News – Page 120 – Cycling Canada Cyclisme

MOLNAR 5TH IN C4 INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT AT PARA TRACK WORLDS

(Montichiari, ITA – March 19, 2016) Marie-Claude Molnar of Montreal, QC, was the top Canadian rider on Saturday at the Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy.

Molnar finished fifth in the Women’s C4 Individual Pursuit, recording a time of 4:10.184 for the 3000 metre time trial. Molnar’s time was 2.714 seconds behind fourth, which would have put her in the medal round. Molnar also raced in the C4-5 Scratch Race, finishing 12th.

“The Pursuit is always an interesting race for me,” said Molnar. “It is the race that I train for. I was sick [before the Worlds], unfortunately; it’s something that happens. My coach was there to push me and it helped tremendously. I had a personal best at sea level, and I’m really glad about that. The objective for me in the Scratch Race was to gain some experience in the pack, because we were racing C4 and C5 combined. I think I did a good job in that race.”

The only other Canadians competing were the Men’s Tandem team of Daniel Chalifour (Mont-Laurier, QC) and Jean-Michel Lachance (Quebec, QC), who finished 15th in the Men’s 1000 metre Time Trial, with a time of one minute and 5.172 seconds. Chalifour and Lachance were 0.673 seconds out of the top-10.

The world championships conclude on Sunday with only one Canadian rider competing – Tristen Chernove of Cranbrook, BC, in the Men’s C1-2-3 Scratch Race Final. Chernove has already won two gold medals at these championships, in the C2 category.

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CANADA ADDS TWO MORE MEDALS ON SECOND DAY OF PARA TRACK WORLDS

(Montichiari, ITA – March 18, 2016) Canada followed up its double medal opening day at the Para-cycling Track World Championships, in Montichiari, Italy, with two more medals on Day 2, including a second world title for C2 rider Tristen Chernove of Cranbrook, B.C. The tandem team of Daniel Chalifour (Mont-Laurier, QC) and Jean-Michel Lachance (Quebec, QC) added a bronze medal to Canada’s total.

Chernove, a member of the Para NextGen program competing at his first world championships, won the Individual Pursuit title on Thursday. On Friday, his time of one minute and 13.279 seconds for the 1000 metre Time Trial was over two seconds faster then second place Xie Hao of China, the defending champion. Louis Rolfe of Great Britain took the bronze medal. Chernove also qualified for Saturday’s final in the Scratch Race, after avoiding a crash and finishing fourth in his qualifying race.

“The Kilo [doesn’t have] a lot of strategy,” explained Chernove, “you just go out and push yourself as hard as you can and hope for the best. The Scratch Race is all about being switched on and paying a lot of attention. You want to move through [to the Final] and be safe at the same time. It’s hard to be here and not be blown away by the level of athleticism. Every athlete works to overcome challenges, but here the challenges are so visible, and you see how adaptive people have to be. It’s awe-inspiring.”

In the Men’s Tandem Pursuit, the Canadian squad qualified fourth, setting up a race against third fastest qualifier Great Britain for the bronze medal. Chalifour and Lachance took the bronze medal race with a time of 4:17.409, 1.26 seconds faster then Great Britain. Australia took the gold medal over Spain. The Canadian time was nearly six seconds faster then their previous best time, and a new Canadian record.

“Today we did two times the best time that we have ever done, which was amazing,” said Chalifour. “I would like to thank Jean-Michel, who has just joined me in this adventure after my previous pilot Alex [Cloutier] could not participate. You need to have two athletes dedicated to this job 100%. I would like to dedicate this to my father, who has fought against cancer for the last two years – this is for you Dad.”

“It was a very nice ride,” said Lachance. “We qualified fourth and had a personal best by almost six seconds. It was a hard race because against the Italians [in qualifying] we caught them but could not pass them [properly] and lost almost two seconds which could have cost us a ride in the [gold medal] final. In the [bronze medal] final we replicated that effort and won the bronze medal, so we are pretty happy.”

Ross Wilson of Edmonton, AB, just missed taking his second medal of the championships when he finished fourth in the Men’s C1 1000 metre Time Trial with a time of 1:21.851. Jaye Milley of Calgary, AB, finished tenth in the same event. Michael Sametz of Calgary, AB, finished 14th in the Men’s C3 1000 metre Time Trial.

“The race went very well today,” said Milley. “It was absolutely phenomenal to race among the best para-cyclists in the world. World records were broken here today. My ride went well, but it wasn’t a personal best, unfortunately, but I had a personal best in the Pursuit yesterday, which was my main focus. I want to say a personal thank you to the Cycling Canada staff – you are the backbone of the team, and we would not be able to do what we do without you.”

National Para Coach, Eric van den Eynde, also commented on the success of the team in the first two days of competition: “Today, like yesterday, was another good day. The tandem was more of a surprise today; they are a new team, and the only expectation was to beat the Canadian record of 4:23. I thought that there were three teams that were untouchable, and that we were in the next group. But then we finished fourth [in qualifying] and were into the race [for bronze].”

“Tristen was a professional athlete before [he became a para athlete], so he knows how to train and that really pays off. What we see now is only the beginning of what he will be.”

Canada now has two gold, one silver and one bronze medal in two days of competition.

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CANADA OPENS PARA TRACK WORLDS WITH GOLD AND SILVER MEDALS

(Montichiari, ITA – March 17, 2016) Canada is off to a strong start at the Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy. On Thursday, the first day of competition, Tristen Chernove of Cranbrook, BC, won the Men’s C2 Individual Pursuit title, while Ross Wilson of Edmonton, AB, took the silver medal in the Men’s C1 Individual Pursuit competition.

These championships are the final qualification event for the track competition at the Paralympics that will take place later this year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Chernove, who is attending his first Track Worlds, was the dominant rider in his category, qualifying first with a time of 3:43.609, almost five seconds faster then the second place rider, Colin Lynch of Ireland. Despite a protest that tried to have him reclassified to C3 between the qualifier and the gold medal final – which was denied by officials – Chernove went on to beat Lynch by over nine seconds to win the world title.

“The race was great,” said Chernove. “Obviously, anytime you accomplish what you were going for it feels great. The whole day was fantastic. This was my first time competing at a world level event, and it’s been a big day of learning. I’m just thankful to all the people who got me here; especially my family and colleagues. Without all those people behind me, I couldn’t have been here.”

In the Men’s C1 competition, Ross Wilson came in as the defending silver medalist. Wilson faced the same athlete who beat him for the world title last year – Zhangyu Li of China. Li proved once again to be the strongest in qualifying, beating second placed Wilson by 2.618 seconds, and then again in the gold medal race, however, Wilson significantly closed the time gap from the previous year, showing strong improvement as he builds towards the Paralympics.

“I think the qualifier went very well,” commented Wilson. “I knew I was on really good form coming into this event; I’ve done a lot of work with my coach, Cam Jennings. Having the chance to work in the Milton velodrome has allowed us to move forward and really develop my track riding skills. I didn’t expect to be within striking distance of a world record. I think it shows that Cycling Canada has really elevated its game.”

In other Canadian action, Marie-Claude Molnar of Montreal, QC, was eighth in the Women’s C5 500m Time Trial, with a time of 43.218 seconds. Michael Sametz of Calgary, AB, was also eighth, in the Men’s C3 Individual Pursuit, with a time of 3:43.040. Jaye Milley of Calgary, AB, also competed in the Men’s C1 Individual Pursuit, finishing seventh, with a time of 4:11.767.

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CANADA RECEIVES QUOTA SPOTS FOR SIX EVENTS IN TRACK CYCLING AT RIO GAMES

(Ottawa, ON – March 17, 2016) Cycling Canada is pleased to announce that Canada has received entry spots for six events in the track cycling events at the 2016 Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August.

The final event that counted towards the quotas was the Track World Championships in London, Great Britain, which finished on March 6th. Canada had a strong showing there with four medals [two silver, two bronze]. Subsequently, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has announced the list of 36 nations that will be able to participate in the Track Cycling events at the Rio Games, and the rider quotas per event.

Canada will be able to enter riders in all five women’s events and one men’s event. Only seven nations received higher quotas then Canada, with Australia, Germany and New Zealand the only nations to receive full quotas for all events for men and women.

“It’s a great feeling to officially know that we’ve reached our primary goal of qualifying our top internationally performing track programs,” said Cycling Canada’s High Performance director, Jacques Landry. “After focussing all our collective energies on Olympic qualification for the last 2 years, it is now time to recover and start really focussing on Rio.”

For the women, Canada has qualified in all five events on the track. After the team of Kate O’Brien and Monique Sullivan finished ahead of their Continental rivals (Colombia and Venezuela) in the Team Sprint at the world championships, it guaranteed a Rio spot for the Team Sprint, plus two rider spots for both the Sprint and Keirin events.

The women’s Team Pursuit squad, who won the silver medal at the world championships, have a Rio position, and Canada has a position for the Omnium, with Allison Beveridge coming off a fourth place at the world championships and a World Cup win in the Omnium.

For the men, the only event Canada has qualified for is the Keirin. Canada had an outside chance at the start of the World Cup season to qualify for the Team Sprint, however, a bad crash for Hugo Barrette prior to the first World Cup dashed those hopes. Barrette fought back to score a silver medal in the final round of the World Cup.

Canada also had a chance to qualify Remi Pelletier-Roy in the men’s Omnium, but Pelletier-Roy suffered a collarbone injury prior to the start of the World Cup season and fell out of contention.

“While it’s a great feeling to have qualified our top programs,” commented Landry, “the feeling is bitter-sweet. We would have wanted to qualify more male spots in the Team Sprint, Omnium and Team Pursuit events, but the reality is that we probably would have needed another year to get there. These programs will be top-8 to top-3 competitive come 2020. For the time being, the focus is on the preparatory process that will lead to great performances in August for our track athletes.”

The actual athlete selections will be announced later in the year, based on published selection criteria from Cycling Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee.

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CANADA ANNOUNCES PARA TRACK WORLDS SQUAD FOR FINAL RIO QUALIFYING EVENT

(Ottawa, ON – March 14, 2016) Cycling Canada is pleased to announce the team of para-cyclists who will represent Canada at the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy, on March 17-20.

A total of seven athletes will take part in these world championships, the final qualifying event for the track events at the Paralympics to be held later this year, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Jacques Landry, the Director of High Performance at Cycling Canada, stated, “These Para Track Worlds are the last track event on the calendar before the Paralympic Games. The events in Montichiari will give our athletes and coaches an idea of where all countries are sitting from a preparation standpoint.”

Edmonton’s Ross Wilson is one of Canada’s strongest medal contenders at these championships, after winning a silver medal in the C1 men’s category in the Individual Pursuit last year. Wilson will also compete in the 1000m Time Trial. Jaye Milley of Calgary will be competing in the same category and in the same events, and finished fifth last year in the Individual Pursuit.

In the C2 men, Canada’s latest addition to the track team, Tristen Chernove of Cranbrook, BC, will compete in the Individual Pursuit and the 1000m Time Trial. Michael Sametz of Calgary will compete in the same two events in the C3 category.

Canada’s lone female entrant at these championships, Marie-Claude Molnar of Montreal, will compete in the Individual Pursuit and the 500m Time Trial. At the 2015 championships, Molnar was seventh in the IP and 8th in the 500m.

The final members of the Canadian squad are the tandem team of Daniel Chalifour (Mont-Laurier, QC) and Jean-Michel Lachance (Quebec, QC), his pilot. This team, which did not compete at last year’s championships, is entered in the Pursuit and the 1000m Time Trial.

“Coming out of a preparatory track camp held in [Sangalhos] Portugal prior to Worlds, we are confident that we are competitive in the classes we’ve targeted for medal performances,” commented Landry. “All riders present at the Sangalhos camp have been posting personal bests. However, with very few track competitions on the international calendar, it is hard to determine where we stand on the world stage. We will see over the next week!”

The championships begin on Thursday with the Individual Pursuit events for the C1 – C3 categories, and conclude on Sunday with the Sprint events.

  • Marie-Claude MOLNAR (Montreal, QC) – Individual Pursuit & 500m Time Trial (C4)
  • Daniel CHALIFOUR (Mont-Laurier, QC) – Individual Pursuit & 1000m Time Trial (Tandem Stoker)
  • Jean-Michel LACHANCE (Quebec, QC) – Individual Pursuit & 1000m Time Trial (Tandem Pilot)
  • Ross WILSON (Edmonton, AB) – Individual Pursuit & 1000m Time Trial (C1)
  • Jaye MILLEY (Calgary, AB) – Individual Pursuit & 1000m Time Trial (C1)
  • Tristen CHERNOVE (Cranbrook, BC) – Individual Pursuit & 1000m Time Trial (C2)
  • Michael SAMETZ (Calgary, AB) – Individual Pursuit & 1000m Time Trial (C3)

Staff

  • Eric Van den Eynde – Coach
  • Cameron Jennings – Coach
  • Philippe Gariepy – Doctor
  • Philippe Maheu – Soigneur
  • Lewis Bevan – Mechanic
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CANADA FINISHES TRACK WORLDS WITH FOUR MEDALS

(London, GBR – March 05, 2016) Canada’s Allison Beveridge came within one spot of adding a fifth medal to Canada’s total at the Track World Championships in London, Great Britain, on Sunday, the final day of competition. Beveridge finished fourth overall in the two-day, six event Women’s Omnium, surging back after struggling on Saturday.

Beveridge finished 16th, 8th and 10th in the first three competitions, making it difficult to mount a comeback. However, in the 500 metre Time Trial she was fifth, and then won the Flying Lap competition, setting a new track record of 13.924 seconds in the process.

“I had a pretty disastrous first day,” admitted Beveridge. “I made some big tactical errors and that really cost me quite a few points. It was pretty disappointing. I was frustrated with myself because I felt I had decent legs and I just didn’t execute well. So coming into the second day I tried to make it up in the timed events, and then just do what I could in the Points Race.”

“I take some confidence away from that [setting a track record in the flying lap]. It’s one of my better events and I know I can win it, and that’s 40 points in the Omnium.”

Going into the final event, the Points Race, a medal was unlikely, but a top-5 result was still possible. Beveridge was battling riders from Belgium, Australia and the Netherlands for the highest placing possible, and took points in three intermediate sprints, as well as lapping the field. It was enough to boost her into fourth place, just off the podium.

“I’m disappointed that I couldn’t add to the medal tally; a medal in every event [endurance women] would have been pretty fantastic. I think it shows as a program that we are pretty successful and the girls are amazing. It’s just a testament to the seven girls that we have here, and that anyone can perform when they go to the line.”

In other Canadian performances, Kate O’Brien had a career-high sixth place overall in the Women’s Sprint, making it to the quarter final round before losing to the eventual world champion, Zhong Tianshi of China.

“It was unexpected,” said O’Brien. “It’s funny…you get sixth in the world and it doesn’t really occur to you that it’s ‘sixth in the world’, it’s more like ‘oh well, I didn’t win, I should have done better, I should have done this or that’. But in the end I have the utmost respect for the other riders. It was so amazing to be able to compete at that level and I’m just grateful I was able to get in as far as I did.”

Hugo Barrette competed in the Men’s Keirin, but did not make it past the first round repechage; a disappointing result for a rider that won a silver medal at the World Cup a month ago.

“A big disappointment. I knew I had the legs to run and I just made some bad choices, and my head was not in it. All in all, I’m proud of what I accomplished in coming back for Worlds [from a major crash]. But a big disappointment because I knew I could do a lot more today. I got caught in some bad situations, but that was all on me.”

Overall, Canada finished with two bronze medals (Women’s Individual Pursuit and Scratch Race) and two silver medals (Women’s Team Pursuit and Points Race). This puts Canada fourth in the medal standings among nations. This is almost certainly a modern era record for the Canadian track program.

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PENDREL & GAGNÉ WIN SEASON-OPENER CANADA CUP AT BEAR MOUNTAIN

(Victoria, BC – March 05, 2016) Canada’s national champions were the winners at the opening round of the Mountain Bike Canada Cup cross-country series on Saturday, at the Bear Mountain Resort on Vancouver Island.

Riders faced a combination of natural single track and long flowing descents with jumps thrown in. Race day was sunny and in the low teens for temperature, however, rain earlier in the week left sections of the track muddy and slippery.

Catharine Pendrel (Luna), the current national champion and two-time world champion, won the Elite women’s title with a time of one hour, 29 minutes and 54 seconds. Second was perennial rival and 2015 Pan Am Games champion Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing) at one minute and 19 seconds. Pendrel put nearly 20 seconds into Batty on the first lap and steadily pulled away for the rest of the race. American Erin Huck (Scott-3Rox) took third. Catherine Fleury (Cyclone d’Alma) was the top Under 23 rider in sixth place.

“We just capped off a two-week national team camp here,” explained Pendrel, “and it’s been phenomenal. To have a race here on a high quality course; it’s definitely something I want to come back for.”

The men’s race was a three-way battle between national and Pan Am Games champion Raphaël Gagné (Cannondale 360 Fly p/b Sugoi), Derek Zandstra (Scott-3Rox) and Léandre Bouchard (Cyclone d’Alma). Gagne led for most of the race, with Zandstra in second and Bouchard close behind. Zandstra then suffered a mechanical and had to stop at the pits, dropping him to third. The Scott-3Rox rider caught up to Bouchard and the two pulled to within nine seconds of Gagné by the finish. Marc-Antoine Nadon (Team Ontario) was the top Under 23 rider, in seventh place.

“We’ve had a chance to train here and get used to the slippery mud,” said Gagné. “My hat’s off to Derek, he unfortunately had a mechanical. It would have been really interesting to battle it out with him to the finish line. We’ve been training together for two weeks and the race finished with the top three within ten seconds of each other, so really close. It’s my first race as a Cannondale rider, so I’m really happy to take the win for Cannondale-365.”

“I had some trouble and had to pull into the pits,” said Zandstra, “which put me into third. Then Dre [Léandre Bouchard] and I had quite a battle, which brought us pretty close to Raph.”

Quinton Disera (Team Ontario/Angry Johnny’s) and Emily Handford (Rocky Mountain Factory) won the Junior Men’s and Women’s races, respectively.

The Canada Cup returns for Round 2 of the Cross-country and Round 1 of the Downhill at Mont Tremblant on May 22-23.

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CANADA ADDS FOURTH MEDAL AT TRACK WORLDS ON SATURDAY

(London, GBR – March 05, 2016) Canada continues to add to its medal count at the Track Cycling World Championships in London, Great Britain, adding a fourth medal on Saturday, a silver medal for Jasmin Glaesser in the Women’s Points Race. Canada now sits fourth in the nation rankings, with two silver and two bronze medals.

Glaesser, who had previously won a silver medal in this same event, came within half a wheel of winning the title, finishing third in the final sprint for a total of 14 points, one less then Katarzyna Pawlowska of Poland. One position higher, and Glaesser would have donned the Rainbow Jersey.

“The Points Race has always been my best event,”” said Glaesser, “but I’ve never made it to the top step, and I really wanted it out there today. It came down to half a bike length in that final sprint for one point… so it’s a tough one to swallow when you get that close. It’s within your reach, but it wasn’t quite enough.”

“I was hoping for a bit of a harder race. I prefer it more when it’s a race of attrition, but it was a lot more tactical with positioning going into the early sprints. So I was too hesitant and holding back too much at the beginning, and having to scramble to make up those points at the end. There was definitely a moment when I was worried I wasn’t even going to claw myself back onto the podium. I didn’t race my best race out there and I’m a little frustrated with myself for that. But at the same time, you can’t predict how these races are going to turn out, and I was able to adapt mid-race to a more tactical race.”

“I knew I needed to finish ahead of the British rider and the Australian rider, because we were all close on points. I didn’t realize until after that it was just that one point that would have made the difference between gold and silver. So it’s a tough one to swallow.”

Canada had riders in two other events, both of which conclude on Sunday. Kate O’Brien had the best showing of her career in the opening rounds of the Women’s Sprint, winning her first round race against Kaarle McCulloch of Australia, and then moving on to the quarter finals on Sunday after winning her Repechage race.

“It’s kind of funny,” commented O’Brien, “I’m pretty new to the whole sprint thing, and this was the first time I was able to go in a sprint tournament as part of it, rather then thinking I didn’t belong, or that everyone else was better. I went in not really expecting anything good or bad, and tried to ride my own race. And it worked out, which was nice.”

“All this is just gravy to me. We are always aiming for better and better results, but I’m going to try to go into tomorrow thinking the same things I was thinking today. You never know what can happen, and I’m just going to try to execute the best race that I can. Whatever happens, happens.”

Allison Beveridge is competing in the Women’s Omnium, and after the first three events is tied for ninth with 58 points. The Omnium concludes on Sunday with the final three events.

Hugo Barrette will also compete on Sunday, in the Men’s Keirin.

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CANADA WINS THIRD MEDAL AT TRACK WORLDS

Women Team Pursuit squad earns silver medal in North American match-up

(London, GBR – March 04, 2016) Canada kept its medal streak alive at the Track World Championships on Friday, in London, Great Britain, by taking the silver medal in the Women’s Team Pursuit. This is the third consecutive day that Canada has medaled at the championships, with bronze medal performances on each of the first two days.

The Canadian team of Allison Beveridge, Jasmin Glaesser, Kirsti Lay and Georgia Simmerling qualified second behind the United States on Thursday, and raced New Zealand in an early session on Friday, with the winner moving on to the gold medal race in the evening. After leading comfortably for much of the qualifying race, a poor exchange late in the race meant the Canadians had to struggle to beat New Zealand by a mere three-thousandths of a second to get into the gold medal race.

Against the Americans – who had set the fastest time of the competition in their qualifying race – Canada held their ground for the first 1000 metres, but gradually began to lose time through the remainder of the race, eventually finishing 2.723 seconds behind.

“We came here with the expectation that we could win Worlds,” admitted Lay, “so it’s bittersweet to come in second. But at the same time, I think we put everything that we could into this race. We have our eyes on Rio [Olympic Games] and that’s the most important thing. So we will regroup and move forward. We know we are capable of so much more, so a silver is still pretty good.”

“We have been changing positions up, trying to see what is the best strategy. I’ve been more on the front end this week, so it takes more out of me at the end. We’ll keep switching up and see what is the best combination.”

“It’s been an amazing track season. I think it’s a testament to our staff and Cycling Canada, and everything that they’ve done for us. We have such a team behind us that we have no reason not to succeed. We have evidence that we can put great rides together, so we’ve just got to keep that in our minds and keep moving forward.”

In other Canadian performances, Hugo Barrette qualified 17th for the Men’s Sprint with a time of 9.992 seconds, in a field where 18 of 24 qualifiers went under 10 seconds. For his first round of racing, Barrette was paired up with the defending and four-time world champion Gregory Bauge of France. Barrette went to the front and controlled the race, and was still leading with 50 metres to go, before Bauge caught him on the line in a photo finish.

“It is the fastest competition of all time, by far,” commented Barrette. “It’s pretty amazing; in 2012 at the Olympics [on this track], only three guys were under 10 seconds.”

“It was interesting [to go against Bauge], but no matter who is in front of me, I’m going to try to win. I didn’t look at it as ‘I’m going against the world champion’, I just gave it my best shot, and at the end of the day, he beat me by one tire [width] in a photo finish. I raced really well and no mistakes were made, it was just that he was stronger today. I’m not disappointed, I think I did a good ride.”

Remi Pelletier-Roy also competed, in the Men’s 4000m Individual Pursuit. Pelletier-Roy qualified 14th, and did not move on to the next round.

“This was the first time [at the world championships] for our men’s Team Pursuit program,” said Pelletier-Roy, “and also the first Worlds for myself and everybody on the team. It was pretty exciting to qualify after we didn’t qualify last year, and qualifying through the World Cups was a big achievement for us. To put up a 4:05 time [for the Team pursuit]; I think we can be pretty proud of that.”

“Usually in the IP [Individual Pursuit] I’m conservative, because when I do it in the Omnium it is only one of six events. Since this was a standalone IP, we thought it would be good to have a go. Last week at Milton [velodrome] I did a 4:23, which is a pretty good time, so we went with a bigger gear and faster schedule, because it’s Worlds and I didn’t want to have any regrets. I blew up a bit, but I’m still happy I went for it. It’s been a pretty good year, I’m pretty happy with it.”

Canada has a full day of competition on Saturday, with Allison Beveridge starting the Women’s Omnium, Jasmin Glaesser the Points Race and both Monique Sullivan and Kate O’Brien entered in the Sprint.

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ROORDA WINS A SECOND MEDAL FOR CANADA AT TRACK WORLDS

Stephanie Roorda takes homes bronze medal in women’s scratch race

(London, GBR – March 03, 2016) Steph Roorda won Canada’s second medal of the 2016 Track World Championships on Thursday, in London, Great Britain, when she attacked the field in the last 500 metres of the Women’s Scratch Race, and held on to take the bronze medal. Canada sits fifth in the standings with two bronze medals after two days of competition.

Roorda launched what would prove to be the decisive attack with less then two laps to go in the 40 lap race, catching a breakaway group with half a lap left and still leading with 100 metres to go. However, Laura Trott (Great Britain) came up fast from behind with Kirsten Wild (Netherlands), and the pair caught Roorda on the final straight to take gold and silver, with Roorda hanging on for third.

This was Roorda’s first individual medal at a world championships, and she said “It feels great. I think it’s a testament to the work we do on the Team Pursuit. We’re really fit and it proves we can perform in other events as well, so I’m really, really happy.”

“No one was really keen to catch that [breakaway] group and there was a bit of a hesitation, and that was the moment that I saw it was the right move to make, and I knew some of the big names were behind me, and if I could open the gap and go over that [breakaway] group of riders, then it was going to be to my advantage. You just go as hard as you can at that point, sprinting for the finish line, and not thinking about anything, really.”

In other Canadian action, the Women’s Team Pursuit squad of Allison Beveridge, Jasmin Glaesser, Kirsti Lay and Georgia Simmerling, finished second in the qualifying round, with a time of 4:20.664. The United States were the top qualifiers. Canada will face New Zealand in the next round on Friday, with the winner going on to the gold medal final.

“I’m optimistic for our team,” said Simmerling. “Today was not our best ride, but we can make some small changes and go a lot faster. It was a crazy day out there but we’re sitting in a good position. We can execute.”

Canada also had two entrants in the Women’s Keirin – Kate O’Brien and Monique Sullivan. Both raced aggressively in the opening rounds, but did not make it past the Repechage round.

“Anything can happen in the Keirin,” said Sullivan. “It was pretty exciting to have two of us in the race today; that’s never happened before. It was actually Katie’s first real international Keirin at the world championships, so it’s a pretty big step for us. We’ve been focussed on getting that Team Sprint spot [for Rio], so that was the real mission for the season, and we were both feeling the effects of that here. We don’t really have the best legs, but that’s a sacrifice for the Olympics.”

“We were focussed on execution, and getting good, aggressive rides in, so that when we have the legs, we’ll know what to do with them. For me personally, in the second race I used up my bullets too early and misjudged the speed of the racers coming behind me. We were both racing aggressively and were in the mix, and it does show progress and that we are going in the right direction, even though it doesn’t always look like it from the results.”

On Friday, Canadians will race in the Women’s Team Pursuit, Men’s Sprint and Men’s Individual Pursuit.

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