Brown races for a medal in individual pursuit

(Minsk, BEL – February 20, 2013) Canada opened the 2013 UCI Track Cycling World Championships Wednesday with a promising fourth place for Laura Brown in the women’s individual pursuit.

Brown – in only her second world-class individual pursuit — rode to a 3:37.736 in the qualifying round, good enough to advance to the bronze medal final against Australian Annette Edmondson.

“I executed the plan we had established almost perfectly and came away with a sea-level personal best”, said Brown, who was surprised and delighted to make the final. “I struggled to find my pacing in the bronze medal race and rode it out once it was very apparent that I was not going to beat the Australian.”

With Brown’s focus on the team pursuit Thursday, the individual result was a bonus.

“I was disappointed I could not put up more of a fight for the bronze medal, however I am really looking forward to racing the team pursuit tomorrow as that is where my focus and heart resides,” she said.

Brown will line up alongside teammates Gillian Carleton and Jasmin Glaesser Thursday. The Canadian women’s team pursuit program has produced a string of strong results recently, including gold at the most recent world cup in Aguascalientes, Mex., and bronze at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Gillian Carleton, Jasmin Glaesser and Laura Brown to represent Canada as Minsk, Belarus set to host 2013 UCI Track World Championships

(Ottawa, ON – February 15, 2013) Canada is sending three track cyclists, all women, to the 2013 UCI Track World Championships in Minsk, Belarus.

Laura Brown of Vancouver, BC, Gillian Carleton of Victoria, BC and Jasmin Glaesser of Coquitlam, BC will represent Canada at this year’s event held in the capital city of Belarus, which runs from February 20 to 24.

The three athletes, two of them whom won a gold medal for Canada in the women’s team pursuit at the recent UCI World Cup in Mexico, will try to defend Canada’s bronze medal performance from the 2012 World Championships.

Two of the three members of the women team pursuit squad, Carleton and Glaesser, won the bronze medal for Canada at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

“Our preparation for these World Championships has been much more relaxed following the Olympic Games, with the team only getting together in January for its first World Cup. However, with the additional rest and time spent at home, our recent blocks of hard training have been very productive and positive, and we hope to harness those good feelings in the team pursuit next Thursday,” said Carleton.

Along with the team pursuit, Carleton will also take on the omnium, an event in which Tara Whitten has had plenty of international success over the past Olympic cycle. “I have also been selected to race the omnium, after finishing fourth at the world cup last month in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Although my training focus has been the team pursuit, I am really excited to do another omnium against the best in the world and gain valuable experience for next year, when I hope to be competitive for a medal position.”

Jacques Landry, Director of High Performance for Cycling Canada, is confident the team will do well. “The girls have shown they are a force to be reckoned with, winning bronze at the Olympic Games and taking the gold medal at the last World Cup of the season. They have been hard at work in training camps since Christmas, and this work should translate to success at this year’s World Championships.

“Although we are not sending a full and complete team to the event, we know that the program is on track for continued success for the 2016 Olympic Games,” added Landry.

Brown will race the individual pursuit on top of the team pursuit, while Glaesser will race the points race – an event in which she won the silver medal at the last UCI World Championships.

The event starts on February 20th, and ends on the 24th. For complete schedule, details and results, please visit www.uci.ch.

Two Canadian sprinters post times under 10 seconds in qualifications

(Mexico City, MEX – February 10, 2013) Two Canadian sprinters broke the 10-second barrier in the 200m qualifying round at the 2013 UCI Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Mexico City on Saturday.

Joseph Veloce of Fonhtill, ON, who raced for Canada at the 2012 Olympic Games, qualified third-fastest with a time of 9.802 seconds, while Hugo Barrette of Cap-aux-Meules, QC was fourth in 9.864. The third Canadian sprinter, Stéphane Cossette of Chicoutimi, QC, was 15th in 10.118 despite suffering from illness.

“We know that the track here is very fast, but it’s remarkable to see these young sprinters posting such strong times,” said sprint coach Yannick Morin. “It’s very promising for the future.”

All three riders won their opening round matchups to move to the 1/8 final, where Veloce and Barrette both advanced to the quarter final.

Veloce beat Flavio Wagner of Brazil to move up to Sunday’s semifinal. Veloce is the sole Canadian sprinter advancing to the semi-finals, which are held Sunday.

Barrette, meanwhile, lost to Leandro Hernand Bottasso of Argentina in three rides, but went on to win the 5-8 final with a strong ride from the front to take the fifth spot.

Cossette lost his race and was relegated to the repêchage, where he finished second to end his tournament.

Also racing Saturday was Alison Beveridge in the women’s omnium. A bout of illness in the morning left her below par in the flying lap and the points race, however she bounced back in the afternoon to finish third in the elimination race in the evening.

Rémi Pelletier-Roy was also scheduled to race, in the men’s omnium, but was forced to withdraw due to illness.

Racing wraps up Sunday with the final three events in the women’s omnium, the men’s sprint semifinals and finals, and the women’s points race, which will feature Canadians Kirstly Lay and Candice Vermeulen.

The complete schedule of the 2013 UCI Pan-American Championships can be found here: http://www.federacionmexicanadeciclismo.com.mx/archivos/prograpana13.pdf