16 ATHLETES SELECTED FOR THE MILTON WORLD CUP
“Canada is fielding a very competitive team at our home World Cup, with a mix of youth and experience,” said Kris Westwood, High Performance Director for Cycling Canada. “Out of the 16 athletes we have entered, three have won Olympic medals and 14 have been on the podium at Worlds, World Cups or Pan American championships. This is an exciting time for Canadian track cycling, as we build towards the Tokyo Olympics and see the next generation start to hit their stride as well.”
Canada’s small sprint squad of three riders is headed by Rio Olympian Hugo Barrette, who will compete in the Men’s Sprint and Keirin events. On the women’s side, Amelia Walsh will compete in all three sprint events – Sprint, Keirin and Team Sprint; she will be joined by newcomer Tegan Cochrane for the latter competition.
Photo Rob Jones/Canadian Cyclist (All Rights Reserved)
Media: Please contact Karine Bedard for image use.
“Milton will be my first World Cup racing all the Sprint events and I couldn’t be more excited for it to be on home soil,” said Walsh. “It is still quite early on in my track cycling career and have lots to learn, but I hope to represent Canada to the best of my ability next weekend, battling it out with the best in the World.”
Canada’s Olympic-medal winning women’s endurance squad will focus on their specialty – the Team Pursuit, where the team has won bronze medals in the past two Olympics. The squad will be anchored by Olympian Allison Beveridge, who will also race the Omnium. Jasmin Duehring, who won a silver medal in the Points Race at the last world championships, will compete in that event at Milton, as well as the Madison with teammate Steph Roorda.
“This is an exciting time for our program,” said Craig Griffin, Women’s Track Endurance Coach. “We are fortunate enough to have seven athletes getting ready for the world championships and Commonwealth Games, so in the process we have seven athletes who can ride the four events at the World Cup here in Milton. We will have six athletes ready to ride in the Team Pursuit, and hopefully have the opportunity to have them ride in the different rounds of the competition, in different combinations.”
Photo Rob Jones/Canadian Cyclist (All Rights Reserved)
“We will have Jasmin in the Points Race, and hopefully she can bring another good performance to the table. The Madison is going to be exciting; it is the first Madison we are going to ride on home soil, and we are looking at Jasmin and Steph for that event; it’s a new combination, but we are confident it will produce good results. Finally, we will have Allison ride the Omnium; she’s had a pretty good run in the Omnium over the past year, although it’s been a while since she has done one at the international level, so we are looking forward to seeing how she rides in that race.”
The men’s endurance squad will feature a mix of experienced and NextGen athletes, as they begin their efforts to qualify for the Team Pursuit standard at the 2020 Olympic Games. Five of the riders will focus on the Team Pursuit, led by veteran Adam Jamieson. Aidan Caves, the silver medalist at this year’s Pan Am Championships, will focus on that event.
Sprint
Tegan Cochrane – Kelowna, BC [Team Sprint]
Amelia Walsh – Ayr, ON [Team Sprint, Sprint, Keirin]
Hugo Barrette – Iles de la Madeleine, QC [Sprint, Keirin]
Endurance Women
Allison Beveridge – Calgary, AB [Team Pursuit, Omnium]
Ariane Bonhomme – Gatineau, QC [Team Pursuit]
Jasmin Duehring – Vancouver, BC [Points Race, Madison]
Annie Foreman-Mackey – Kingston, ON [Team Pursuit]
Kinley Gibson – Edmonton, AB [Team Pursuit]
Kirsti Lay – Calgary, AB [Team Pursuit]
Steph Roorda – Vancouver, BC [Team Pursuit, Madison]
Endurance Men
Aidan Caves – Vancouver, BC [Omnium]
Michael Foley – Milton, ON [Team Pursuit]
Derek Gee – Ottawa, ON [Team Pursuit]
Adam Jamieson – Barrie, ON [Team Pursuit]
Jay Lamoureux – Victoria, BC [Team Pursuit]
Bayley Simpson – Lindsay, ON [Team Pursuit]
Cycling Canada is the governing body for competitive cycling in Canada. Founded in 1882, Cycling Canada aims to create and sustain an effective system that develops talented Canadian cyclists to achieve Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championship medal performances. With the vision of being a leading competitive cycling nation by 2020 celebrating enhanced international success, increased national participation and world class event hosting, Cycling Canada manages the High Performance team, hosts national and international events and administers programs to promote and grow cycling across the country. Cycling Canada programs are made possible through the support of its valued corporate partners – Global Relay, Lexus Canada, Mattamy Homes, Louis Garneau and Bear Mountain Resort – along with the Government of Canada, Own The Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
Source: Cycling Canada
Information:
Karine Bedard l Cycling Canada l 613-248-1353 x 2617 l karine.bedard@cyclingcanada.ca