Minsk, Belarus, January 21, 2018 – Canada had a strong showing at Round 5 of the UCI Track World Cup in Minsk, Belarus, with athletes winning silver and bronze medals on Saturday.  Stefan Ritter of Edmonton, Alberta, won the silver medal in the Men’s Keirin, while the NextGen women’s Team Pursuit squad took bronze.

For Ritter, a former Junior world champion, the podium result came after a long recovery from a crash in 2017 that kept him out of competition for the earlier part of the 2017-2018 World Cup season. Ritter had to go through the ‘second chance’ repechage race to qualify for the semi-finals, but won his semi-final race to make it into the medal final, where six riders competed for the medals.  In the Final, Ritter finished second to Matthijs Buchli of the Netherlands.  Ritter also competed in the Sprint, qualifying fourth but getting beaten in the 1/8th final by eventual bronze medalist Theo Bos of the Netherlands.

“Overall I’m really happy with how the Keirin went,” said Ritter.  “I couldn’t have asked for more, to be honest.  Considering this is the first time I’ve raced the Keirin at a World Cup, I’m really happy with silver.  Except for the first ride, all my rides went really well; tactically, I feel like I made good decisions.”

The NextGen team of Erin Attwell (Victoria, BC), Maggie Coles-Lyster (Maple Ridge, BC), Devaney Collier (Edmonton, Alberta), and Laurie Jussaume (Contrecoeur, Quebec) qualified third on Friday in the 4000 metre event and set the third fastest time again on Saturday morning to make it into the bronze medal race against France in the evening.  Canada was leading France after the halfway mark when the French team crashed out of competition.  The United States won the gold medal ahead of Italy.

“We started out really smooth,” said Attwell, “and the plan was to focus on the technical aspects of our ride; executing well, staying on the black line and communicating.  We did a really good job of working together as a team.  It’s the first time that we have executed everything perfectly; we had such a smooth ride for all three [races], and every ride got better technically and we got faster in every ride. It’s exciting for the future.”

Jacques Landry Chief, Technical Officer – Head Coach for Cycling Canada, and Project Manager in Minsk, commented:  “Saturday was a good day for the team. Our NextGen TP squad rode three great rides, on schedule, every time. The strategy was easy for them – it was to focus on their own race, communicate and strive for flawless execution. They met the strategic goals which led to a bronze medal; a bronze medal that may not have happened without the great preparation from NextGen coach, Jenny Trew, along with on-point in the field input from our physiologist, Emily Wood.”

“To cap off the day, Stefan rode a great Final which could have yielded a gold. Though his qualifier could have been better, with his legs firing on all cylinders, he rode a great repechage to put him back into the running. In the Sprint competition he had a strong qualifier but just came up against a more experienced rider in the heats.”

In other competition, Devaney Collier of Edmonton competed in the four event women’s Omnium, finishing 14th overall, while Maggie Coles-Lyster competed in the Points Race but did not finish, and in the Madison with Laurie Jassaume, where the duo was 13th.

“The Madison was definitely a new experience,” admitted Coles-Lyster.  “I think Laurie and I learned a lot; it was one of the fastest races I’ve ever done. It showed us everything we need to work on, and I know that we will get there. This was the second Madison we have done together, so we’ve made big progress since the [Junior] world championships, and I can see us making more progress now.”

Landry summarized the project: “The girls [NextGen Track endurance] really came into their own during this project; it’s a testament to their talent and the work done in the background from coaches and staff like Jenny and Emily Wood. They’ve not only learned a lot in the Team Pursuit, but also in the individual events like the Points Race, Omnium and Madison. Although Stefan Ritter may have made some mistakes in the 1/8th final, he definitely has shown he is world class. This is the Stefan we expect to see more of in the coming months and years.”

Milton, December 3, 2017 – Team Canada took their second and third medals of the Milton Track World Cup on Saturday, delighting the home crowd.  The women’s Team Pursuit squad won the gold medal, while Allison Beveridge took silver in the women’s Omnium.

Canada came into the Team Pursuit competition as the favourite, and did not disappoint, facing New Zealand in the gold medal final.  The Canadian team of Ariane Bonhomme, Kinley Gibson, Annie Foreman-Mackey and Beveridge chased down the New Zealand squad, catching them in the final kilometre of the race, automatically ending the competition. France took the bronze medal.

Less than 30 minutes after anchoring the Team Pursuit squad to gold, Beveridge returned to the track for the fourth and final event in the four-race Omnium. Going into the final Points Race, Beveridge was sitting in second behind Japan’s Yumi Kajihara, and four points ahead of Great Britain’s Eleanor Dickinson. Kajihara proved to be untouchable, winning her fourth straight race to lock up the gold medal with 154 points, however, Beveridge and Dickinson battled all race for silver, with Beveridge holding on to win the silver medal by a slim two points.

“I knew coming into today that I might have to race both the Team Pursuit and the Omnium” said Beveridge, “but I didn’t realize quite how close together they were in the schedule. It was a busy day, but a good day overall.  My legs were pretty tired going into the final race; I wanted to give it a go against the Japanese girl, but I realized that I had to defend second.  My legs were definitely hurting at the end of that one. I’m a bit disappointed that I couldn’t do double gold, because standing on top of the podium and singing your own anthem at home is pretty special, so the Team Pursuit gold is definitely a highlight.”

In other competitions, Hugo Barrette made it to the final of the men’s Keirin, finishing sixth overall, while Amelia Walsh qualified 14th in the women’s Sprint, but was knocked out after the first round.

Milton, November 27, 2017 – Cycling Canada is pleased to announce the team that will represent Canada on December 1-3, at Round 3 of the TISSOT UCI Track Cycling World Cup, to take place at the Mattamy Cycling Centre in Milton, Ontario. This will be the first Track World Cup to take place in Canada since Victoria in 1998, and Cycling Canada is fielding a team of 16 athletes, including multiple Olympians.

“Canada is fielding a very competitive team at our home World Cup, with a mix of youth and experience,” said Kris Westwood, High Performance Director for Cycling Canada.  “Out of the 16 athletes we have entered, three have won Olympic medals and 14 have been on the podium at Worlds, World Cups or Pan American championships.  This is an exciting time for Canadian track cycling, as we build towards the Tokyo Olympics and see the next generation start to hit their stride as well.”

Canada’s small sprint squad of three riders is headed by Rio Olympian Hugo Barrette, who will compete in the Men’s Sprint and Keirin events.  On the women’s side, Amelia Walsh will compete in all three sprint events – Sprint, Keirin and Team Sprint; she will be joined by newcomer Tegan Cochrane for the latter competition.

“Milton will be my first World Cup racing all the Sprint events and I couldn’t be more excited for it to be on home soil,” said Walsh. “It is still quite early on in my track cycling career and have lots to learn, but I hope to represent Canada to the best of my ability next weekend, battling it out with the best in the World.”

Canada’s Olympic-medal winning women’s endurance squad will focus on their specialty – the Team Pursuit, where the team has won bronze medals in the past two Olympics.  The squad will be anchored by Olympian Allison Beveridge, who will also race the Omnium.  Jasmin Duehring, who won a silver medal in the Points Race at the last world championships, will compete in that event at Milton, as well as the Madison with teammate Steph Roorda.

“This is an exciting time for our program,” said Craig Griffin, Women’s Track Endurance Coach.  “We are fortunate enough to have seven athletes getting ready for the world championships and Commonwealth Games, so in the process we have seven athletes who can ride the four events at the World Cup here in Milton.  We will have six athletes ready to ride in the Team Pursuit, and hopefully have the opportunity to have them ride in the different rounds of the competition, in different combinations.”

“We will have Jasmin in the Points Race, and hopefully she can bring another good performance to the table.  The Madison is going to be exciting; it is the first Madison we are going to ride on home soil, and we are looking at Jasmin and Steph for that event; it’s a new combination, but we are confident it will produce good results.  Finally, we will have Allison ride the Omnium; she’s had a pretty good run in the Omnium over the past year, although it’s been a while since she has done one at the international level, so we are looking forward to seeing how she rides in that race.”

The men’s endurance squad will feature a mix of experienced and NextGen athletes, as they begin their efforts to qualify for the Team Pursuit standard at the 2020 Olympic Games.  Five of the riders will focus on the Team Pursuit, led by veteran Adam Jamieson.  Aidan Caves, the silver medalist at this year’s Pan Am Championships, will focus on that event.

Sprint
Tegan Cochrane – Kelowna, BC [Team Sprint]
Amelia Walsh – Ayr, ON [Team Sprint, Sprint, Keirin]
Hugo Barrette – Iles de la Madeleine, QC [Sprint, Keirin]

Endurance Women
Allison Beveridge – Calgary, AB [Team Pursuit, Omnium]
Ariane Bonhomme – Gatineau, QC [Team Pursuit]
Jasmin Duehring – Vancouver, BC [Points Race, Madison]
Annie Foreman-Mackey – Kingston, ON [Team Pursuit]
Kinley Gibson – Edmonton, AB [Team Pursuit]
Kirsti Lay – Calgary, AB [Team Pursuit]
Steph Roorda – Vancouver, BC [Team Pursuit, Madison]

Endurance Men
Aidan Caves – Vancouver, BC [Omnium]
Michael Foley – Milton, ON [Team Pursuit]
Derek Gee – Ottawa, ON [Team Pursuit]
Adam Jamieson – Barrie, ON [Team Pursuit]
Jay Lamoureux – Victoria, BC [Team Pursuit]
Bayley Simpson – Lindsay, ON [Team Pursuit]