Canadian Marie-Claude Molnar wins gold at UCI Para-cycling road world championships
The Quebec cyclist dominated the women's C4 time trial
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Cycling Canada
The 2021 UCI Para-cycling road world championships are underway in Cascais, Portugal and Canadian cyclist Marie-Claude Molnar has already secured a gold medal. The two-time Paralympian dominated the women’s C4 time trial, with a time gap of 2:07 over French runner-up Katell Alencon.
This is the first road cycling world championship win for the 37-year-old Longueuil, Qc., cyclist, though she’s come close to the top of the podium before with a second-place finish in the 2013 para-cycling world championships road race.
“This morning I did something,” Molnar wrote in an Instagram post. “Stay in the moment, stay aware of every detail that can make a difference and the result is a win with a 2-minute lead. It’s a dream come true! You just need to believe in it and work hard to achieve it!”
“It’s something that I haven’t been able to accomplish so far in my career and I’m really proud,” she told SportCom. “Some participants were missing (due to the health situation), but what is important is to see the improvements. All the work done in training paid off and I’m staying focused on that.”
More racing to come
Thursday, Jun. 10 was the second day of the 2021 Para-cycling road world championships, which are taking place Jun. 9-13. In Thursday’s women’s B time trial Carla Shibley and pilot Meghan Brown finished eighth while in the men’s B time trial Lowell Taylor and pilot Ed Veal finished tenth.
Canada is currently ranked sixth overall out of the 13 nations competing in the para-cycling world championships. Friday is the men’s and women’s handbike and tricycle individual time trials, where Canadians Louis-Albert Corriveau Jolin, Marie-Eve Croteau, Shelly Gautier will compete in the T1 and T2 categories, and Kara Douville, Matthew Kinnie and Charles Moreau will compete in the H2, H3 and H4 categories.
The B and C categories, which include Molnar, have scheduled road races on Saturday, while the T and H categories have their road races on Sunday, June 13.
