The female revelation of Canadian road cycling this season, Olivia Baril has confirmed her accession to the WorldTour next year. His new team: UAE Team ADQ.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
The cyclist from Rouyn-Noranda will therefore pedal in the same colors as Tadej Pogačar, double winner of the Tour de France and recent winner of the Grand Prix de Montréal. The contract, which is to be announced this Friday, is for two years.
“I’m sure I’m making a dream come true,” reacted Baril, joined in San Sebastian, where she has lived since 2020. “I’ve been thinking about this for a really long time. In fact, I thought it would happen before this year”, specifies the cyclist, who adds that we do not realize how long it is and how much we have to devote ourselves to it.
The young woman of 24 years will not land in uncharted territory. With Valcar-Travel & Service, an Italian second division team, she has competed in almost all the major WorldTour events, including Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Giro Donne, the Tour de France Women and the Ceratizit Challenge by Vuelta.
“We really performed better than many other teams [WorldTour] »,
she underlined about Valcar, who gave her a chance after a difficult first season in Europe under the colors of a Spanish team.
Baril particularly stood out in the first half of the campaign, slipping into a 120km breakaway at the Tour of Flanders, winning the Grand Premio Ciudad de Eibar in Spain, finishing second in a stage at the Tour of the Basque Country and taking the jersey best young rider at the Tour de Suisse, where she finished ninth overall.
At that time, she already knew that she would make the jump to the WorldTour, which almost all the teams were courting her.
Team pick
Her choice therefore fell on UAE Team ADQ, like three Italian teammates, Silvia Persico, Chiara Consonni and the young Eleonora Gasparrini, with whom she formed the backbone of Valcar. Several UAE staff members – formerly Alé Cippolline and Alé BTC Ljubljana – are also Italian.
I really enjoyed my year and I stay in the same environment. UAE has taken the men’s team to another level so much that I’m sure they will do the same with the girls for the next few years. This team will definitely [monter] in the top 3 world, maybe next year or the year after.
Olivia Barrel
Persico, revelation of the last Tour (5e) and bronze medalist on the road at the recent World Championships in Wollongong, has become a friend. She will also spend the off season at the residence of the Quebecer in the Basque Country. The 25-year-old Italian was cooking pasta at the time of the interview…
Like her friend, Baril says she first received a contract offer of three or four years, but preferred to stick to two, the length of her agreement with her agent. If all goes as she wishes, she sees herself extending this pact from next year, in which case she will not have to pay a percentage to her current representative.
The workforce and the entourage of the formation will be considerably remodeled, which gives him great confidence.
A “counterproductive” policy
As a North American, Baril feels privileged to reach the highest level. Along with young Magdeleine Vallières Mill, who will be in her second year of contract with EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, and Alberta veteran Alison Jackson, who will join her at EF, Baril is expected to be one of only three Canadians on a team. of the WorldTour in 2023.
With Israel-Premier Tech set to move to the second division, Ontario junior Michael Leonard, an 18-year-old newcomer to Ineos-Grenadier, could be the only one in the men’s side.
“With the cycling situation in Canada, it’s a feat in itself to go there,” said Baril, recalling that all representatives of the maple leaf had to pay their plane ticket at least to take part. at the Worlds in Australia, where she finished 37e. “We are almost one of the only countries like that. We’re a well-developed country, it’s not like we’re a third world country that doesn’t have the money to send us there. »
Like her teammate Pier-André Côté, she considers this policy of Cycling Canada “counter-productive” in the context of team sports. “If you’re not the leader, it doesn’t make you want to work for someone else when you paid $4,000 to get there. You don’t want to not finish the race. It makes the team, it does not work. »
This predicament was mitigated in Australia because a “sponsor who wishes to remain anonymous” agreed to fund each of the runners to the tune of $2,500. Originally, he even offered them $3,000 each “to boycott the Worlds” like their male colleagues…
But the Worlds are still the Worlds. We work hard all year for that. We understand that we want to send a message, but it shouldn’t be the athletes who suffer from it.
Olivia Barrel
After opening a knee in a fall on the third stage of the Giro, Baril did everything to return in time for the Tour de France three weeks later. On reflection, she feels that this race against time sank her energies for the rest of the season. His announced participation in the Tour de Romandie next month will therefore not materialize.
In 2023, the climber expects to share leadership with Persico in some stage races. “For example, she could aim for the general classification in the Tour de France and me, in the Giro. I would like to be constant all year round. »
In two weeks, she will take part in a first team activity in Abu Dhabi, before “regaining strength” in November for the next campaign.