Barrette won the second World Cup silver medal of his career, against a world-class field. After winning his first round heat and finishing third in the second round to make the medal final, Barrette attacked with just over a lap and a half to go, jumping into a significant lead. He managed to stay in front until the final 50 metres, when six-time Olympic champion Jason Kenny of Great Britain pulled up beside him and caught him at the line.
“I was really aggressive,” said Barrette. “I wanted to win and after the first round, I knew I could, so I went with a big move. It was a good decision, and for a second I thought that I did such a good jump that no one could catch me, but the six time Olympic champion caught me … what a feeling, though; second place when all the best riders in the world were there.”
In the women’s Madison, Beveridge and Roorda consistently scored points in all but two sprints, despite struggling for a portion of the race that saw them drop back from the lead group. Great Britain won with 36 points, followed by Denmark with 19 and Canada at 13 points.
“We are so happy,” said Roorda. “We come to these races hunting for medals, and to walk away with one in the Madison – our first medal in this event – is incredible. The plan was to maintain a top-4 position in the first part of the race; not over-extend ourselves and just pick up points here and there. We had some hard moments midway through the race, but we didn’t give up and stayed calm and pushed through to the finish.”
In other Canadian results, Michael Foley finished tenth overall, despite two crashes in the Elimination Race, the third of four events in the Omnium. Lauriane Genest qualified ninth and finished 17th overall in the women’s Sprint.
About Cycling Canada
Cycling Canada is the governing body for competitive cycling in Canada. With the vision of becoming a leading competitive cycling nation, Cycling Canada manages the High Performance team, hosts national and international events and administers programs to promote and grow cycling across the country. Cycling Canada programs are made possible through the support of its valued corporate partners – Global Relay, Lexus Canada, Mattamy Homes, Louis Garneau, lululemon, 4iiii, Argon18 and Bear Mountain Resort – along with the Government of Canada, Own The Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.