Top Canadian junior riders heading to the UCI junior track world championships in Kazakhstan
Nine of Canada’s best junior cyclists are heading to Astana, Kazakhstan this summer, Cycling Canada announced, participating in the UCI juniors track world championships from Aug. 19 to 23.
It’s one of the year’s most important events in competitive cycling, its host countries and organizations rotating on an annual basis. Last year, Seoul, South Korea welcomed the cycling world to its doorstep; in 2013, it was Glasgow, Scotland. This year, a crop of cyclists from across the globe is heading to Kazakhstan, and Canada’s representation features three top riders from past events.
On the men’s endurance side, Canada is represented by Evan Burtnik of Edmonton, Connor Byway of Ottawa, Barley Simpson of Lindsay, Ont., John Wilcox of Victoria and Jordann Jones of Ancaster, Ont. For the women, the maple leaf is carried by Katherine Maine of Ottawa, Anna Talman of Edmonton, and Gillian Elsay, hailing from Courtenay, B.C.
Stefan Ritter, an Edmonton export, is Canada’s lone sprinter heading into the competition, riding in both the sprint and the keirin events.
Burtnik, Byway and Simpson all rode in the 2014 event, with Burtnik finishing seventh in the omnium—the best performance of the three that year. Heading into this year’s event, men’s endurance track coach Ian Melvin said that achievement has given the team a taste for meat, so to speak. Expectations placed on the team, he added, somewhat reflect that. “There is an increasing expectation of the level of performance of our riders,” Melvin said. “Several strong performances in the men’s individual pursuit at the selection trials suggest that a top-six ride in the men’s team pursuit is well within our reach and that a top-five in the individual pursuit itself is a very real objective.”
“The inclusion of three talented junior women has the promise to fulfil several top-10 placings in the individual endurance events,” he added, “while in the men’s sprint, the rapidly developing Stefan Ritter has the opportunity to rub shoulders with the best in the world.”
