Lyne Bessette is Canada's top-ranked international road cyclist. In the International Cycling Union July rankings she was at 14th in the world. Bessette burst on the international scene at the 1998 Commonwealth Games with a victory in the women's road race. Since then she has collected numerous international victories and medals including the prestigious Tour de l'Aude in 2001. The one missing item from her collection is an Olympic medal.
Professionally she joined the Quarks Racing Team this year after several successful seasons with Saturn which folded its cycling program in 2003. Before becoming a cyclist she was a middle distance runner for 11 years.
Bessette has qualified to race both the road race and individual time trial at the Olympics.
