DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS: 2023 UCI CYCLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Aug. 7, 2023

Team Canada had its most successful day so far, with a total of three medals won at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, GBR, on Aug. 7.

Para-cycling Track
After making the top four in the Women C3 Individual Pursuit Qualifiers on Aug. 2, Keely Shaw (Midale, SK) was guaranteed a medal as she raced the gold final against Emily Petricola (AUS). With her time of 3:50.004, she ultimately won silver, 7.094s behind her opponent.

“I’m always happy to bring home hardware for Canada at World Championships, it’s always an honour to stand on the podium amongst the best in the world,” said Shaw. “I came up a little bit shy on the time I was looking for today but I think there’s a lot of things we can take away from today’s race as we move into the next year and the Paris Paralympic Games. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do in the next 12 months.”

Mel Pemble (Victoria, BC) and Tarek Dahab (Beloeil, QC) both impressed in the Time Trial event, with Pemble clinching the bronze medal in the Women C3 category, stopping the clock 2.220s behind Keiko Suguira (JPN) who posted a time of 39.184. Dahab was close to the Men C2 podium in fourth position with a personal best time of 1:11.918, only 1.971s behind the leader, Alexandre Leaute (FRA).

Track
Determined to bring some hardware home, Dylan Bibic (Mississauga, ON) was on a mission in the Elite Men Elimination Race. With only two riders remaining, it came down to a sprint between Bibic and Ethan Vernon (GBR), who ultimately took the win, letting Bibic walk away with the silver medal.

All three Canadian entrants in the Women Elite Sprint, Sarah Orban (Calgary, AB), Lauriane Genest (Lévis, QC) and Kelsey Mitchell (Sherwood Park, AB) breezed through the qualification round. Genest and Mitchell both successfully raced in the 1/16 Finals, where Orban was eliminated after placing only 0.130s behind her opponent Marie Divine Taky Kouame (FRA).Tomorrow, the Sprint Olympic Champion Mitchell will race against the reigning Sprint World Champion, Mathilde Gros (FRA) in the 1/8 Finals, while Genest will take on Yufang Guo (CHI) for her chance to advance to the quarterfinals.

BMX Freestyle Park
After a successful day in qualifications on Aug. 5., Jeffrey Whaley (Montreal, QC) posted a score of 77.80, placing first of his heat in the Elite Men BMX Freestyle Park Finals. He finished in 11^th place overall.

The BMX Racing World Challenge held its second day of competition, which is open to riders eight and above. Elle Foo-Donais was the only Canadian to reach the final rounds, ultimately placing eighth in the Girls 11 category. Charlie Donaldson (Girls 9), Noah Cornbill (Boys 10) and Oliver Cornbill (Boys 10) were the only other Canadian riders to make it past the qualification rounds, with Donaldson racing the quarterfinals and the Cornbill brothers making it to the 1/8 Finals.

Several Canadians raced to top-10 finishes at the Gran Fondo Individual Time Trial, with Joël Katz (Men 65-69) and Bruce Bird (Men 55-59) in seventh place, Serghei Maximenco (Men 45-49) in eighth and Diane Bomans (Women 55-59) and Zack Morris (Men 35-39) finishing ninth.

Full results from the fifth day of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships can be found here and detailed information about the event can be found here.