(Milton) Canada got off to a good start at the UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup, as three of its four pursuit teams reached the knockout phase of the competition.
The first men’s team — Canada A — also posted its best time to finish third in these qualifications.
The squad made up of world scratch title holder Dylan Bibic, Carson Mattern, Olympian Michael Foley — both from Milton — and Quebecer Mathias Guillemette held the best time for a while with their time of three minutes, 52 , 749 seconds (3:52.749).
“The goal was to go as fast as we could. Other than Mike, it’s all our best time to date,” said Guillemette. That was our strategy. »
Canada B, formed by Chris Ernst, Daniel Fraser-Maraun, Campbell Parrish and Sean Richardson, was less successful, having to settle for 11e rank out of 12 formations, with a time of 3 min 57.017 s.
It was Australia who recorded the best of the eight times giving access to Friday’s races: 3 min 50, 788 s. Great Britain (3:52.314) slotted into second place.
Moreover, there was no question of taking it easy: the times recorded on Thursday were quick to slow down and conserve energy for the final stages.
“It’s hard to keep energy when times are so fast. […] I don’t think the teams are strong enough here to afford to ‘save it’ for (Friday),” Guillemette noted.
On the women’s side, Erin Attwell, Maggie Coles-Lyster, Sarah Van Dam and Ariane Bonhomme formed the Canada A team, which qualified with the fourth time, in 4 min 17, 147 s. Devaney Collier, Adèle Desgagnés, Kiara Lylyk and Fiona Majendie, who made up Canada B, obtained the eighth and final time giving access to Friday’s finals, 4 min 24, 181 s.
These qualifications were dominated by the British (4 min 14, 824), three of the four runners – Katie Archibald, Megan Barker and Josie Knight – are silver medalists from the last Worlds and the 2020 Olympics.
“It’s a great start,” said a smiling Dan Proulx, head coach of the Canadian team. Our riders are getting faster and faster and it shows. They’re getting established, it’s exciting to see, although obviously there’s still a lot of work to be done. But it’s a solid start, which will set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
The best
This is the second year that the Nations Cup has made a stop at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre. The plateau is all the more raised for this second edition, while the qualifying process for the Paris Olympic Games is well underway, spanning the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
This series of three stages – Jakarta and Cairo hosted the first two this season – is all the more important as it counts for a lot in the qualifying process.
“These Nations Cups, your two best results in 2023 and your two best in 2024 count for your qualifications,” explained Proulx. Currently, we are running very well and we are confident of being able to qualify a men’s team and a women’s team. […] Performances like those of (Thursday) evening give us a lot of motivation, not only for tomorrow, but so that we can be competitive in Paris. »
Counting on a younger endurance team, the objective of medals is longer term.
“We want to be strong in Paris, but when you look at the age of this team and the performances they offer, we are aiming more for 2028. But I think it’s a top-8 team, so if the stars s ‘align…’, let Proulx dangle.
More than 300 cyclists from some 50 nations are expected for the various events contested from Thursday to Sunday, including several Olympic and World Championship medalists.
The Canadian delegation will also count on Kelsey Mitchell, gold medalist in the individual sprint at the Tokyo Olympics and bronze medalist in the same discipline at the 2021 Worlds, and Lauriane Genest, bronze medalist in the keirin at the 2020 Olympics.
Mitchell and Genest had also shone at the 2022 Nations Cup. Mitchell had won three medals – gold in the keirin, silver in the individual sprint and bronze in the team sprint –, while Genest had put his hand on two bronze medals, in the keirin and the team sprint. But everything has to start over for them.
“There are so many nations trying to qualify in the sprint that we have no margin for error. We have to collect all the points we can. »
In all, seven disciplines will be contested throughout the weekend.
Canadian team members
- Endurance — Women Erin Attwell Ariane Bonhomme Maggie Coles-Lyster Devaney Collier Adèle Desgagnés Kiara Lylyk Fiona Majendie Penelope Primeau Ruby West Sara Van Dam
- Endurance — Hommes Charles Bergeron Dylan Bibic Chris Ernst Michael Foley Daniel Fraser-Maraun Mathias Guillemette Carson Mattern Campbell Parrish Sean Richardson
- Sprint — Women Jackie Boyle Sarah Orban Lauriane Genest Kelsey Mitchell
- Sprint — Hommes Ryan Dodyk James Hedgcock Tyler Rorke Nick Wammes
