Cycling Canada responds after cancellation of women’s team pursuit program

On Wednesday, Canadian Cycling Magazine published news about an email that was sent to national team athletes from Cycling Canada, stating that it would not be sending a women’s team pursuit squad to the 2026 UCI track world championships.

“Given the outcome of the review and current budgetary constraints faced by Cycling Canada, it was established that a women’s team pursuit should not be sent to 2026 world championships. Resources will instead be directed toward individual events and team pursuit development initiatives within the women’s track endurance program,” the email, obtained by Canadian Cycling Magazine. “As Cycling Canada focuses on team pursuit development, we will continue to pursue the qualification for the women’s omnium and madison at the 2028 L.A. Olympic Games. This will include support of athletes at the necessary events to qualify.”

A group of athletes then sent a letter to Cycling Canada, which was published in full on this website, and you can read here.

Since then, Cycling Canada has sent a response to the athletes and shared it with Canadian Cycling Magazine.  As with the riders’ letter, the response is being published in full below. As this story continues to develop, more voices from across the cycling community will be sought for reaction and perspective on the news.

Cycling Canada’s response

Dear athletes,

We write regarding the concerns raised in your May 6, 2026 letter regarding Cycling Canada’s decision not to support a women’s team pursuit team at the 2026 UCI track cycling world championships.

First and foremost, this was not an easy decision for Cycling Canada to make, and it was not made lightly or without due consideration for the impacts it would have on the women’s team pursuit program in the short term.

However, after conducting an in-depth performance analysis and forecasting, Cycling Canada remains of the view that it was the right strategic decision for the long-term viability of the women’s team pursuit program and Cycling Canada’s performance objectives.

It is important to understand that, when it made the decision, Cycling Canada did not conduct a direct comparison between the men’s and women’s team pursuit programs in order to determine which program was outperforming the other. The future performance potential of each program was assessed at the same time, using the same analytical tools, but no direct comparison was made between the men’s and women’s programs to…