Canada’s para cyclists build momentum with seven medals at Ostend World Cup
World champion Shelley Gautier led the way for Paralympic qualifying for the second week in a row with two medals in Belgium
After the opening round of the paracycling World Cup in Corridonia, Italy where Canada earned three gold medals and six in total, Canadian athletes left the Ostend, Belgium World Cup with seven medals.
Tristen Chernove & Ross Wilson are crushing it in the ITT, taking double ? this morning at the #UCIParaWC ?
On to the road races! pic.twitter.com/k2DiHQXeWx
— Cycling Canada (@CyclingCanada) May 17, 2019
Shelley Gautier in the T1 division led the way for the second weekend in a row. After taking two gold medals in Italy, she added two silvers in Belgium.
Charles Moreau, Tristen Chernove and Ross Wilson each won silver medals in the individual time trial. Chernove also won a bronze in the road race while Joey Desjardins also took bronze in the road race.
“It was a very good competition for our squad here in Belgium. All national team athletes were able to convert results into UCI points, which are critical for our Paralympic qualification,” explained para head coach Sebastien Travers. This is promising as these results came from both our Elite national team athletes and our development group in the Next Gen program. We are leaving Belgium with two World Cup leaders in Tristen and Shelley, who are looking forward to defend their titles in Baie-Comeau.”
The results build on a very successful opening round of the World Cup. Gautier who hails from Toronto won gold in the time trial and road race in Italy while Chernove a native of Cranbrook, B.C. won the men’s C2 road race. The team added two silvers and a bronze.
And that's a wrap for Para Road World Cup #2!
5 x ?
1 x ?Congrats to all the ? athletes, coaches & staff! pic.twitter.com/MtBKkc4aXI
— Cycling Canada (@CyclingCanada) May 19, 2019
With two World Cup’s in the books, Canada has three golds, seven silvers and three bronze medals for the season.
“I am super happy with the performances of all the Canadians,” said Sebastien Travers, Head Para Coach at Cycling Canada. “From the high-performance team to the NextGen riders, to athletes riding as independents, everyone was able get points for Canada for the Paralympic qualification process.”
