January 26/17 8:58 am - Canadians Take Five Podiums at Berlin 6 Day
Posted by Editoress on 01/26/17
Two members of Canada's world-class women's track endurance program had a strong start to the 2017 season with multiple podium results at the Berlin 6 Day competition over January 22-24. Steph Roorda of Vancouver finished fourth overall, while Laura Brown of Calgary won the Scratch Race on the second day of competition.
According to national coach Craig Griffin, the goal of the trip was, "To provide a condensed program of races that will enhance athlete fitness in front of the Cali and LA World Cups in the last two weekends of February."
Each day of racing included a variety of mass-start competitions, such as Elimination Race, Points Race and Scratch Race, with riders accumulating points based on their results in each event. The field included both Olympic and world champions.
Roorda got off to a strong start with a third place in the opening day Scratch Race, and followed that up on Day 2 with second places in both the Points and Scratch Races. and third in the Elimination. On the final day she did not achieve any podiums, but still finished fourth in the overall standings, just five points out of third.
Brown struggled on the first day, but in the Day 2 Scratch Race, a well timed counterattack saw her take a lap on a pack that got caught by surprise. Immediately after Brown made contact with the field, Roorda countered with a move of her own, taking a lap by herself. With both Canadians a lap up on the field, Brown covered a last ditch attack in the final laps to secure the win, for a Canadian 1-2.
"It is hard out there when you are alone," commented Brown, "but the crowd cheering kept me inspired and going."
"The girls enjoyed a solid second night of racing," said Griffin, "overcoming some jet lag and 'knocking the rust off' their racing legs. It's been a while since they've raced and it showed the first night. Hopefully they can continue to improve and we see more podiums as we move into the final World Cups in the lead up to the world championships in April."
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