World Cup in London showed good perspectives for the Canadian Track Sprint Program

(London, GBR – December 7, 2014) Canadian Track Sprint Coach Erin Hartwell is happy with the outcome of the 2014 UCI Track World Cup in London and only sees positives as the program continues to grow to new heights.

Hartwell joined the team of coaches at Cycling Canada this spring, with the objective to revitalize the sprint program. His arrival had an immediate impact, with the new team posting strong performances throughout the first two World Cup events of the season.

“We saw a little bit of a mixed bag here in London. We were coming off a high at Guadalajara with a couple of stellar performances in the individual events with Hugo [Barrette] and Monique [Sullivan], so I was looking for a little bit more here,” admitted Hartwell.

“I am however very happy with the team sprints here. The women, with Monique and Kate [O’Brien], are now ranked 13^th in the World, looking to jump in that top 12 position towards the World Championships. On the men’s side, we had a development rider with Evan [Carey] as a starter. With Hugo being sick coming into the race, I’ve shuffled Joe [Veloce] into the third position, and he came through very well.”

Monique Sullivan (Calgary, AB) raced for Canada at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and soon after announced that she would shift her focus to complete her studies at the University of Calgary. This year, Guadalajara marked her first international competition in two years, and she went on to finish tenth in the keirin.

Coach Hartwell only had good words for the Olympian. “Monique’s return to competition couldn’t have been better. I think she’s a bit hard on herself because she doesn’t win right away, but I saw nothing but constant improvements since her return at the Pan-American Championships last fall. She’s well positioned in terms of points for the World Championships, and she will continue to improve.”

Racing as the sole female sprinter for Canada leading up to the 2012 Olympics, Sullivan can now enjoy the presence of a teammate in Kate O’Brien (Calgary, AB). O’Brien is hailing from the sport of bobsleigh, and she also happens to study at the University of Calgary. The two women gelled instantly and are now becoming a very strong duo on the verge of sitting in qualifying position for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

“Kate is a one of those real diamonds in the rough. It’s very cool to have found her at this stage in the game while we were at a talent ID camp in Calgary this past spring. She comes to us from bobsleigh, and the progress she’s made in such a short amount of time is truly phenomenal. We are seeing weekly improvements and she catching up very quickly with the rest of the world. Once we get to the next World Cup and at World Championships, we’ll be in the top 12 rankings, and hopefully in the Top 2 of the Americas rankings.”

Hugo Barrette (Cap-aux-Meules, QC) entered this world cup carrying a sickness from a training block in France and didn’t fully realized his potential this weekend. With Hugo off the line-up, the spotlight turned to Joe Veloce (Fonthill, ON), who is also making a return to the track suffering from a major crash in the fall. Veloce narrowly missed qualifying for the first round this morning, by only two-thousands (0.002s) of a second.

“It’s unfortunate for Hugo to come in here sick as he came off such a performance [in Guadalajara]. The sickness took a toll on him, and he wasn’t able to perform yesterday. I had to pull him off the individual sprint today,” said Hartwell, who added “Joe took the opportunity to represent his country, and he posted a really good time. He was only two-tenths off the leaders, and that’s the closest he’s been since his massive crash last year at Colorado Springs.”

The men’s team sprint welcomed two young rookies to its squad this year, with Joel Archambault (Ste-Christine, QC) and Evan Carey (Victoria, BC). Hartwell is pleased to see such progress from two rookies at international competition. “Joel [Archambault] and Evan [Carey] are green as grass. I am very impressed with their level of maturity, coming from regional development models. Evan in particular has stepped up and has impressed me more than anything. He can stay calm and composed, and get the job done. We are looking for reliability and consistency within our program, and Evan has shown that when he’s called upon, he can deliver and doesn’t make mistakes.

Hartwell also tipped his hat off to youngster Joel Archambault, who was scheduled to race in the team sprint at this event. “Unfortunately, Joel made a small mistake going down at full speed in training on Thursday, and he crashed pretty hard. He didn’t get to compete here, but I have full confidence that he will be back and ready to perform.”

Next up for the Canadian sprint program will be the World Cup in Columbia, the World Championships, followed by an intensive training block prior to the Toronto 2015 Pan-American Games.

Canada’s women team pursuit wins the bronze medal at Track Cycling World Cup

(London, GBR – December 5, 2014) The Canadian Women’s team pursuit squad kept the podium streak alive, extending it to seven consecutive medal performances at World Cups and World Championships.

Entering this World Cup race, Canada had been on the podium in the last six international women’s team pursuit races, and they managed to continue the streak adding a seventh podium to the tally.

“In the qualifiers, we were on to a good ride; we were on schedule. Just before the three-kilometer mark, Kirsti touched on the back of Allison’s wheel and crashed. Fortunately, Jasmin was able to dodge her and the team continued on to qualify in third. Ultimately, as close as Great Britain, Australia and we are to each other, all you need is to qualify top three,” said Craig Griffin, women’s track endurance coach at Cycling Canada. He went on to add “Kirsti was a bit bruised up, but we made the decision to keep her in the line-up for the semi-finals.”

The team comprised of Jasmin Glaesser (Coquitlam, BC), Stephanie Roorda (Vancouver, BC), Allison Beveridge (Calgary, AB) and Kirsti Lay (Calgary, AB) raced a tough battle in the first semi-final race against Australia, lowering by two seconds their qualifying time, but were ultimately unable to bridge the deficit created by the quick Australian start.

Griffin was nevertheless pleased with the ride, Canada’s best time at sea-level. “The semi-final was a good ride – I can’t say it was our best ride. The 4:26 we did was actually the best time we’ve posted at sea-level, so I feel pretty good about that. I gave Kirsti the same workload, so I didn’t have to change the strategy [as a result of the crash]. The bottom line is that we needed to execute better, from a technical standpoint. We just needed a greater focus in that semi-final.”

In the second semi-final race, Great Britain easily caught up to the Americans to win the second semi-finals, but the Chinese posted a faster time than the Americans in the first round, allowing them to race for the bronze medal.

In the race for the bronze medal, Canada faced the rising team from China, who posted a time of 4:30.032 in the first round to qualify for the bronze medal duel. Determined to climb on the podium, the Canadians took no time in taking the lead, and never looked back as they caught the Chinese with 400m to go, automatically ending the race.

“In the final [for the bronze medal], we slowly got the feel of things. We knew we had a bit of a cushion over China, so there was no stress. We had to go out and put a clean ride. The girls rode with very nice splits,” continued Grifin.

The coach was pleased to see that new changes helped the team, and will continue to help the team for the long-term. “For me, it was a good event, We totally changed our strategy with our line-up over the last month between the two World Cups. We realize we have to get better, so we are trying some new things. For the most part, I think the changes we’ve made turned good results, and it will pay dividends in the long run.”

As expected, the local Great Britain riders took the gold medal against the Australian team. The Brits remain undefeated in international competition since the 2012 Olympic Games, winning each World Cup and World Championship race in which they took part. Australia put up a good fight in the gold medal showdown, but their efforts proved unsuccessful, taking the silver medal.

The pressure increases on the rest of the world to dislodge the Brits from the top step of the podium, and Griffin wants Canada to be that team. “We are now expected to be on the podium. Our goal is always to be on top of the podium, and we aren’t too far off. We are a very young team, and the most important thing for me is that we have new talent coming into the team with Kirsti and Allison. Both were not part of the program prior to this Olympic cycle. We have Laura [Brown] and Gillian [Carleton] that are home. At some point, we will have a full contingent, and we are going to continue to push the envelope, and knock those guys off the podium at some point.”

The event in London continues tomorrow and ends on Sunday.

Canada’s Women Team Pursuit won bronze at 2012 Olympics and are looking to maintain their podium streak

(Ottawa, ON – December 3, 2014) Starting on Friday, it is expected that the seats in the London velodrome be packed with track cycling fans to witness the best international competition since the Olympic Games.

For the Canadian team, while performance is the priority over the three days of competition, it will also be an opportunity for some to relive the nostalgia of being back in this famous velodrome and for others to get a sense of what the feeling would have been two years ago as all continue to acquire the experiences needed to perform on the boards in Rio in less than two years.

Jacques Landry, High Performance Director and Head Coach at Cycling Canada, is hoping to take advantage of the sea-level velodrome to evaluate the progress of its track program, and see where Canada’s cyclists measure against the best in the world. “This World Cup in London will give us a good indication of how we are tracking against our competition. It is expected that many teams will be bringing their “A” squads to compete here and so this is the perfect test for us, and we are ready.”

The Canadian team will be headlined by its flagship women’s team pursuit squad. Canada’s women are currently enjoying a streak of six consecutive podium performances in major international events and, in 2014, won the overall World Cup standings. The team will however face fierce opposition, especially against the very powerful British ladies, who are undefeated in international competition since winning Gold on home soil at the Olympic Games.

It will be decided on site as whom of Olympic bronze medallist Jasmin Glaesser, Stephanie Roorda, Allison Beveridge, Kirsti Lay, and Annie Foreman-Mackey will be part of the line-up for the three rides in this World Cup event.

“Our women’s team pursuit squad will be looking to continue its Olympic qualification process, and will leave it all on the line as it hopes to stand on the podium once again. The World Cup in London will also be a great test for our recently formed men’s team pursuit squad who continues to show progression every time it competes,” commented Craig Griffin, Track Endurance coach at Cycling Canada.

Rémi Pelletier-Roy, Ed Veal, Sean McKinnon, Eric Johnstone and Aidan Caves, a mix of youth and experience, will represent Canada as they ride to cumulate some important UCI points necessary for Olympic and World Championship qualifications. The final roster will be announced closer to race day.

Earlier in the year during the opening World Cup of the current campaign, the four-man squad established a new Canadian record.

Led by Track Sprint Coach Erin Hartwell, the sprinters will also be looking to post some performances on the track that, according to many, favors this type of rider. Hugo Barrette is continuing his efforts to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games, while Olympian Joseph Veloce, fresh off completing his degree in Mechanical Engineering, is making a comeback to the boards and will evaluate his form against the top sprinters in the world. Barrette will also suit up for the men’s keirin race.

The men’s team sprint squad has yet to be finalized, with four sprinters vying for the three open spots. Along Barrette and Veloce, Evan Carey and Joel Archambault, two young sprinters who have come up the ranks in the last few years, will be racing for Canada at the event.

In the women’s sprint events, former bobsledder Kate O’Brien is continuing its transition to cycling, teamed with up Olympian sprinter Monique Sullivan. The two women will be looking to qualify for the team sprint elimination rounds, improving from their first performance in Guadalajara. Sullivan, who finished sixth at the Olympics in the keirin, will also take part in this event this weekend.

The event starts on Friday, and racing will continue until Sunday. Live Timing is offered through www.tissottiming.com.

CANADIAN TRACK CYCLING TEAM – LONDON 2014 UCI WORLD CUP

Women’s Team Pursuit

• Jasmin Glaesser
• Stephanie Roorda
• Allison Beveridge
• Kirsti Lay
• Annie Foreman-Mackey

Men’s Team Pursuit

• Remi Pelletier-Roy
• Aidan Caves
• Eric Johnstone
• Sean Mackinnon
• Ed Veal

Men’s Team Sprint

• Hugo Barrette
• Joseph Veloce
• Evan Carey
• Joel Archambault

Women’s Team Sprint

• Monique Sullivan
• Kate O’Brien

Men’s Sprint

• Hugo Barrette
• Joseph Veloce

Men’s Keirin

• Hugo Barrette

Women’s Sprint and Keirin

• Monique Sullivan

Women’s Scratch Race (C1 event integrated into the World Cup programme for London)

• Annie Foreman-Mackey