Canada sends young squad to final UCI track World Cup of the season
Six athletes will race in Minsk, Belarus
With the UCI track World Cup season drawing to a close over the weekend of Jan, 19 to 21 Cycling Canada is sending a young team of six athletes to Minsk, Belarus. The fifth and final round is the last World Cup before Olympic qualifying begins next season.
The team will be composed of five members of the NextGen women’s track endurance program who will contest the team pursuit and individual event plus one sprinter for the men’s events.
Erin Attwell, Maggie Coles-Lyster, Devaney Collier and Laurie Jussaume will make up the women’s team pursuit squad with Sara Giovannetti as the alternate. Coles-Lyster, who is currently junior world champion in the points race, will also race in that event and the Madison while being an alternate for the omnium. Collier will race the omnium and serve as an alternate for the Madison while Jussaume will race the Madison in addition to the team pursuit.
Former junior men’s 1000 metre time trial world champion Stefan Ritter will also travel to Belarus to compete in the sprint and keirin.
“The women have been training hard and are ready to have their first crack at World Cup racing. Inspired by the strong performances of the elite program, specifically this season, the athletes are ready to maximize this learning opportunity as we pave the way to future Canadian success,” said Jenny Trew about the young team Canada has selected for the last round of the World Cup in the 2017-2018 season.
The 2018 track world championships take place in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands from Feb. 28 to March 4. The Minski World Cup is being used to expose young development athletes to top-level international racing at the elite level.
“The fifth and final track World Cup before world championships in Holland will be one where we will witness the fruits of the great work done with our NextGen athletes,” explained Jacques Landry, Cycling Canada’s chief executive officer.
“The present World Cup format enables us to focus on acquiring podium performances through some events and amassing valuable racing knowledge in others,” said Landry. “In Minsk, it is anticipated that our Women’s Track Endurance NextGen riders, along with sprinter Stefan Ritter, use this event to gain experience whilst striving to reach their individual performance goals.”
Team Canada for the UCI track World Cup Minsk
Erin Attwell – Victoria [Team Pursuit]
Maggie Coles-Lyster – Maple Ridge, B.C. [Team Pursuit, Points Race, Madison, Alternate – Omnium]
Devaney Collier – Edmonton [Team Pursuit, Omnium, Alternate – Madison]
Sara Giovannetti – Mississauga, Ont. [Alternate – Team Pursuit]
Laurie Jussaume – Contrecoeur, Que. [Team Pursuit, Madison]
Stefan Ritter – Edmonton [Sprint, Keirin]
