Mixed fortunes at Paracycling Worlds for Canadian athletes

The Canadian paracycling team saw mixed fortunes at the road world cycling championships in Greenville, South Carolina, over the weekend. Shelly Gautier continued her domination of the sport, carrying on what is now a five year streak of world titles.

Gautier won both the time trial and road race, bringing her career total to eight World titles in the T1 category.

“It feels great to have won the two titles. Today’s race was just fantastic. I did everything right, and I’ve won so I am very happy with that”, commented the excited Gautier, after the race. “At some point in the race, I had another competitor pass me, and I told myself ‘That’s not right’, so I went and passed her again.”

Gautier was one of two Canadians to win medals at the World Championships. Marie-Eve Croteau earned a silver medal in the women’s T2 time trial, but did not start the road race due to health reasons.

“Though we fell short of our goals, these past five days of racing have enabled us to look at where we are internationally when everyone brings their “A” game,” said Jacques Landry, high performance director for Cycling Canada. “We have veteran athletes in our program that continues to be competitive and that can deliver world class performances on the day, when the stars align.

“We also have some new blood that have shown great potential and should continue to progress over the the next two years.”

Athletes will now have some limited down time before resuming their training programs. Many compete both in road and track, with the velodrome season taking place over the winter months.