Canada mines record medal haul at para-road World Cup final
12 medals earned over four days of racing at Baie-Comeau, Quebec
Canada took full advantage of racing on home soil to bring home a record medal haul from the final UCI Para-cycling World Cup in Baie-Comeau, Que. over the weekend.
After four days of racing, Canadian athletes had earned six gold medals, two silver, and four bronze. It is the most hardware a Canadian team has ever won at a single para-cycling World Cup. Concluding the three-event World Cup series close to home allowed Cycling Canada to send a large team comprised of High Performance and NextGen athletes to Baie-Comeau, and both groups contributed to the medal total.
“It was a really, really good World Cup for us,” said Sebastien Travers, Para head coach for Cycling Canada. “The athletes that came on board for this event showed a lot of potential, and we can be assured we will see more of them in the coming years.”
Toronto’s Shelly Gautier completed her incredible sweep of all six World Cup events – three time trials and three road races – winning both of her Women’s T1 races in Quebec. her perfect score of 360 points puts her at the top of the World Cup standings in her category, adding the overall title to her two world championship titles earned early-August in Italy.
Gautier wasn’t the only one adding a World Cup overall podium to her palmares in Baie-Comeau. Tristen Chernove ended his season second overall in the Men’s C2 standings, Holly Dapp of Fort Erie, Ont. ranked second in Women’s H2, and Victoriaville’s Charles Moreau second in Men’s H3. Michael Sametz of Calgary, Alta. won all of the events he entered this year, finishing third in the Men’s C3 rankings, and St Denis de Brompton, Que.’s Nicole Clermont third in Women’s C5.
Strong results at Baie-Comeau, and all season, also helped kick start Canada’s qualification process for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. “Points-wise, we are in a good position; we have already earned a spot for the Paralympics, so things are looking good,” said Travers. “2019 and 2020 are still part of the qualification process, so we have to make sure we are qualifying as many spots as we can for the Games. I’m happy and proud of everyone, and it was a good event for us.”
Day 1 – UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup: Baie-Comeau, Quebec
Shelly Gautier and Charles Moreau netted Canada’s first two gold medals during Thursday’s time trial events on the opening day of the Baie-Comeau World Cup. Gautier continued her 2018 unbeaten streak, adding Women’s T1 TT Gold to Moreau’s gold in the Men’s H3 category.
“It was a great race, especially winning at home,” said Moreau. “The residents of Baie-Comeau were very supportive, and I wanted to make up for the world championships here.”
Day 1 Results:
Women’s T1 TT
Gold – Shelly Gautier
Men’s H3 TT
Gold – Charles Moreau
6th – Alex Hyndman
8th – Joey Desjardins
Women’s H2 TT
Silver – Holly Dapp
Women’s T2 TT
4th – Marie-Eve Croteau
Women’s H3 TT
5th – Myrian Adam
7th – Camille Rene
Men’s T2 TT
7th – Louis-Albert Corriveau Jolin
Day 2 – UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup: Baie-Comeau, Quebec
World champion Michael Sametz of Calgary led the Canadian contingent on Day 2 of time trial events in Baie-Comeau, adding a third gold medal to Canada’s tally by winning his Men’s C3 TT event.
Canada would win a total of five World Cup medals during Friday’s events. Tristen Chernove added a silver in the Men’s C2 TT, and bronze medals went to Ross Wilson in the Men’s C1, Marie-Claude Molnar in Women’s C4, and the Men’s tandem team of Daniel Chalifour and his pilot Jean-Michel Lachance.
“Our motivation was at the top with the home crowd cheering for us,” said Chalifour. “The last year has been very tough for me, after my crash in Italy and the two surgeries I had to my hips. So to finish third here is very, very nice.”
Day 2 Results:
Women’s C5 TT
5th Nicole Clermont
Women’s Tandem TT
4th – Robbi Weldon & Anais Courteille
5th – Carla Shibley & Erin Ruttan
6th – Annie Bouchard & Evelyne Gagnon
Men’s Tandem TT
11th- Matthieu Croteau Daigle, Benoit Lussier
13th – Lowell Taylor, Andrew Davidson
Day 3 – UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup: Baie-Comeau, Quebec
Holly Dapp of Calgary earned Canada’s only medal from Saturday’s road racing events, but it was a golden one. Canada’s fourth gold and eighth overall medal from the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup came in the Women’s H2 road race.
“I learned a lot today,” said Dapp, “it was my first road race and I loved it. I’m very appreciative of the crew here, who made it a lot of fun but were professional and helpful. I’ve come a long way in the last two years, but I know I still have a long way to go.”
Day 3 Results:
Women’s H2 RR
Gold – Holly Dapp
Women’s H3 RR
4th – Myriam Adam
Women’s H4 RR
4th – Kara Douville
Men’s H3 RR
5th – Joey Desjardins
6th – Alex Hyndman
8th – Charles Moreau
14th – Rico Morneau
Men’s H2 RR
8th – Mathew Kinnie
9th – Robert Labbe
10th – Eric Page
Men’s H5 RR
6th – Patrick Desnoyers
Day 4 – UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup: Baie-Comeau, Quebec
The final day of 2018’s final Para-cycling Road World Cup saw Toronto’s Shelly Gautier complete her perfect sweep of all six Road and TT event’s in the Women’s T1 category. Gautier won the Women’s T1 road race, an event she recently earned a world championship title in in Italy, while fellow world champion Tristen Chernove of Cranbrook, B.C. won the Men’s C2 road race.
Adding two more road race medals to Canada’s impressive total, Edmonton’s Ross Wilson landed silver in the Men’s C1 category and Marie-Claude Molnar of St-Hubert, Que. won bronze.
Day 4 Results:
Women’s T1 RR
Gold – Shelly Gautier
Men’s C2 RR
Gold – Tristen Chernove
Men’s C1 RR
Silver – Ross wilson
Women’s C4 RR
Bronze – Marie-Claude Molnar
