Ngaire Barraclough’s omnium fifth place Team Canada’s highlight of Milton Nations Cup Day 3

Ngaire Barraclough’s fifth place in the omnium after winning the first event was Team Canada’s highlight of Day 3 of the Nations Cup in Milton, ON. Barraclough took the scratch race and performed well in the other races.

Day 3 got underway with the men’s individual pursuit qualifying. Canada had two athletes in the running. Chris Ernst, who raced in the men’s team pursuit on Thursday, placed eighth, and Mathias Guillemette, who took fourth in Friday’s elimination race, was tenth. Alas, only the top four advanced.

A bronze medal winner with the women’s team sprint outfit on Thursday, Sarah Orban was one of two Canadians in the women’s 500-metre time trial qualifying. Orban took 14th and compatriot Jackie Boyle was 15th, but neither went on to the final.

It was derny time in the men’s keirin qualifying. A member of the team sprint squad, Ryan Dodyk won Heat 4. James Hedgcock went to the repechage after placing fifth in Heat 6, but he didn’t qualify for the first round.

In the second round Dodyk was in Heat 1. He got a little boxed in with two laps to go and couldn’t come around the other riders, finishing fifth. He would race in the 7-12 final. Dodyk skipped away tried to stay clear of the others but two riders eclipsed him and he finished 9th.

Barraclough’s Omnium

Barraclough has been very busy in Milton with the team pursuit squad on Thursday and the scratch race on Friday. Her women’s omnium journey started after the day’s recess with the scratch race, played out over 7.5 km or 30 laps. With six laps remaining Barraclough attacked and stayed away to win the event solo, even lapping another rider.

Next came the tempo race over 30 laps. The first rider over the line from the 5th lap on would get a point. If a rider gained a lap, they scored 20 points, if they lost a lap, they lost 20 points. A Swiss rider scored first but a Brit surged clear and started to piled up the points by staying away. A Mexican rider joined the Brit and they lapped the field. Barraclough couldn’t pick up any points and sifted down to fourth from first.

The penultimate challenge was the elimination race, the race of the dreaded blinking red light. A Uzbek was the first to go. Barraclough sliced and diced until she was the ninth from last rider to be eliminated. She only lost one place in the overall standings.

So how far could she go in the points race? She had 80 laps to race, with a sprint every ten laps, with 5, 3, 2, and 1 point(s) being awarded to the top four, and 20 to lap the field. The Canadian earned two points on Sprint 2 and had to worry about the Swiss rider in sixth place looking over her shoulder. Barraclough ended the omnium with 88 points.

The hand-slinging fun of the men’s madison featured Canadians Michael Foley and Dylan Bibic. Thirty-six fellows were on the Siberian spruce at the same time. There would be 200 laps with a sprint every 10 laps, with double points offered in the last sprint. The Canadians took three points in the 10th sprint and two more on the 11th. The Colombian duo ran wild for a while, amassing points. Late in the hour-long race, Canada was deducted 20 points and came in 14th. The Netherlands dominated.

Sunday is the last day of competition.