If last year put Yukon cyclist Zach Bell on the map, this season may make him one of the main attractions.

Looking back on the past 12 months, Bell, who grew up in Watson Lake, can claim his second national pursuit championship, his first spot on the Canadian cycling team, impressive finishes both at the Pan Am Championships and his first World Cup race, and a partnership with professional cycling team, Jet Fuel.

Not bad for a young athlete who has only been cycling competitively for about four years, after starting off in wrestling.

'Last year was a pretty big step for me,' acknowledged Bell, in an interview from Kingston, Ontario, where he now trains and attends Queen's University. 'This team I'm training with in Toronto is basically a professional team, so that was exciting for me to sign with them last year. Also, it was my first year on the national team, which was big.

'Event-wise, I competed at the Pan Am Championships in Argentina and the World Cup in Los Angeles, and I had some results I was pretty happy with. With Jet Fuel, I did some big races in Europe. I had top three finishes in Belgium.'

The only North American event Bell competed in with Jet Fuel was the San Francisco Grand Prix, which he described as pretty much the largest one-day race on the continent. Seven of the top ten tour contenders were in the race. Unfortunately, Bell was forced to pull out of the event before he finished, but his team did well overall.

'It's pretty much a war,' he laughed. 'If you survive, you're doing pretty well.

'It's definitely something I'm looking forward to doing again this year.'

Bell is also looking forward to competing in a World Cup race in Moscow next month, a trip he earned with a strong showing at the Canadian Cycling Association's (CCA) national team track trials, held in Burnaby, B.C. Oct. 11-13.

Bell was coming off a month of pretty much no training prior to the trials, since he took some time out to rebuild all of his energy in anticipation of the next 11 months. Despite that, he managed to meet the men's endurance A standards, along with Quebec's Martin Gilbert.

'I was pretty happy with the times I did,' he said. 'I was able to do faster times than I've done on that track before.'

The Canadian track team is being organized under a more formal structure this year, with A, B and C categories. While the A category is obviously made up of those who post the best time and make the best standards, representing Canada at high-level events such as the World Cup races, the C standard focuses on riders under the age of 25, explained Bell, who are in the development stage.

The B athletes are those not under the age of 25, but still just slightly short of the standards posted by the A athletes sort of an alternate pool, he said.

'I'm a better quality A athlete than I was last year, so yeah, this is a big deal for me,' said Bell about making the top national team. 'It secures some spots and opportunities for me that wouldn't be awarded otherwise.'

Bell competed in one World Cup race last year. He's in line for at least two this time around and after that, it will depend on his own performance and whether or not anyone else can post better time standards.

Outside of the World Cup races, Bell is also hoping to garner enough points for the world championships next March and qualify for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, which are also being held next March.

He can confirm his spot at the Worlds with a good performance in Moscow. He'll be competing in the individual pursuit and the Madison, where he'll pair up with Gilbert. The Madison is a points race, where teams of two riders compete relay style.

'To qualify for the Worlds, you basically have to be in the top 10 in your event. For me, the pursuit is a really good opportunity for that. I think I have the ability to be pretty competitive there. Ideally, I would like to be in the top eight or better.'

Getting to the Commonwealth Games will be somewhat more difficult. There are 26 or 27 spots for the sport of cycling in general at the Games, he explained, which includes mountain biking, road races and track. CCA officials decide how many spots each section of the sport gets, based on their performances during the season and their projected medal chances.

'Male endurance track isn't really high on the list,' said Bell. 'Right now, we have to convince CCA they should send more than one athlete in endurance track, so that's why it's going to be so important to put in good performances at the two World Cups.'

Ideally, Bell would like he and Martin to do well in the Madison, so the CCA would send both athletes to the Games. But if there is only one spot up for grabs, Bell will have to demonstrate better potential than Gilbert in the World Cup events.

That may be hard, he said, because the Quebec native excels in bunch races, which is more what they'll be looking for rather than his current area of pursuit.

'It's just a matter of putting my best foot forward and leaving it up to the committee to make the decision. It could come down to basically outperforming Martin in bunch races later in the year,' said Bell, who hopes to get that chance.

'The last two years, I've won national championships in pursuit, so I'm the guy that has to represent the country in that right now, and I'm happy with that, but longterm, I'd definitely like to focus on bunch races for sure.

'I'm pretty evenly balanced, but I think I have more potential in other events.'

If Bell continues his current effort over the next couple years, no matter what event he choses to compete in, Yukoners could very well be watching him represent Canada at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing something which would certainly be a dream come true for the young athlete.

'On the track for sure, I would definitely like to compete in the Olympics for Canada,' he said in an earlier interview. 'It's kind of like the Olympic event in my eyes.'