BC had a great start to the 2016 National Track Championships at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre on Saturday, which kicked off with sprint qualifications, team events and the Para and Master time trials.
Cycling BC’s women’s team pursuit team, comprised of Laura Brown, Steph Roorda, Brenna Pauly and Jamie Gilgen took the gold medal, and the men’s team pursuit, comprised of Aidan Caves, Jay Lamoureux, Ed Veal and Ryan Roth took the silver medal. In the women’s team sprint, Laura Brown and Kate O’Brien took the gold and National Championship title and Annie Foreman-Mackey and Steph Roorda took the silver. Para rider, Lachlan Hotchkiss also took first place in the time trial in the Para C category.
Day two saw an impressive ride by both Steph Roorda and Dylan Davies, with Steph taking 3rd and Dylan 1st in the scratch race. Jay Lamoureux had an incredible ride in the individual pursuit, taking the silver, while Steph Roorda added another bronze, moving her into 2nd place for the general classification. The second session of the day had Lachlan Hotchkiss capturing another gold in the Para C category for the pursuit.
In the elite women’s field, Steph Roorda rounded up the day winning the elimination race, moving her into the top spot with a comfortable lead for the omnium. In the men’s race, Aidan Caves took the win, moving him into a three-way tie for 2nd. He was followed closely behind by Dylan Davies in 5th, Amiel Flett-Brown in 6th and Adam Reddy in 14th.
The final day of racing kicked off first thing on Monday morning, with the women’s 500 m time trial – a very tough race for the legs to start the day off with. Steph Roorda had an impressive ride, taking the silver medal behind Canada’s sprint expert and Olympian, Kate O’Brien. Rounding out the Elite women’s podium was BC’s Tegan Cochrane, who just started racing this year, and had an incredible ride, stepping onto the podium for her first ever National Track Championships.
In the men’s kilo, Aidan Caves took the silver medal, moving him into the men’s omnium leader position going into the flying lap, where he took second place, increasing his lead in the omnium by 8 points going into the final event. Steph Roorda managed to increase her lead, taking the win in the flying lap, giving her a very comfortable 14 point lead moving into the final event.
Kicking off the afternoon session was the women’s Kierin, where Steph Roorda took the gold medal and maple leaf jersey, with Tegan Cochrane snagging the bronze. The men’s race saw an early kick, and Keith Bruneau managed to hold onto until the end taking the silver medal.
The last race of the weekend and the omnium was the Elite points race – probably one of the most exciting race of the omnium. Steph went into the race with a target on her back as the leader of the omnium into the final event. Brenna Pauly made some bold moves early in the race in an attempt to lap the field to gain points to move up in the omnium standings. With less than 30 laps to go, Brenna’s move stuck. Taking a few other riders with her, they managed to work together to take a lap on the field giving her an additional 20 points. Steph Roorda battled it out with Kinley Gibson throughout the race, trying to maintain her lead, ultimately finishing off the race, the day, and the omnium with the win.
The men’s race was a fast one right from the gun. Several moves were made by BC’s Amiel Flett-Brown, Dylan Davies and Aidan Caves, taking laps on the field resulting in a thinning field early on in the race. Moving into the last 10 laps and final sprint, there was no chance for the field to catch Aidan Caves in the points, crowning Aidan Caves as the elite men’s omnium winner.
For more information, including results and streaming from Saturday and Sunday’s races check out Cycling Canada here.
