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Local leads Cycling Canada in Netherlands
Team Canada concluded the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships on Saturday (March 16) in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, with gold and silver medals, bringing the total number of medals for the event to five – one gold, two silver and two bronze.
In the men’s C2 category, Cranbrook’s Tristen Chernove finished his world championships by winning the Scratch Race, adding to the silver medal he won on Thursday in the Individual Pursuit, and the bronze medal on Friday in the 1000 metre time trial.
In addition, Chernove topped the standings in the first ever Omnium; a compilation of points over four events. The Omnium in Apeldoorn is a test event for possible inclusion at the 2024 Paralympics, so no medals were awarded.
“It was a super fun day,” said Chernove. “I always love bunch racing, so this is the event I was most excited about.  To come away with a victory in the Scratch, I feel thrilled.  It was a great race that finished in a bunch sprint, and to take home the jersey for the Scratch was my goal coming here.  And to win the Omnium was a bonus.”
In the women’s C4 competition, Keely Shaw won her first ever world championship medal, finishing second in the Individual Pursuit to Emily Petricola of Australia, who set a world record.  Marie-Claude Molnar finished just out of the medals in fourth place for the same event.  Molnar finished third overall in the Omnium standings; Shaw did not compete in all four events.
Ross Wilson was fifth in the C1 men’s Scratch Race, to finish third overall in the Omnium standings.
Sebastian Travers, Para Head Coach at Cycling Canada said, “It was a very good Worlds for us.  If we include the Omnium podiums, we tied our best Worlds ever.  This is great to see in our athletes, one year away from the Paralympic Games.  Although we haven’t put everything together for peak performances, I happy to see how everyone worked together as a team.  I have been relying on personal coaches as well as national coaches to get our athletes ready, and everyone has done an amazing job.We developed a four year mission plan following Rio and we continue to progress according to this plan. We are confident that this will lead to key performances in Tokyo 2020.”
Lead image: Tristen Chernove, right, with his bronze medal in the men’s C2 1000 metre, after winning the silver medal on Thursday in the Individual Pursuit. Cycling Canada photo
Cycling Canada
