ll face stiff competition from three-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar, racing for the first time since claiming this year’s Grand Tour title.

“Best rider in the world, it’s gonna be a very hard race from very far out,” Gee said. “He’s going to be the overwhelming favourite.”

Gee placed 105th in Quebec and 47th in Montreal last year, but he expects more from himself this year after surprising the cycling world this season. He finished third at the Critérium du Dauphiné in June and ninth at the Tour de France in July.

“I don’t know how my form will be in the second half of the year, but I’m really looking forward to finding out,” said Gee, who was 44th in the Paris Olympic road race. “The home crowds always give a big boost in performance.”

Houle, who prefers the Quebec City race, is also hoping for better than in recent years. The 2022 Tour de France stage winner has three DNFs and one 50th finish in Quebec the last two years.

“I remain focused after the Tour de France to try to keep a good form, and to give a good race at home,” he said. “The last few years, I was not so good. So I wish … that I can be better.”

The events bring Canadian cycling fans one year closer to the Montreal UCI Road World Championships in 2026, a target for the 33-year-old Houle after signing a contract extension through that year.

As for Woods, he said he’s likely to retire when his contract runs out at the end of 2025. But if he can keep defying his age and winning stages, an additional year isn’t off the table.

“If I’m racing as well as I’m racing now, I could consider doing 2026, because it would be so special to race in Montreal,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

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Homan wins, Dunstone upset to kick off curling’s PointsBet Invitational

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CALGARY – Gabby Wood says her curling team is ready for anything this season after facing the No. 1 women’s team in the world.

The Canadian women’s college champions took on Rachel Homan in the opening draw of the single-knockout PointsBet Invitational on Wednesday.

Wood’s Edmonton foursome took their lumps in an 11-2 loss, and will also take the experience of playing on arena ice and on television against the reigning Canadian and world champions.

“It’s a crazy first game of the season, so honestly, none of our opponents after this are going to seem that scary,” said the 20-year-old Wood.

The PointsBet Invitational that unofficially kicks off the Canadian curling season offers a purse of over $350,000, including $50,000 each to the men’s and women’s victors, to an eclectic 32-team field.

There’s a soccer FA Cup element as underdog junior, college, university, under-25 and club champions attempt to upset, and send home early, the likes of Homan and reigning Canadian men’s champion Brad Gushue.

And 13th seed Jordan McDonald provided those fireworks Wednesday by eliminating fourth-seeded Matt Dunstone 8-5 in an all-Winnipeg matchup.

“It means the world,” McDonald said. “It was an unbelievable experience out there today.”

Kaitlyn Lawes, who ranked fourth in Canada at the end of last season, beat recently crowned national women’s under-25 champion Taylor Reese-Hansen 5-2.

“Every time we get to play on arena ice, we’re really excited, and playing against a top team, that’s what we want to do. That’s where we want to be,” said Reese-Hansen. “These are the teams that we want to play against and see how we stack up, so it’s super valuable.”

National No. 8 Corryn Brown doubled university women’s champion Serena Gray-Withers 8-4 in the opening draw.

“It just makes us hungrier for more, to be honest, because we’re just super blessed with great ice, great rocks and great conditions here, so we just want to be back for more,” said Gray-Withers.

Selena Sturmay edged Ashley Thevenot 8-7 in the other women’s game to kick off the five-day cashspiel at Calgary’s WinSport Arena.

In the men’s draw Wednesday evening, Gushue defeated Canadian men’s club champion Dan Sherrard 12-4.

Kevin Koe, who played a three-man team after firing second Jacques Gauthier the previous day, downed university men’s champion Josh Bryden 8-4. Rylan Kleiter defeated Sam Mooibroek 5-2.

McDonald, who won last month’s national under-25 championship, kept the pressure on Dunstone with pressure draws and timely runbacks.

Dunstone attempted a tough angle raise to score one and force the PointsBet’s tiebreaking draw to the button, but missed to give up a steal of two.

“Playing a team like at all for us is a really big experience,” said McDonald, who said his team drew confidence from playing Reid Carruthers and Mike McEwen in the last year.

“We feel like we can hang with these teams a little more.”

Among Thursday’s games, defending men’s champion Reid Carruthers faces Felix Asselin, national women’s under-21 champion Allyson MacNutt squares off against four-time Canadian champ Kerri Einarson, and men’s under-21 champion Kenan Wipf faces 2024 Brier runner-up McEwen.

“We are just so grateful that they include the college champions, the university champions,” Wood said. “We don’t get a ton of opportunities to play on arena ice, and so that makes a huge difference developmentally.

“Having a chance, other than our nationals, to play on arena ice, on this big stage, to get to experience just a little bit of what the pros experience is just really exciting and really inspiring.”

Seven months after claiming the Scotties Tournament of Hearts title on the same WinSport ice, Ottawa’s Homan opened defence of her PointsBet crown by scoring four in the second end en route to victory.

“It’s great to get them on this kind of stage, on a national platform and getting some arena ice experience is really key for next gen to get as much experience as possible,” Homan said.

“There’s lots they can take out of it for sure. Lots of great throws and I thought they communicated well.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

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Kevin Koe skipping a three-man curling team at PointsBet Invitational

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CALGARY – Kevin Koe will skip a three-man curling team for now.

The four-time Canadian and two-time men’s world champion dropped second Jacques Gauthier from his Glencoe Club team on the eve of the PointsBet Invitational that started Wednesday in Calgary.

Koe opened the event that offers $50,000 in prize money to each of the men’s and women’s winners with an 8-4 doubling of national university men’s champion Josh Bryden.

Koe, who also represented Canada in the 2018 Winter Olympics, says there wasn’t enough time to find a replacement for Gauthier for the PointsBet, and there won’t be enough time before next week’s first Grand Slam of the season, which is the HearingLife Tour Challenge in Charlottetown.

“We haven’t talked to anyone yet,” Koe said. “We’ll see who can come and play an event or two. I don’t think we’re going to rush out and grab someone right away, but come to an event with us and see how it goes.

“We’ll get through these next two weeks and start talking about it and seeing what our options are.”

A big-name curling free agent without a team in Koe’s home province is Brendan Bottcher. The skip of the No. 2 men’s team in Canada last season was supplanted on his team by Brad Jacobs.

When asked if it was a possibility Bottcher would join his team, Koe replied “no, it’s not.”

After skipping his own team for four years and representing B.C. in the 2023 Brier, Gauthier joined Koe, his cousin Tyler Tardi and Karrick Martin to play second for the 2023-24 season.

The team won a pair of tour events and made five finals with Gauthier on the squad, but didn’t qualify for playoffs in five Grand Slam appearances and went 2-6 at the Canadian championship in Regina to miss playoffs.

Koe went 2-3 in the ATB Okotoks Classic last week before Gauthier was axed.

The 25-year-old son of Canadian champion and television commentator Cathy Gauthier, said Wednesday in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Elephant in the room. I got cut yesterday.”

“I wasn’t sure if I should make a public comment on it, but I wanted to provide some clarity,” Gauthier wrote.

“The team decided I wasn’t performing to their standard and decided they’d pursue alternative options moving forward.

“It happens. Nothing is a given in this sport, and although I am surprised at the timing, I know I can be better as a player. I plan on using this as an opportunity to grow both as an individual and a curler, looking to improve in all areas.

“For now, it’s back to the lab.”

The 49-year-old Koe wants to skip a team that can qualify for, and win, next year’s Olympic trials, which he says is likely his last trials.

“We struggled at the end of last season and we had some good talks and meetings and thought we could turn it around at the start of the year,” Koe said.

“If the trials were a couple years away we probably would have been a little more patient. They’re 14 months away basically.

“They’re never easy, these moves. Jaques was a great teammate, great curler, best person, but we felt we needed to do what was best for the team.”

Koe finished last season ranked fifth in the men’s Canadian Team Ranking System.

Four teams ranked higher — Brad Gushue, Jacobs, Mike McEwen and Matt Dunstone — have pre-qualified for the 2025 Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, B.C.

Koe will have to win Alberta provincials to join them. Since Koe, Tardi and Martin live in Alberta, the team can recruit a player from outside the province.

“We’ve had a few people kind of inquire, but this was yesterday, right?” Koe said. “It’s a big week for us. We need some better results.

“We’ll start talking about it in a week or two. Maybe we’ll get some offers we weren’t expecting.

“We’re better than kind of the last half-year has shown, but it’s time for us to prove it.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

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Vancouver Whitecaps down Toronto FC on penalties to clinch Canadian Championship

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VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have won their third straight Canadian Championship title, defeating Toronto FC 0-0 (4-2 on penalties) in the final at BC Place on Wednesday.

Defender Bjorn Utvik scored the decisive penalty for Vancouver, firing a shot into the left side of the net in the fifth round of kicks.

Goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer stopped seven on-target shots for the ‘Caps and Sean Johnson made two saves for TFC.

Toronto was the dominant side for much of the game, but Boehmer made a series of critical saves, including a penalty-kick stop on Toronto star Federico Bernardeschi in the 38th minute.

Vancouver earned its way into the final after edging Canadian Premier League side Pacific FC 2-0 in the tournament’s two-legged semifinal.

Vancouver, which hoisted the Voyagers Cup for the fourth time in its history, is now assured a place in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League tournament.

Bernardeschi proved tough for the ‘Caps to handle from the opening minute.

Thirty seconds into the match, the Italian launched a left-footed rocket that Boehmer tipped out of harm’s way.

Toronto controlled much of the play across the first half while Vancouver struggled to connect on passes early.

Boehmer kept the game scoreless in the 21st minute after Bernardeschi dished off to Richie Laryea. The Canadian defender fired a quick shot on net, only to see Boehmer knock it down.

Vancouver settled into the game and, in the 34th minute, got a prime opportunity when Brian White and Fafa Picault broke away from the Toronto defence. The duo raced into the penalty area, where White was taken down without a call.

Minutes later, TFC was awarded a penalty kick after Whitecaps defender Mathias Laborda hauled Laryea down near the goal line.

Loud boos emanated from the announced crowd of 12,516 as Bernardeschi lined up his shot. He took a few steps, then blasted a left-footed kick on net as Boehmer dove and punched the ball away to ecstatic cheers.

The score remained level at 0-0 as both sides headed to their locker rooms after the first 45 minutes. The first half saw Toronto control 71 per cent of the possession and outchance Vancouver 3-1 in shots on target, though the ‘Caps held a 6-5 edge in total shots.

The visitors came into the second half with renewed vigour.

TFC appeared poised to open the scoring in the 53rd minute when an unmanned Laryea collected the ball inside the penalty area. Boehmer came well off his line to challenge and when Laryea sent a rolling ball toward the net, the ‘keeper got a hand in its path for another save.

With neither side able to find the back of the net in regulation, the game went to penalties — and Vancouver pulled it out for a three-peat.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

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