Milton, ON (January 27, 2020) – The final round of the Track World Cup in Milton, Ontario, concluded on Sunday with some strong performances from Canadian NextGen riders. Canada finished the World Cup with four medals – one gold, one silver and two bronze, placing the country fifth in the nation standings, and third in total number of medals.

Nick Wammes, riding for the P2M trade team, qualified third in the men’s 200 metre Sprint, with a personal best time of 9.755 seconds, earning him a direct spot in the eighth-final, where he finished ninth overall.

In the women’s Keirin, Pan Am champion Lauriane Genest was a last minute substitute to the ill Kelsey Mitchell, where she secured her place in the second round through the repechage. Although she did not advance to the medal final, she won the 7-12 final, finishing seventh overall.

“I’m very happy with how the girls rode,” said Franck Durivaux, Head Sprint Coach. “Kelsey was very sick, so we didn’t think she could do it, but she was totally amazing. She and Lauriane did a personal best in the Team Sprint for gold, and on the second day Kelsey just smashed it again in the Sprint. We decided that she would not do the Keirin for her health, and Lauriane just stepped in.”

Milton, ON (January 25, 2020) – Canada started off the Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Milton with a bang, winning medals in all three events it entered, including a gold medal in the women’s Team Sprint. Canadian riders also won bronze medals in both the women’s and men’s Team Pursuits, making this one of their first successful world cups of the season.

Riding in the Team Sprint for the first time at the world cup level, Lauriane Genest and Kelsey Mitchell improved dramatically in each of their three rides.  After qualifying fourth with a time of 33.947 seconds, the duo won their first round heat and set the fastest time, at 33.317 seconds. In the gold medal final against Poland, the pair was even faster, at 33.012 seconds, to take their first ever world cup win as a duo.

“It’s incredible to win here at home,” said Genest. “After this morning’s ride we were hoping for a podium, but not expecting a gold medal.  We just kept improving every ride, and did our best ride in the final where it counted the most. It’s incredible that we were able to get on the highest step today. I’m extremely proud with what we’ve been doing with the female sprint program.”

Both the Team Pursuit squads included NextGen riders matched with more experienced riders. The women’s squad of Devaney Collier, Erin Attwell, Miriam Brouwer and Kinley Gibson set the fourth fastest time in the morning session to qualify for the bronze medal race against Belgium. In that race, the Canadians took charge in the second kilometre, steadily expanding their lead to finish more than 1.4 seconds ahead of Belgium.

In the men’s competition, the Canadian team of Evan Burtnik, Chris Ernst, Amiel Flett-Brown and Sean Richardson bounced back from a disappointing qualifying race on Thursday to set the third fastest time and go up against Belarus for the bronze medal. Jackson Kinniburgh replaced Richardson for the medal ride, which proved to be a seesaw battle. The two squads swapped the lead three times, before Canada finally moved into the lead with only two laps to go, setting a time of 4:00.945, over six-tenths of a second ahead of their rivals.

Milton, ON (January 21, 2020) – Cycling Canada will close out the 2019-2020 UCI Track World Cup season on home soil from January 24 to 26, competing against over 250 riders from 40 different nations. This will mark Canada’s third consecutive season hosting the world cup series at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre, and will be the last stop before the UCI Track World Championships in Berlin on February 26 to March 1, followed by the Olympic Games later this summer.

The Milton World Cup will feature track stars from around the world hitting a critical period of their season. The startlist is headlined by ITT world champion Chloe Dygard and Junior road world champion Meghan Jastrab who ride for Team USA, while Great Britain will bring two-time Olympic gold medalist Laura Kenny. Racing for the Netherlands will be world Points Race champion Jan Willem van Schip and Lauriane van Riessen, who won a bronze medal in speed skating at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics before moving over to track cycling. France will also be bringing a substantial delegation of riders, including sprint star Mathilde Gros.

Cycling Canada will be sending a squad of 19 athletes to represent the country, headlined by 2016 Olympian Hugo Barrette, 200m Sprint world record holder Kelsey Mitchell, veteran Steph Roorda, as well as Lima 2019 Pan Am Games medalists Erin Attwell and Miriam Brouwer.
The competition kicks off on Thursday with the Team Pursuit qualifying, followed by the finals on Friday. On the weekend, competition shifts into high gear with six event finals planned for both Saturday and Sunday.