February 16/11 9:50 am - Canada Sends Smaller Team to Manchester World Cup

Posted by Editoress on 02/16/11
 

Six Canadian track cyclists will be competing this weekend at the fourth and last UCI World Cup of the 2011 season in Manchester, Great Britain.

Sprint specialist Monique Sullivan of Calgary, who is currently having an excellent season, is looking forward to racing against an increased number of participants in all disciplines.

"This is the last World Cup of the year, and there are so many riders registered that they had to extend all the sessions! It is good that there are so many people here, this will be my last chance to test out my form and tactics before the World Championships next month and I want to use it to learn as much as I can," said Sullivan.

"My training has been going well and I am really happy with some of my improvements in the last few months. I am looking forward to racing and hope to have a bit of fun as well!"

The World Cup begins on Friday and ends on Sunday.

Current World Cup leaders in the omnium events -Canadians Tara Whitten and Zach Bell - will both miss the event. The two leaders will be taking the time to focus on and train for the upcoming World Championships.

"The team in Manchester is a mix of riders with very different goals. Our Sprint team is looking to keep building points towards the Olympic Games in London, and then we have two new riders to the Omnium looking ahead to 2016 and trying to get a few points to help Zach [Bell] and Tara [Whitten] for London 2012," said Richard Wooles, Head Coach of the Canadian Track Cycling Team.

Canada will have two riders racing for the first time in World Cup competition. Scott Mulder of Vancouver will making his debut racing the Team Sprint, alongside Joseph Veloce of Fonthill, ON and Travis Smith of Calgary.

In the women's field, Calgary's Allison Beveridge will be making her World Cup debut, following the footsteps of Tara Whitten in the women's Omnium.

In addition to Whitten and Bell missing in action, the Women's Team Pursuit squad comprised of Laura Brown and Stephanie Roorda of Vancouver, also chose to stay back home and train for the World Championships.

"The Women's Team Pursuit is doing very well this year and is looking at staying still and working with new WTP coach Tanya Dubnicoff," continued Wooles.

The 2011 UCI Track World Championships will be held in Apeldoorn, Netherlands from March 23 to 27.

The Canadian team for Manchester:

Allison Beveridge (Calgary, AB) - Omnium
Scott Mulder (Vancouver, BC) - Team Sprint
Remi Pelletier-Roy (Longueil, QC) - Individual Pursuit, Omnium
Travis Smith (Calgary, AB) - Keirin, Sprint, Team Sprint
Monique Sullivan (Calgary, AB) - Keirin, Sprint
Joseph Veloce (Fonthill, ON) - Sprint, Team Sprint

Courtesy CCA