January 16/07 5:12 am - Canadian Squad at Los Angeles UCI Track World Cup

Posted by Editor on 01/16/07
 

Canadian Squad at Los Angeles UCI Track World Cup
Courtesy CCA

The UCI Track World Cup # 3 will open on Friday, January 19th at the Carson velodrome in Los Angeles, California. Canada's best track cyclists will represent our country at this international event, with two remaining World Cups to earn points to the 2007 UCI Track Cycling World Championships held at the end of March.

For the Los Angeles UCI Track World Cup, the National Team athletes attending are:

British Colombia's Gina Grain (Points Race, Scratch Race)

Travis Smith, Long Beach, CA (Sprint, Keirin, Team Sprint)

Alberta's Cameron Mackinnon (Sprint, Team Sprint)

Alberta's Ryan McKenzie (Madison, Scratch Race)

Quebec's Yannick Morin (Team Sprint)

Quebec's Martin Gilbert (Madison, Points Race)

"With the technical work that my coach Richard Wooles and I have accomplished on the track, and the numbers that we have seen on my SRM (courtesy of the CCA), my expectations for the points race in L.A. are high," said Gina Grain of Victoria, BC, 2006 silver world championship scratch race medalist and 2006 National Champion in the points and scratch race. "The training has been going phenomenal and my form is coming into the best that I have seen all year."

Among other Canadians racing, Canada's Julia Bradley will have the opportunity to represent Team R.A.C.E. to the international track cycling circuit for the first time in 2007.

In addition, Canada's newly born track cycling squad, part of Symmetrics Pro Cycling, will have the following riders attending:

Team Pursuit - Svein Tuft, Zach Bell, Cam Evans, and Christian Meier (Marsh Cooper as alternate).
Individual Pursuit - Svein Tuft
Madison - Christian Meier and Cam Evans
Scratch Race - Marsh Cooper
Points Race - Zach Bell

"My focus will be on the points race with a secondary priority going to the team pursuit. I would like to come out of the track season with a top 5 and a top 10 world ranking in the points race," said Zach Bell of Whitehorse, YK, 2006 National Champion in the points race and team pursuit. "I feel like I have good form coming through the 6-day event in Burnaby, adding that he likes the track and environment of the LA the Carson velodrome: "It is the slowest on the world cup circuit but it is nice and an enjoyable track to ride."

"This will be our first opportunity to race in the Team Pursuit," said Symmetrics' Mark Cunningham. "Everything we are doing in Team Pursuit is focused on having a legitimate shot at winning the Team Pursuit at the Pan Am Championships in May. This is critical for Olympic selection. Based on our current progress, we feel confident in our ability to do well in L.A. and continue to improve moving towards the Pan Am Championships."

Following the World Cup events are the Track World Championships in Spain where the CCA will definitely have a presence; the 2007 UCI Track Cycling World Championships will be held in Palma de Mallorca, March 29th to April 1st.