Kirchmann named to
Olympic Cycling Team
By Scott Taylor, Photos courtesy Cycling Canada
and the Canadian Centre for Sport Manitoba
The fact that Winnipeg cyclist Leah
Kirchmann was named to Canada’s
2016 Rio Olympic CyclingTeam should
not have come as a surprise to anyone.
After all, she finished third at the
2014 Tour de France and eighth in the
road race at the 2014 Commonwealth
Games in Glasgow. This spring, she
was the No. 1-ranked Canadian female
cyclist and was No. 17 in the UCI
World Rankings. In March, she won
her first European road race, beating
more than 100 other competitors in
the 140.4-kilometre Drentse Acht van
Westerveld.
So it’s no wonder that the 25-yearold Kirchmann is now heading to
the Rio Olympics. Cycling Canada
actually announced its Olympic team
in late June and the veteran cyclist was
overjoyed to be one of 19 cyclists on
the list.
“It is a dream come true being
named to the Cycling Canada Olympic
team,” Kirchmann Tweeted. “Thanks
10 / sportslife
to everyone who helped me on my
journey.”
So far, Kirchmann will join eight
other Manitobans at the Rio Games
– Triathletes Tyler Mislawchuk and
Sarah-Anne Brault, Para-Triathlete
Chantal Givens, volleyball stars Justin
Duff and Toon Van Lankvelt, gymnast
Isabela Onyshko, swimmer Chantal
Van Landeghem and soccer players
Desiree Scott and Sophie Schmidt.
Kirchmann has been biking and
cross-country skiing at high levels for
many years. In 2008 she qualified for
both the junior road and mountain
bike world championship teams, and
after that decided to pick road cycling.
With her dedication and all her hard
work, it was obviously a good decision.
This is an exciting time for
Kirchmann who has won Canada’s
national road race title and now
trains six days a week. Kirchmann is
extremely dedicated to her sport. An
average training day includes two to
five hours of riding with different kinds
of intervals, depending on the focus for
that particular time of year. She also
includes plenty of strength work to
prepare for the competitive season.
“After training, recovery is always
a big focus of my day,” she said. “I
recover by ensuring I’m getting proper
nutrition on and off the bike. I focus on
eating lean proteins, whole grains and
lots of fruits and veggies. In addition
to good nutrition, I may also do some
core strength work and yoga to keep
my body healthy and happy.”
Food is an extremely important part
of Kirchmann’s life in many ways.
“I’m a huge foodie,” she said. “I
love spending time browsing recipes,
shopping and preparing food. Baking is
my favourite, I’m always experimenting
with recipes to make them healthier.”
The way Kirchmann lives her life is
a direct reflection of her commitment
to cycling. She is in almost perfect
physical condition and what she puts