August 20/11 16:39 pm - Junior Track World Championships: Day 3 and 4 report

Posted by Editoress on 08/20/11
 

Day 3

The sprinters took centre stage Friday at the 2011 Junior World Cycling Championships.  Early in the day a German rider broke the world record in sprint qualifying and set the new mark at 9.887 seconds over the 200m…. he was so smooth that he looked slow…. The world record confirmed, what a show.

Canada had Joakim Albert entered in the tournament however his day ended early with a very respectable time of 10.6 seconds, however it was only good for 34th in qualifying.  26 riders were grouped together between 10.55 – 10.70…. a very competitive field of Juniors.

The Canadian team is still suffering through intestinal ailments and not being able to keep any food down, the latest victim’s were the 2 women who had to tough it out through trying circumstances and had great performances.  Audrey Labrie rode a very skilful race in the 10k women’s scratch race and sprinted for 8th position overall, nice work by the 1st year junior.

In the women’s Omnium, Allison Beveridge had to battle through stomach problems between races and is still in contention for a medal after 3 of 6 events.  The medics have been busy with all the teams staying in the hotel, the entire team from Denmark is bed ridden.

We are hoping the health of the athletes improves in the next 15 hours so that our kids can race at their highest potential.

Day 4

The day started off with Audrey Labrie racing in the Keirin. She rode an aggressive race but was forced into the repechage where she finished third and did not move to the next round. The race was eventually won by the same Russian rider who won the match sprints with an impressive move over the top in the final lap.

Next up was Allison Beveridge in the Omnium Pursuit. She was forced to play catch-up after a tough first half of the Omnium the previous day due to the same stomach bug that has hit many of the riders here.  She finished fifth which moved her up a spot into 7th overall. She would finish sixth in the Scratch race and 3rd in the 500m TT moving here up to 5th overall in the final.

Alex Cataford and Kyle Buckosky both competed in the Individual Pursuit, with Kyle posting a personal best by seven seconds (3:37). Alex finished with a 3:29, still feeling the effects of the hard crash in the omnium points race.

The final event for Team Canada this evening was the Points race for Kyle. The pace was furious from the gun with several riders lapping the field in the first half of the race. Kyle was attentive, active, and always at the front of the group but wasn't able to get in the move that took the lap. He is looking forward no wot riding the madison on Sunday with Jesse Marans.

The week has been a tough one for our riders with the stomach bug hitting many of the riders taking part in the championships, and they have shown an immense amount of determination and resolve to give everything they have for each event even if they weren't able to perform at their best.

Team Canada