Lauriane Genest experienced what is so far the pinnacle of her career, last summer, with an Olympic medal. Back on her bike for the Nations Cup, the athlete from Lévis is delighted to return to competition with the wind in her sails, even if she can always improve.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
For the first time in over 800 days, Lauriane Genest and her teammates from the national track cycling team took part in the Nations Cup in Glasgow, UK, last weekend.
The Quebecer obtained a good harvest with the silver medal in the team sprint with her compatriots Kelsey Mitchell and Sarah Orban, in addition to having won the bronze medal in the keirin.
“It confirms that I have the ability to make podiums and be among the best,” explained the 23-year-old athlete. There’s still work to do and there’s still room for improvement, but it’s encouraging that despite making mistakes or not being in the best shape of my life, I’m still able to perform well. »
Genest was able to see for herself the immense evolution between the cyclist she was two years ago and the one who has just won two medals as a curtain raiser.
Before the team race, Canadian cyclists weren’t sure what to expect, as it was the first competition of the season. Nor did they know under what conditions the other nations were going to present themselves. Even though she collected the silver, Genest still believes that she and her teammates could have won the gold.
Second place is excellent! We only did team sprint twice in the race, so we can’t be disappointed, but I really think we could have gone for that gold medal.
Lauriane Genest
“It was a bit bitter as second place,” she said.
The same goes for her keirin race, an event in which she was on the podium at the Tokyo Games. With another third place and given her physical condition, Genest is satisfied, but she knows she would still have been able to improve her situation.
PHOTO GREG BAKER, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Lauriane Genest won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in August 2021.
“Rewatching the videos I noticed two small mistakes that cost me first or second place and which I wasn’t able to come back to at the end, but all in all I think I I still have good feelings in the keirin. »
Genest is always in search of learning, but it remains important for her to be able to trust her instincts and not deny her true nature in the hope of obtaining better results. “Sometimes I play a little with fire, I must admit, and sometimes it costs me the final and even the semis. Of course, there is still learning to assimilate, but most of the time, I manage to feel things well and manage well. »
A different preparation
There are three Nations Cups scheduled for the International Cycling Union (UCI) calendar for the 2022 season. The next two will be contested in Milton, Ontario, in mid-May, and Cali, Colombia, at the beginning of of the month of July.
These three events require quite unique preparation, since the races are closer together and the frequency between competitions is also reduced.
Cyclists cannot indulge in a routine similar to that scheduled for the Olympics, World Championships or Commonwealth Games.
For example, for these major competitions, Genest notes that cyclists can spend 20 days outside the gym to arrive as fresh as possible for competitions. While for Glasgow, the athletes were in the gymnasium the day before they left, undergoing high-intensity preparation. They were in the middle of a training block.
“We cannot afford to have this freshness for all the races, because otherwise we would never train, in fact. So we’re only going to do an ideal preparation for the races that we’re going to target in the year and this year, it’s the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships. »
On the way to Canada
It was also with a view to arriving as rested as possible for the Nations Cup in Milton that at a certain point, Genest and her teammates briefly mentioned the possibility of skipping the Glasgow races. .
The tour will move to Canada in two weeks and the national team wants to be able to spoil its fans with meaningful results. The preparation will be lightning, but Genest is hopeful not to disappoint the Canadian supporters.
She does not regret at all having raced in Glasgow, because her two medals gave her confidence just before arriving on Canadian soil and she could not have hoped for better. Ditto for her teammates, including Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell, who won gold in the sprint.
“We know that we are among the contenders and that we will be able to perform well. We haven’t done any races for a long time, so it put us a little in the mood and in the rhythm, ”said Genest.
“And it reminded us how much it hurt to do three days of racing, so now we’re mentally ready for what’s next,”
she concluded with a laugh.