May 10/14 22:37 pm - Para World Cup: Road Race report and results

Posted by Editoress on 05/10/14
 

Two More Gold Medals for Canada at Para World Cup

Shelley Gautier of Toronto, ON, and Marie-Ève Croteau of Québec City, QC, continued their road domination and remained undefeated at the 2014 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Cup, both winning a second gold medal in Castiglione Della Pescaia, Italy.
 
On Saturday, the first set of road races were featured at the opening round of the World Cup, and the Canadian tricycle riders followed up their time trial wins on Friday with road race victories.
 
Shelley Gautier won the 24.6 kilometre T1 race with a time of just under one hour of racing. She lapped her closest competitor on her way to the gold medal. Gautier has proven to be an international threat in each of the World Cup or World Championships race, and is a true contender for another World Championship title this season.
 
Marie-Eve Croteau, who is pursuing her comeback after a severe crash that occurred in 2012, showed today that her intense rehabilitation work was well worth it. She dominated the women’s T2 road race, completing the 24.6 kilometre race with a time of 49:33, more than five minutes ahead of her closest competitor, and almost eight minutes in front of the third place finisher. Similarly to Gautier, Croteau is on the right track for the World Championships.
 
"Once more today, right from the start, I was feeling really good, and my right leg was ready. I can go and confidently say that I had full control over my race - for the first time in my life," said Croteau. "Mission accomplished here in Italy. I come back home with two victories, the World Cup leader’s jersey and a bigger smile."
 
In the men’s H4 race, Mark Ledo of Maple, ON, was involved in an exciting eight-man sprint for second place. Ledo crossed the line third in the sprint, and finished the 73 kilometre race in fourth place, just off the podium.
 
"Today has been a very good day for Canada. The majority of athletes reached their goal to earn UCI points. The performances were stellar today, with two podiums and one top-4. The only shadow in today's races was the crash of Charles Moreau, who was forced to abandon. We hope to repeat this success in tomorrow's C and B road races," said Sebastien Travers, coach of the Canadian para-cycling team.
 
In addition to the four medals won Friday, Canada's medal tally is now at six, including four gold medals.

Courtesy Cycling Canada

Results from the first day of road races in Italy