UCI WORLD CYCLING CENTRE HOSTS LARGEST-EVER BROMONT CAMP AHEAD OF MONTREAL WORLDS

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In the two weeks leading up to the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal, the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) turns its Continental Satellite in Bromont, Canada into a launchpad for the next generation of American cycling talent — running the largest and most internationally diverse camp the facility has hosted since it opened in 2022.

A Continental Gathering, Steps from the World Championships

From September 4th to 19th, the UCI WCC Satellite in Bromont welcomes 24 athletes from 18 countries across the Americas — Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haïti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Uruguay, and Venezuela — for a road training camp designed to bring them into peak condition ahead of the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal, September 20–27.

The timing and location were no accident. With the Worlds taking place on the athletes’ home continent — a rare occurrence — training in a similar time zone and comparable climate just days before racing gives the group an edge that wouldn’t exist if the Championships were held overseas.

The camp was made possible through the collaboration of COPACI, Panam Sports, and the IOC’s Solidarity programme, whose support opened the door to a level of preparation and exposure that would otherwise be out of reach for many participating federations.

More Than Fitness: A Holistic Approach

Rather than centering solely on volume and intensity, the Bromont programme was built around a broader vision of athlete development. Alongside structured training on the roads around Bromont, athletes met and learned from local champions, worked with a nutritionist on fueling and recovery, and trained daily under experienced coaches who could correct technique, share race craft, and answer questions that don’t always get addressed at home. On-site staff communicated fluently in both English and French to ensure nothing was lost in translation.

The philosophy behind it is straightforward: two weeks won’t turn an athlete into a world champion, but the athletes who pass through Bromont return home as ambassadors — carrying back not just improved fitness, but habits and standards they can pass on to teammates, clubs, and federations. It’s a multiplier effect by design.

Building Coaches, Not Just Athletes

Running in parallel from September 13th to 18th is a UCI Level 2 coaching education course bringing together 10 coaches from seven nations — Belize, Ecuador, Dominica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, and Saint Lucia. Delivered in both English and Spanish, the course alternates between theory sessions led by UCI experts and hands-on practice directly with the camp’s athletes.

Topics covered include coaching and session safety, basic cycling physiology, training plan design, sport psychology, nutrition, strength and conditioning, talent identification, bike fitting, coaching specific groups, and paracycling. By the course’s end, the goal is for each coach to be able to safely supervise a group and build a full, periodized annual training programme — skills they carry back to their own federations long after the camp ends.

In total, the two programmes will bring together 34 participants and 10 permanent staff on the ground in Bromont.

Leadership on the Ground

Set to take place at the Centre National de Cyclisme de Bromont, the camp was organized by the UCI World Cycling Centre in close collaboration with COPACI, Panam Sports, and the IOC Solidarity programme. Day-to-day coordination is being handled by Salomé Ernotte, UCI WCC Satellite Coordinator, and Nicolas Legault, CNCB Director, working alongside the local Bromont team and visiting UCI experts. Antoine Ippersiel serves as head coach, with Jonathan Fazan managing the mechanics workshop as UCI WCC Mechanic Workshop Manager.

An Unprecedented Scale

The Bromont Satellite has hosted training camps and coaching courses since 2022, but this edition is breaking new ground on multiple fronts. It’s the first time the facility has welcomed this many participants and this many national federations at once, and the first time an athlete training camp and a coaches’ education course have run simultaneously in the same window.

It also marks the first time this kind of pre-Worlds programme has been organized in the Americas. A similar initiative ran in Africa the previous year ahead of the Worlds there, but that edition was open only to African athletes. Bromont, by contrast, opened its doors to the whole continent — ahead of a World Championships taking place, for the first time, right on the Americas’ doorstep.

A Concrete Expression of Solidarity

Thanks to the backing of COPACI, Panam Sports, and the IOC Solidarity programme, athletes and coaches from nations with limited resources will gain access to coaching, expertise, and infrastructure that can meaningfully close the gap with better-funded programmes — not just for two weeks, but for years to come, through the athletes and coaches who can take what they’ve learned back home.

“Nothing is possible without the work behind the scenes. No event can happen without the people behind them. It requires people who can envision possibilities and take action to achieve them. That has been true of our collaboration with Salomé Ernotte, and Nicolas Legault, for which we are very grateful and look forward to continuing.” said Emilio Posada, Education and Capacity Building Manager of Panam Sports.

As the UCI Road World Championships get underway in Montreal in the coming days, the Bromont camp stands as a model of what elite sport can do beyond the finish line: a lasting contribution to cycling across the Americas.