Cyclists Langlois, Roth lead eight-man Canadian team for UCI road races

MONTREAL – National road race champion Bruno Langlois of Quebec City and Ryan Roth of Cambridge, Ont., were among eight riders named Thursday to the Canadian team that will participate in a pair of UCI WorldTour races in September.

The one-day events that draw many of the world’s top cyclists are set for Sept. 9 in Quebec City and Sept. 11 in Montreal.

Also on the team are Guillaume Boivin of Longueuil, Que., Alex Cataford and Matteo Dal-Cin of Ottawa, Nigel Elsay of Victoria, Nicolas Masbourin of Montreal and Ben Perry of St. Catharines, Ont.

Langlois won the national title in June while Boivin was the 2015 champion. Roth has four UCI titles this year, including the national time trial title, the Tour de Delta, the Winston-Salem Classic and the GP Saguenay. Perry is a three-time under-23 national champion.

Kevin Field will be sporting director for the two races.

“These races are a key preparation tool for Cycling Canada’s UCI Road World Championships team,” Field said in a statement. “All eight Canadian riders have qualified for the selection pool for this event.

“These races are especially important for Nic, Ben and Nigel. It’s a fantastic advantage for Canada to have the unique opportunity to expose our best under-23 riders to WorldTour competition this close to the world championships.”

The world championships are scheduled for Oct.9-16 in Doha, Qatar.