What you need to know about the 2020 Milton World Cup
A breakdown of the track events and who will be racing them
By: Sean Mackinnon
This week, in preparation for the upcoming Track World Cup, the sprawling city of Milton will be host to some of the world’s best track cyclists. Canada will be represented in both the endurance and sprint events occurring over the weekend races, which will take place Jan. 24 – 26. Milton, located just outside of Toronto, On., will host the final World Cup stop before the Track World Championships take place at the end of February in Berlin, Germany.
The endurance riders lining up for the men’s events come from a pool of development riders. The women’s endurance events will feature a mixture of development riders accompanied by Steph Roorda who brings experience to the team. In the sprint races, Hugo Barrette will be the sole male rider representing Canada, while breakout talent Kelsey Mitchell and Lauriane Genest will race on the women’s side. The sprinters are looking to accumulate UCI points ahead of Worlds and this year’s Olympics. Other national team riders in both the endurance and sprint events will race for the trade team P2M at the Milton event.
The events
Team pursuit – Jan. 23 and Jan. 24
This event is a staple in the track scene. The team pursuit is a 4 km time trial where four riders relay amongst the team as they look to cover the race distance as fast as possible. Riders take turns pulling the team on the front before shooting up the banking of the track and joining back onto the train at a blistering pace. For the last two decades, both the men and women’s world record times have plummeted. The men’s world record is held by Australia with a time of 3:48’ 012. The women’s record sits at 4:10’236 and was achieved by the Great Britain team at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Team sprint – Jan. 24
Like the team pursuit for endurance athletes, the team sprint is another blisteringly fast team event in which men race three laps with a team of three and the women race two laps with a team of two. From a standing start, the sprinters must collectively build speed and deliver their final rider into the last lap. The clock stops upon the arrival of the first rider across the line. Unlike the team pursuit, in which the clock stops after the third rider crosses the line, in the team sprint riders take a one lap pull before pulling off and making way for the riders who follow, leaving the rider in the last position to stop the clock for the team’s time.
Omnium – Men’s Jan. 25, women’s Jan. 26
The Omnium is a multi-race event which has recently moved from a two-day, six-race event, to a one-day, four-race event. The new structure eliminated the individual pursuit and kilo events and instead now consists of four diverse races. In the scratch race, the first rider across the line wins, for the tempo race, points are awarded to the first rider across the line, and if a rider laps the field, in the elimination race, the last rider across the line is out. The Omnium finishes off with a points race where points are allotted to the first 4 riders across the line on designated sprints over the duration of the race. The overall winner of the Omnium is the rider with the most points at the end of the four events. Strong rides across all events are usually required to be at the top of the rankings by the end of the day, but riders who are suited to the final points race can often leapfrog their competitors, as 20 points are up for grabs to riders who lap the field. Needless to say the points race can get extremely exciting.
Madison – Women’s Jan. 25, men’s Jan. 26
The Madison is yet another team event on the track. In this discipline, teams of two take turns “racing” what is essentially a two-up points race. One rider races with the pack of riders down low on the track while the other half of the team rolls around the track above the blue line. Teams trade places at their discretion however the track can get quite busy as the event drags on and riders begin to tire. Both endurance and turn of speed is crucial in this event and timing is even more important. As riders race for points on designated laps, the athletes are not only forced to deal with traffic on the track, but also timing exchanges in association with when the next set of points are up for grabs.
Sprint – Women’s Jan. 25, men’s Jan. 26
The individual sprint event will be highly contested. The race is crucial for the Canadians taking the start line. The sprint event is an elimination style competition, where riders qualify with a flying 200 meter time trial. Riders then compete against each other over three laps as the first two riders across the line progress to the next round. The event finishes with two-up sprints for places on the podium. On the women’s side, Kelsey Mitchell, who is the current world record holder for the 200 meter time trial, will be looking to continue her strong breakout season. Hugo Barrette will be taking the reins on the men’s side as he persists in his progression towards the World Championships next month.
Keirin – Men’s Jan. 25, women’s Jan. 26
This sprint event, one of the most exciting events track cycling has to offer, is not for the faint hearted. Sprinters line up on the start line and que up behind a motorbike for three laps. The moto brings the sprinters up to 50 km/h before opening the track up to the sprinters for another three laps. Positioning, timing and strategy is crucial for success in this event as riders look to jockey for position during the first three laps, before opening up what is often a tactical sprint to the finish line.
The athletes
The Canadians lining up for this weekend’s event will be joined by over 30 nations and trade teams for the six events in the world cup. At the final world cup for the 2020 season, look for many nations vying to cement their qualification for worlds and this year’s Olympic games. Action kicks off Thursday evening with Friday, Saturday and Sunday split into two sessions per day.
Canadian National Team
Men
Team Pursuit: Evan Burtnik, Chris Ernst, Amiel Flett-Brown, Ethan Ogrodniczuk, Sean Richardson
Omnium: Jackson Kinniburgh
Sprint: Hugo Barrette
Keirin: Hugo Barrette
Women
Team Pursuit: Erin Attwell, Miriam Brouwer, Devaney Collier, Kinley Gibson, Steph Roorda
Omnium: Devaney Collier
Team Sprint: Kelsey Mitchell, Lauriane Genest
Sprint: Kelsey Mitchell
Keirin: Kelsey Mitchell
P2M Trade Team
Men
Sprint: Nick Wammes
Keirin: Joel Archambault
Women
Team Sprint: Sarah Orban, Amelia Walsh
Sprint: Sarah Orban
Keirin: Sarah Orban
