April 25/23 8:07 am - Canada Finishes Nations Cup with Three Medals.

Posted by Editoress on 04/25/23
 

The final round of the 2023 UCI Nations Cup track series concluded on Sunday at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre, in Milton, Ontario. Canada did not add any medals to its tally of three on the last day, but had a number of strong performances, led by Maggie Coles-Lyster (riding for Star Track Cycling) finishing seventh in the women's Omnium. Disappointingly, Lauriane Genest was relegated in the women's Keirin after crossing the line in second place. Canada finished the competition with a gold, a silver and a bronze medal.

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After winning bronze in the women's Team Pursuit on the first day of competition, Coles-Lyster and Team Canada's Sarah Van Dam lined up again in the Omnium, participating in four intense races. They placed seventh and 10th, respectively. Katie Archibald (Great Britain) dominated, winning all four races to take the gold medal, with Elisa Balsamo (Italy) winning silver after taking the final sprint, and world and Olympic champion and Jennifer Valente (USA) taking the bronze medal.

Four Canadian men took part in the men's Sprint competition, with each setting intermediate fastest times during 200 metre qualifying. James Hedgcock (NCIM) was knocked out in the 1/16th round, Tyler Rorke (Team Canada) and Ryan Dodyk (NCIM) both made it through to the 1/8th final, and Nick Wammes got to the quarterfinals before finally bowing out. The 200 metre world record holder, Nicholas Paul (Trinidad & Tobago) took the title in two straight rides over Mateusz Rudyk (Poland), with Matthew Richardson (Australia) winning bronze.

Scratch World Champion Dylan Bibic and Olympian Michael Foley joined forces to race the men's Madison, finishing 11th to score one of Canada’s best Madison results in recent years. The win went to the Portugese team of Ivo M. Alves Oliveira and Iuri Leita after stealing two laps on the field, followed by silver medalists Yoeri Havik and Vincent Hoppezak (Beat Cycling Club), while Thomas Boudat and Benjamin Thomas (France) won the bronze.

Canada's most disappointing moment of the day was when Olympic bronze medalist Genest was relegated in the medal final of the Keirin, an event that she has targeted as one of her primary goals of the season. Genest was in the lead until early in the last lap, when Germany's Alessa-Catriona Propster jumped to the front. This left Genest boxed in behind her, and the Canadian deviated from her line, leading to the relegation. Colombia's Martha Bayona Pineda moved up to silver and Katy Marchant (Great Britain was awarded bronze. Kelsey Mitchell, who a day earlier had won the Sprint competition for Canada, won the small final for seventh overall.

Reflecting on the National Team’s performance, Cycling Canada Head Coach Dan Proulx said, "It's a complex sport and there are so many details to refine. Rather than focus on the outcome, we have to make sure the training process and racing execution is optimized. If we do that, the results will take care of themselves. Obviously, we're focused on Games qualification now. Our next points opportunity will be at the Pan American Championships in early June."

Reports and Results

Three Canadian Squads Qualify for Team Pursuit

Team Canada Opens Nations Cup with Two Medals

Mitchell Wins Sprint Title at Nations Cup