Kelsey Mitchell leads the way for Canada at UCI Track Nations Cup in Milton
Canada won three medals over the four-day event, including Mitchell taking sprint gold
The UCI Track Nations Cup was back in Milton, Ontario this past weekend, and Canadian cyclists again won a handful of medals in front of their home crowd at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre.
Kelsey Mitchell, as she has been so many times over the past few years, was the focal point for Canada, winning a gold medal in the women’s sprint event, and helping Canada win team sprint silver.
On Friday, Canada’s women’s team sprint team won their first Track Nations Cup medal of the season, with one of their best-ever times. Tokyo 2020 Olympic medallists Mitchell and Lauriane Genest, along with Paris 2024 hopeful Sarah Orban, finished in a time of 47.414 seconds, good for a silver medal and just over four tenths of a second behind Mexico for the gold medal. Poland finished third in a time of 47.569, beating Great Britain by half a second in what was also a narrow finish.
Canada’s time is better than the one they had at the 2022 Commonwealth Games last summer, where they finished in 48.001 seconds to win a silver medal there too.
“This is very close to our best time. Going for the gold medal, we had nothing to lose and we really gave it our all,” Genest said afterwards in a press release. “The points we earned today are beneficial for Olympic qualification. We were not at our best at the Jakarta Nations Cup so it’s really nice to be back to where we were last year and to be back here at home.”
The Canadian men’s sprint team — Tyler Rorke, Nick Wammes and James Hedgcock — finished fourth in their event, 0.233 seconds back of Great Britain for third, and 1.273 seconds back of the champions Australia.
Also on Friday, a new-look Canadian women’s team pursuit squad joined forces to win the bronze medal in their first event racing together. Sarah Van Dam, Maggie Coles-Lyster, Ariane Bonhomme and Erin Attwell made up the Canada A team, who qualified for the finals with the fourth-fastest time in the first round.
As a result they took on the United States in the bronze medal race, where they won in a time of 4:15.961, over three seconds faster than the Americans. Great Britain won the gold medal race in 4:12.539, about a second faster than the second-place Germans.
“This gives us confidence. We're a new team and since the Tokyo Games, we've been trying to rebuild our program," said Bonhomme in a press release. "We knew we were capable of doing this but everything needed to come together on race day. We've been trying for more than a year and today everything worked out.
“We know that this is the start of something special."
The men’s team pursuit squad — made up of Mathias Guillemette, Carson Mattern, Dylan Bibic and Michael Foley — finished just off the podium in fourth. Sarah Van Dam also took part in the women’s elimination race on Friday, finishing tenth, while Bibic and Guillemette finished seventh and twelfth, respectively, in the men’s elimination race.
On Saturday, Mitchell was back in action, and competing in the women’s sprint event, the race that she won the gold medal in at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. She took the gold medal again in Milton, beating Colombian racer Martha Bayona Pineda in the final, crossing the line first in the third and final heat to win 2-1.
Mexico’s Daniela Gaxiola took the bronze medal by beating Belgium’s Nicky Degrendele. Lauriane Genest was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Degrendele.
“I am so happy with my result. I know I’m not at my best so I had to race more tactically than normal,” said Mitchell in a press release. “Normally, I just power through it and rely on my athletic abilities to win the races, but I really think I learned a lot and used the track properly. I want to take this momentum in the training block going forward and into Worlds to hopefully get more points for Olympic qualifying.”
As Mitchell mentioned, this summer is crucial for all Canadian cyclists, with the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships happening in Glasgow, Scotland in August. The 2023 Pan American Championships also take place in June, the next opportunity for Canadian riders to earn those coveted qualifying points. All of that, as well as the Pan Am Games in October, count as preparation and routes to qualify for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
James Hedgcock, a day after finishing fourth with Canada’s sprint team, was one spot away from the podium again in the men’s keirin on Saturday. Matthew Richardson of Australia won the event in a time of 9.939 seconds.
Nick Wammes and Ryan Dodyk also took part in the event for Canada, but didn’t move on past the first round repechage. Michael Foley was the other Canadian to compete on Saturday, competing in the omnium bunch race, although the Milton, ON native didn’t qualify for the finals.
The event wrapped up on Sunday, and although Canada didn’t add to their medal tally, they did put in some strong performances.
Ryan Dodyk, James Hedgcock, Nick Wammes, and Tyler Rorke were the Canadian competitors in the men’s sprint event. Wammes was the top Canadian, making it to the quarterfinals, losing to eventual fourth-place finisher Muhammad Shah Firdaus bin Sahrom. Hedgcock was eliminated in the 1/16 finals, while Rorke and Dodyk went one round further before being knocked out.
After combining to help Canada’s women’s team pursuit team win bronze on Friday, Maggie Coles-Lyster and Sarah Van Dam both took part in the women’s omnium, finishing seventh and tenth, respectively, after the four fierce races. Dylan Bibic and Michael Foley teamed up to compete in the men’s Madison competition, finishing eleventh in what was one of Canada’s best competitive results in recent years in the discipline.
Genest and Mitchell were back in action on Sunday as well for the women’s keirin, with both advancing to the latter stages of the competition. Genest was in position to win a medal in the final, crossing the line second, but was relegated to sixth place after the officials determined that she didn’t hold her line in the last 200 metres of the race — wobbling on the final turn.
Mitchell took part in the B final, to determine places 7-12, and won that race to earn 7th place overall.
After the event, Cycling Canada head coach Dan Proulx reflected on the event as a whole, and said that the progression of the Canadian riders is ultimately more important than the results — with just over a year until the Summer Olympics in Paris.
“It's a complex sport and there are so many details to refine,” he said in a press release. “Rather than focus on the outcome, we have to make sure the training process and racing execution is optimized. If we do that, the results will take care of themselves.
“Obviously, we're focused on Games qualification now. Our next points opportunity will be at the Pan American Championships in early June.”
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