The city of Hamilton, Ontario, is gearing up to host the 2003 Road World Championships, a cycling competition that will see 800 athletes from more than 50 countries compete in events that will draw 250,000 spectators and a worldwide television audience of 500 million. Billed as 'the greatest sporting event in Hamilton history,' the competition takes place October 6-12, 2003. Canada Post marks the occasion with a single domestic rate ($0.48) stamp, available to collectors in a booklet of 8.

CANADA'S CHAMPS
Canada has produced many cycling legends, including Torchy Peden, Jocelyn Lovell and Steve Bauer. Recent heroes include Geneviève Jeanson, Charles Dionne, Lyne Bessette, and Manon Jutras. Clara Hughes, a modern day heroine, won two bronze medals in cycling at the 1996 Olympics, a bronze medal in speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics, and a gold medal in cycling at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

THE ROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
The first Road World Championships was held in Nürburgring, Germany, in 1927. There have been 67 in total, and today the weeklong competition is one of the world's largest sporting events, ranking just below the Olympics and soccer's World Cup.

2003 ROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2003 Championships will see men and women compete in 10 races ranging from 15.4 km to 260.4 km. There are five categories of racers: Women Junior, Men Junior, Women Elite, Men Under 23, and Men Elite; and two events: Individual Time Trial and Road Races. The course leads up the Niagara Escarpment and through Hamilton from west to east.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE STAMP
The Road World Championships stamp was designed by Doreen Colonello, Senior Designer at Gottschalk + Ash International in Toronto. For Colonello, the challenge was "to capture the essence and the spirit of a cycling race, a combination of concentration, focus, speed, competition and internationalism." She explains that "the international spirit of the Road World Championships was achieved through the multicoloured bands in the flags for the various nations participating in the event. Through the use of a blurred image, a dynamic feeling of competition and speed is created and global quality is conveyed by the design, since gender, race and age are not specified. The tight cropping on the image emphasizes the energy and the immediacy of a racing competition." Other stamps designed by this company include 1992 Olympics, 1994 Commonwealth Games, 1994 International Civil Aviation, 1997 Year of the Ox, and 2000 Boys and Girls Clubs.