GLAESSER AND PELLETIER-ROY RESIST PRESSURE TO WIN OMNIUM
Veloce rises to the occasion to win Keirin at inaugural Milton International Challenge
(January 11, 2015 – Milton, ON) The inaugural Milton International Challenge came to an end on Sunday, with riders from nine countries taking to the boards of the brand new velodrome in Milton, ON.
The last day of competition featured the keirin races and the remaining three races of the omnium.
Jasmin Glaesser and Rémi Pelletier-Roy started Sunday’s competition as leaders of the men’s and women’s omnium. Glaesser took the third place in both the time trial and the flying lap, and entered the points race with a strong lead. Despite a strong challenge from her national team teammates Stephanie Roorda and Allison Beveridge, Glaesser defended her lead and finished the omnium with 230 points, 19 points ahead of Roorda and 23 points over Canadian Champion Beveridge.
“More than anything I was really excited to race. I wanted to be aggressive from the start, and not simply defend the lead. I really wanted a good race, and put in 100%,” said Glaesser. “Looking back at some of my international races, I tend to wait too long to start fighting in the race. At the World Cup in London, I finished second (in the points race) by just one point, and I think that came down as not going for points early enough and always have to catch up. For me, today was a practice going into the points race at the upcoming World Championships.”
In the men’s omnium, Pelletier-Roy had a six-point lead entering the last day of competition. He increased his lead in the time trial and took third place in the flying lap. Heading into the points race he had a slim four-point lead. Right from the start, he went on the attack by lapping the field for 20 points, and followed every ensuing attack to secure the victory. Pelletier-Roy finished the 120-lap race with an impressive 50-point lead over Ed Veal in second place.
“When I try to race defensively, it’s never a good outcome. I came into the race with the mentality of it being a standalone Points Race. Of course, I was watching a few guys… but I wanted to race just like any other race,” said Pelletier-Roy, the Canadian Champion in the event. “I am on my journey to accumulate UCI points and race the World Cup next year and maybe qualify a spot for Rio.”
The men’s keirin final featured Canada’s two best sprinters, with Hugo Barrette and the keirin Canadian Champion Joseph Veloce in the final for the gold medal. Veloce took the lead position in the opening five laps. When the sprint launched, Barrette immediately attacked to lead the 6-man group with Veloce right behind. In the last lap, Veloce turned on the engines, overtook Barrette and rode away to the gold medal.
“Wearing the National Champion jersey, I went in to do the jersey justice. I wanted to win this race. I raced aggressively and stood on top of the podium,” said Veloce.
“During an attack, a lot of things come into play. When someone is coming over the top of you, you have two choices: you can let him pass you, or keep him on your hip. Once I knew he had a good dig to do a good effort coming over top, I decided to let him go and set up the rush. At the front, you work a lot harder at top speeds. Coming out of corner four, I saw Hugo turned his head a bit and jumped at the opportunity to pounce. I went all out from there to take the win.”
Canada’s Monique Sullivan won silver in the women’s keirin. Sullivan, who won the sprint events yesterday, won each heat of the day to earn her spot in the final. In the ultimate race, the lone Canadian faced three Americans and two riders from the Netherlands. Right from the start, Sullivan took the front and maintained the lead position for the entire race. But in the final straight coming to the line, Yesna Rijkhoff of the Netherlands surged around the outside and edged Sullivan at the finish line.
Eva Burk of the United States won the junior women’s keirin gold medal, while Canada’s Nick Wammes came out on top of the men’s junior race.
The Canadian Track Cycling Team will now travel to Colombia to compete in the last UCI World Cup event of the season in Cali. The team will then prepare for the World Championships presented in Paris later in February.
Flash quotes: http://www.toronto2015.org/CNC-MIC-test-event/media
Full results: http://www.toronto2015.org/CNC-MIC-test-event/results
