As an athlete, especially at the elite level, there are all kinds of highs and lows. But last week, Skyler Goudswaard and her fellow women’s team pursuit riders experienced one of the hardest moments of their careers when Cycling Canada announced the program would not continue toward the 2026 world championships in Shanghai.
For Goudswaard, the news was crushing.
The Grimsby, Ont. rider has quickly emerged as one of Canada’s promising endurance athletes, earning strong results on the road and track after entering the sport through RBC Training Ground and the National Cycling Institute Milton.
But with the news this week, Goudswaard, 27, said the decision has left athletes questioning not only the future of the women’s team pursuit program, but the broader system itself.
On the decision
“First and foremost, I am incredibly disappointed by Cycling Canada’s decision to cut the women’s team pursuit program from the 2026 world championships and, in effect, remove a viable pathway toward the LA 2028 Olympic Games,” she said.
“On a personal level, I am left feeling helpless.”
Goudswaard explained that she only began track cycling in late 2023, but quickly committed herself fully to the discipline, both financially and physically.
“Since then, I have invested tens of thousands of dollars into my own development, in addition to the countless hours of training, racing, recovery, and sacrifice required to compete at the international level,” she said.
Rumours of the decision were already swirling
According to Goudswaard, rumours about the program being cut had already started circulating while the team was still racing at the Hong Kong World Cup, something she says raised concerns among athletes about how the final decision was reached.
“Given the timing, it is difficult to believe that a complete and objective performance analysis was conducted in the short period between our race and the final decision,” she said.
She also questioned how the team had been evaluated after athletes were reportedly told before Hong Kong that the actual team pursuit result would not be the primary focus of the trip.
“Had athletes been informed that the future of the entire women’s team pursuit program and its Olympic pathway would be judged on this performance, preparation priorities would have been entirely different,” Goudswaard, who races on the road with Ottawa-based team, The Cyclery…
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