May 11/10 12:11 pm - Numainville Wins First Canadian Medal at 2010 Pan Am Road & Track Champs
Posted by Editoress on 05/11/10
The Canadians competed in the road race at the Pan American Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico, and the goal for the women was to have Joelle Numainville stand on top of the podium. The race was controlled by the strong US contingent, with the Mexicans making several attacks. Stephanie Roorda was in a break with Laura Brown controlling the front of the peloton, but the pack reeled them in after 10 kilometres. Heading in to the finish, Denise Ramsden was Joelle's compass and led her out to a second place finish behind American Shelley Evans. Denise finished in 8th, with Steph in 17th and Laura in 26th.
The men had a small Canadian squad with Charles Dionne and Jean-Michel Lachance, who were outnumbered by the other teams. Charles finished in 15th place.
Laura, Steph, and Jean-Michel, who took a day off to spin around town and enjoy the warm weather, will now focus on the track which appears to be pretty fast. There is still quite a bit of sawdust inside from the construction and, according to Mark MacDonald, the team is wearing face masks to help protect their lungs from the fine particles. "The track feels really fast. We're at altitude and the brand new wood makes it much faster than most velodromes."
Laura Brown also commented on the fast track: "Steph and I did two flying kilos with Monique - our token national team sprinter filling in Tara's [Whitten] spot for the team pursuit on Wednesday. Monique and Travis were impressed with how fast the track was, as both had wicked fast flying 200 metres. I think we are going to see some fast times and good racing here at the new Aguascalientes Velodrome."
Although pleased with her performance on the road and the speed on the track, Laura may be most excited with the arrival of her luggage - "I was happy today as I finally received my luggage and was able to enjoy some fresh clothes and real coffee!"
It took several days for American Airlines to deliver all of the team's luggage, but all the riders and staff finally received their bags, even if it was only four hours before departing Mexico for Charles Dionne.
Racing begins on the track on May 11th with the following events:
• Men's Team Sprint - Joseph Veloce, Travis Smith, Stephane Cossette
• Men's Points Race - Daniele Defranceschi and Mark MacDonald
• Women's 500 meter time trial - Monique Sullivan
Report courtesy CCA
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