DAY 3 HIGHLIGHTS: 2023 UCI CYCLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Canadian athletes left it all on the line as competition continued at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, GBR, on Aug. 5 in BMX freestyle, track and para-cycling track, mountain bike downhill and road.
Jeffrey Whaley Sets Up for Success
Jeffrey Whaley of Montreal, QC, posted an impressive score of 71.30 in the Elite Men BMX Freestyle Park Qualifier, currently sitting fourth for the day and indicating good things to come in tomorrow’s semi-finals.
Jeffrey Whaley
Photo Credit: Javier Martínez de la Puente/SWpix.com
“[The 2022 World Championships] didn’t go as planned last year so I was kind of nervous coming back and actually pulling both my runs,” said Whaley. “I pulled my first one and it was alright, I knew I could fix a couple things so I came in my second run pretty confident. I just wanted to make sure everything was clean and I finished my run perfectly like I wanted it and right after it started raining, so it was perfect for me.”
Kelsey Mitchell and Lauriane Genest Progress to Second Day of Keirin Competition
Tokyo 2020 Olympic medallists Kelsey Mitchell of Sherwood Park, AB, and Lauriane Genest of Lévis, QC, took the first step in their quests for the Women Elite Keirin rainbow jersey, qualifying for tomorrow’s quarter-finals through Round 1 and the Round 1 Repechage, respectively.
Lauriane Genest (CAN), Riyu Ohta (JPN)
Photo Credit: Will Palmer/SWpix.com
Both Canadian entrants in the Men Elite Sprint, Ryan Dodyk of Lloydminster, AB, and Nick Wammes of Bothwell, ON, successfully made it through the qualification round. They fell to their opponents by the slimmest of margins in the 1/16 Finals, Dodyk to Jeffrey Hoogland (NED) by 0.088 seconds and Wammes to Kohei Terasaki (JPN) by 0.055 seconds.
After yesterday’s qualification, The Women Elite Team Pursuit squad – comprised of Erin Attwell of Victoria, BC, Ariane Bonhomme of Gatineau, QC, Maggie Coles-Lyster of Maple Ridge, BC, and Sarah Van Dam of Victoria, BC – faced Italy in Round 1 but were short of the opposing team’s time of 4:11:342 by 15.165 seconds.
In para-cyling track, Tarek Dahab of Belœil, QC, placed 13th in the Men C2 7.5km Scratch Race.
Tomorrow, Canadian track and para-cycling track athletes will also contest the women’s elimination race and time trial, and men’s individual pursuit, sprint and omnium.
Gracey Hemstreet Nabs Top-20 Mountain Bike Downhill Finish
Mountain bike downhill concluded today with the Elite Finals. The top finishers representing the maple leaf were Gracey Hemstreet of Sechelt, BC, placing 14th for the women and Forrest Riesco of Gibsons, BC, placing 21st for the men. Mountain bike continues tomorrow with the cross-county marathon.
Gracey Hemstreet
Photo Credit: Thomas Maheux/SWpix.com
Road Racing Kicks Off With Juniors
Isabella Holmgren of Orillia, ON, conquered 70km for a fantastic eighth-place finish to lead the Canadians in the Women Junior Road Race. The top finisher in red and white for the men was Charles Bergeron of Oakville, ON, who came 49th. Tomorrow it will be the Elite Men’s turn at the road race.
Éloïse Camiré, Isabella Holmgren, Alexandra Volstad, Nora Linton
Photo Credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Full results from the third day of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships can be found here and detailed information about the event can be found here.
