TWO CANADIAN RECORDS FALL AT UCI TRACK WORLD CUP IN NEW ZEALAND
Women Team Sprint, Men Team Sprint and Men Team Pursuit post career-best results, Women Team Pursuit qualifies with the fastest time
(Cambridge, NZE – December 04, 2015) It was an amazingly fast Friday for the Canadian track cycling team with two Canadian records broken in New Zealand as the UCI World Cup resumed at the Avantidrome in Cambridge.
Canada’s athletes posted season-best results across the board. The Women’s Team Sprint squad, who are fighting a tight battle for an Olympic spot, rose to the occasion and posted a career-best time at 33.467s, qualifying in fifth place and shattering the Canadian record in the process. The previous Canadian mark was set at 34.173s during the 2014 Pan-American Championships. The Calgary duo of Monique Sullivan and Kate O’Brien scored very important Olympic qualifying points, which will improve their international ranking.
On the men’s side in the team sprint, the return of Hugo Barrette greatly elevated the team’s performance. Barrette posted the sixth fastest time in the final lap to bring Canada home in ninth position. The team comprised of Joe Veloce, Evan Carey and Barrette stopped the clock at 44.393s, their best time so far this season.
“This was a huge first day for Canadian sprinters here at the World Cup in Cambridge. Monique Sullivan and Kate O’Brien took a career-best fifth place in the women’s team sprint, just one spot shy of qualifying for the medal round, and set a new national record,” said Erin Hartwell, Canada’s sprint coach. “The men came through incredibly well too, with a killer ninth place, the season’s best result by far and just a few hundredths out of eighth place! I’m really impressed with Hugo’s comeback after his terrible crash in Cali, and Joseph and Evan stepped up with solid efforts. The team sprint goals were top eight for the women and top 10 for the guys. Well, they got it done! Proud of the effort the past month to right the ship after the Cali World Cup.”
The Canadian Women Team Pursuit squad, led by Coach Craig Griffin, also elevated their performance by posting the fastest qualifying time among the group of 16 countries. Wearing the coveted White Jersey as UCI World Cup leaders, the four-woman team comprised of Allison Beveridge, Laura Brown, Jasmin Glaesser and Kirsti Lay ripped through the 4-km distance with a time of 4:19.359, lowering their times from the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games gold medal performance. The qualifying time was almost two seconds faster from the qualifying time at the opening World Cup of the current season in Colombia.
The Men Team Pursuit were also in action, and the group of four posted a career-best time of 4:04.927 to finish in ninth position, also setting a new Canadian record in the event. The team comprised of Remi Pelletier-Roy, Ed Veal, Adam Jamieson and Aidan Caves cracked the World Cup Top 10 for the first time, showing significant improvements since the program was initiated a few years ago under the guidance of Coach Ian Melvin.
Canada will race for a medal in the Women Team Pursuit on Saturday.
