(Guadalajara MEX – January 19, 2014) Canada’s Track Cycling Team celebrated a gold medal (Women’s Team Pursuit – Laura Brown, Jasmin Glaesser, Stephanie Roorda, and Allison Beveridge) and a fourth place for Hugo Barrette (Men’s Repechage) at last Track World Cup event of the season.
Despite competing without Gillian Carleton (Victoria BC) due to illness, the team qualified with the fastest time of 4:23.828 in the afternoon session. Alternate Allison Beveridge (Calgary AB) lined up for the first time alongside veterans Laura Brown (Vancouver, BC), Jasmin Glaesser (Coquitlam, BC), and Stephanie Roorda (Vancouver, BC).
The ride for gold against the US squad only lasted 3 km out of the normal 4 as the Canadian team ended the race early by gaining a half-lap on their rivals and won gold.
The gold medal performance from the Canadian quartet not only meant that Canada would win the overall World Cup in the women’s team pursuit but it also meant that Allison Beveridge would step on the podium in her first participation in a World Cup event as a starter.
WOMEN’S TEAM PURSUIT RESULTS:
1. Canada – Allison BEVERIDGE/Laura BROWN/Jasmin GLAESSER/Stephanie ROORDA
2. U.S.A. – Cari HIGGINS/Lauren TAMAYO/Jennifer VALENTE/Jade WILCOXSON
3. Australia – Georgia BAKER/Isabella KING/Rebecca WIASAK/Elissa WUNDERSITZ
UCI CHANNEL VIDEO: WTP from 17:47 to 21:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8hhHIAffO8&feature=em-subs_digest
from Cycling Canada press release: Jan 20/2014
The second day of competition was marked by joy and frustration for Hugo Barrette (Cap-aux-Meules QC) in the men’s keirin. Going into the repechage round Hugo broke his handlebars on the start and was forced to restart the round riding on regular road bars. Focussing on the task at hand Hugo was able to win the repechage nonetheless to progress on to the semifinals.
Now with proper track sprint bars back on his bike Hugo continued his great rides to win the semfinal heat and move onto the finals. Once in the finals a podium performance was well within reach as two riders were eliminated for passing the pace motorcycle. This forced a restart with only four riders and Barrette crossed the line second only to be relegated for having made an illegal move involving British rider Alexander Lewis with 1 ½ laps to go. Despite ending up fourth, this marked the first time that Barrette has made it to a keirin final at a world cup which marks a significant milestone in his short career.
Also flying the flag for Canada on the second day was Beveridge in the women’s omnium, finishing 10th in the flying lap, second in the points race and eighth in the elimination race to end the first day of the omnium competition sitting 6th overall.
On the third and final day of competition Joseph Veloce (Toronto ON) and Barrette were the first to hit the boards in the men’s sprint qualifier. Neither of them were among the top-16 that made it through the next round but their times were solid considering that this World Cup was the first competition for Veloce since being seriously injured in a crash in Colorado in the summer and that Hugo had not fully recovered from the previous day’s races.
MEN’S KEIRIN / REPECHAGE Final 1-6
1. Matthijs Buchli (Netherlands)
2. Santiago Ramirez (Colombia)
3. Lewis Alexander Oliva (Great Britain)
4. Hugo Barrette (Canada) REL
Hugo Barrette: Relegation for entering the sprinter’s lane when the opponent was already there