September 14/06 10:24 am - Handisport World Championships

Posted by Editoress on 09/14/06
 

Sixth in Team Sprint for Canada at Handisport World Championships
Courtesy Sportcom
Translated by Amanda Leigh Cox

Team Canada - made up of Québécois athletes Mark Breton, Éric Bourgault and Jean Quévillon - finished sixth in the Team Sprint yesterday (Tuesday, September 12th) at the Handisport World Championships in Aigle, Switzerland. Team Germany was the fastest, winning gold with a time of 44.747 seconds; the Quebecois trio came in at 48.976 seconds.

“There were four teams that were separated by only a second in the top six.” explained Mark Breton. “It’s only a question of getting in ahead by a tire length if you’re in contention for third place. To be honest, we’re all quite happy with our result.” concluded the cyclist from Charlesbourg, Quebec.

In Tandem competitions, Stéphane Côté and Pierre-Olivier Boily finished 11th in the sprint, an event with which they are relative newcomers. The duo participated in the event with a view to preparing themselves for the upcoming Paralympic Games in Beijing. Côté explained, ‘At the Beijing Paralympic Games the track racing will be disputed in the form of an omnium. As a result, the medals will be the calculated after all the events have been completed - so in order to be in contention, we need to participate in all the events. In today’s (Wednesday) racing, we wanted to come in at under 12 seconds - which we did; we were at 11.789 seconds. The only slight miscalculation was slowing down ever so slightly in the second to last lap, instead of accelerating.” Côté summarized.

British duo Anthony Kappes and Richard Storey were crowned the fastest in the Tandem; the same successful combination won the Kilo title earlier this week.

Road racing begins at the Handisport World Championships Friday with the Individual Time Trial; the event will be held on a technical course which features several corners, some of which turn at 180 degree angles.