When the Canadians take to the track at the Mattamy National Cycling Center in Milton, Ont., starting Thursday for the second Nations Cup of the season, they’ll pack on a healthy dose of confidence heading into the World Championships in October. .
“I love running at home, there’s no better feeling than looking up and seeing all those familiar faces cheering you on,” said Tokyo Olympics sprint gold medalist Kelsey Mitchell. . We will also have the advantage of the field: this track, we train on it every day. We’re ready to welcome the best cyclists in the world and show them what we’ve got. Canada showed great enthusiasm for track cycling in Tokyo; let’s hope it doesn’t fade by Paris 2024.”
“It makes such a difference in many ways,” said Lauriane Genest, Olympic bronze medalist in the keirin. When we found out that there would be a round in Milton, we were happy and excited. Most of the competitions are in Europe, so travel and jet lag add to the fatigue effect. Here, we are 10 or 15 minutes away from finding ourselves in our business at home. It’s an advantage. »
“To be able to race in front of the Canadian fans, you give a little bit more, I think. For that too, it will be a special competition. I have a friend who has a 7 month old baby who has hit the road [mercredi] morning. The family is flying out tomorrow. You feel this support. From your family, but also from all the fans in the stands who consider you one of their own. »
Genest and Mitchell, who also won the sprint at the inaugural Nations Cup in Glasgow, Scotland, last month, will team up with Sarah Orban again in the team sprint on Thursday. They will try to get on the podium for a second consecutive competition, they who won silver in Scotland. The two women will also be spectacular keirins on Sunday.
new cycle
The second competition of the season, the Milton Nations Cup will be the first for several members of the impressive Canadian delegation made up of 30 cyclists.
“For me, it will even be my first track race since the Tokyo Olympics, with a new team in pursuit,” said Ariane Bonhomme, fourth in this discipline at the last Olympics. It’s fun to rebuild something new for the next Games. »
This is also a year of renewal within the Canadian delegation. Bonhomme, the youngest of his pursuit team in Tokyo, is now the most experienced, at 27, of a new team that should fight for a place at the Paris Games in 2024.
“I have a lot of influence on the girls, I can really use my experience to help them, whereas before, as the youngest on the team, it was a bit the opposite,” explained Bonhomme, whose the team finished just off the podium in Tokyo. Having a positive influence on my team is really fun. I want to help them progress as quickly as possible, because we want to have the most competitive team possible as quickly as possible. »
This new Olympic cycle – short of only three years – will allow the Canadian team to renew itself on several levels, and even to welcome athletes who did not practice cycling en route to Tokyo, such as Caileigh Filmer, bronze medalist of the last Olympics in two peaks, with Hillary Janssens.
“I knew going to Tokyo that I was going to switch to cycling next,” noted the 25-year-old British Columbian, who will participate in the team pursuit. Cycling came into my life during the pandemic, a bit out of necessity to keep in shape when we no longer had access to boats. I discovered a new way of training, which allowed me to lose nothing in terms of my form. »
The competitions will get under way on Thursday with the pursuits and team sprints, for both men and women. On Friday, the women will compete in the sprint, the individual pursuit and the scratch, while the men will compete in the kilometer time trial, as well as the 7.5 km scratch. On Saturday, the omnium and the 500m time trial will be on the women’s program, while the men will do the Madison and the keirin. The competitions will conclude on Sunday with the keirin and the Madison for the women, and the sprint and the omnium for the men.
The points amassed in the Nations Cup this season serve as qualifications for the World Championships, which will take place in St-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, in October.