A FOUR-MEDAL DAY FOR CANADA AT TRACK PAN-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Canada’s Men Team Pursuit shatters Canadian Record in the process
(Ottawa, ON – September 02, 2015) Canada had a stellar day at the 2015 UCI Pan-American Championships, an important Olympic qualifier, in Chile. The team won four medals: three silver medals and one bronze medal in the opening day of the competition.
The Canadian Men Team Pursuit squad comprised of Remi Pelletier-Roy, Ed Veal, Sean MacKinnon and Aidan Caves qualified with the second fastest time of the morning qualifiers (4:06.198). In the medal session, racing for the gold medal against Colombia, Canada posted a time of 4:03.77 (unofficial), lowering the Canadian record in the process.
After the race, veteran Ed Veal was thrilled with the team and the result: “Insanely proud moment here in Chile. It takes total trust and commitment to do what we did out there on the boards tonight. I love these guys!! That ride was insane!!”
Veal went on to add: “Thank you to everyone who has helped along the way. Thank you to all the wonderful Team Canada coaches and staff. This men’s track endurance program has come so far in such a short period, and I’m so thankful to be a part of it.”
The previous Men Team Pursuit record was 4:05.503 set at the UCI Track World Cup in Guadalajara, MEX, in 2014.
In the women’s 10km scratch race, Allison Beveridge took the silver medal in a nail-biting finish. Both Beveridge and Steph Roorda lined up to race. Argentina attacked immediately, gaining half a lap before Cuba, USA, and Canada, working together, chased it down. There was a flurry of small attacks from all teams, but it seemed everyone was happy to keep it together for a sprint.
However, Argentina went on the attack again with ten laps to go, gaining almost half a lap with five laps remaining before Steph, with Allison in tow, went after her. The Argentina rider was caught by Roorda with two laps to go as USA’s Valente made her move over the top to take the front. Allison managed to maneuver her way onto Valente’s wheel, but the American hung on for the win by half a bike length.
In Sprint action, Canada had teams in both the men and women’s team sprint events. The men qualified with a time of 44.305s and raced for the gold medal. The team represented by Hugo Barrette, Joe Veloce and Evan Carey faced off against the powerful Venezuelan team for the gold medal ultimately ending with the silver medal.
The women’s team sprint, with Monique Sullivan and Kate O’Brien lining up for Canada, were also disputed today. Canada qualified with the third fastest time of qualifiers with a time of 34.028s. Canada earned the bronze medal in the race
Canada’s Women’s Team Pursuit squad will be racing the qualifiers tomorrow morning, with the objective to qualify for the evening finals.
