(Milton) Quebecer Lauriane Genest won the silver medal in a tough final at the Milton Cycling Nations Cup, before being relegated to sixth place for an illegal contact on the track. Her compatriot Kelsey Mitchell took seventh place.
Genest got stuck at the bottom of the track for the last lap and a half. She tried everything to join the German Alessa-Catriona Pröpster – almost touching the Colombian Martha Bayona Pineda in the process – but she ran out of time.
She opted for the leading position behind the hare at the start of the race, a position she kept when the bike left the circuit. However, her competitors had not forgotten the show of power she had shown in qualifying and the semi-finals and they left her no room to manoeuvre.
While she likes to launch her attacks higher up the track, Genest found herself followed by three competitors when Bayona Pineda upped the pace early in the race. Pröpster, who had a strong weekend, quickly followed in the footsteps of the Colombian and Genest at one point found herself fourth.
It was then that Genest attempted a daring maneuver, pushing his way between Pröpster’s rear wheel and Bayona Pineda – a move that ultimately cost him his medal – which allowed him to move up to second place.
Genest, however, ran out of time and was unable to style Pröpster.
It was Genest’s second medal with the one amassed in the team sprint and Canada’s fourth during this weekend of competition. Genest had skipped the individual sprint in the quarter-finals, won by Mitchell on Saturday, to conserve his energies for the keirin.
The women’s team pursuit led to Canada’s fourth medal of the weekend, with a third place finish on Friday.
For her part, Mitchell had to go through the repechage, she who finished second in her qualifying wave. The Albertan, already a double medalist of this Nations Cup, was overtaken by Pröpster in the last lap.
Mitchell made sure it didn’t happen again in the draft. She took control of the race as soon as one of her opponents launched a semblance of an attack. Mitchell reacted quickly and spent the last two laps in front of the group, winning by a bike.
However, she found herself stuck behind the top three in her semi-final, so she had to settle for the B final, for places 7 to 12, which she won.
In the men’s sprint, Canadians Ryan Dodyk, Nick Wammes, Tyler Rorke and James Hedgcock all easily passed the qualifications.
Hedgcock’s run ended in the round of 32, while Dodyk and Rorke reached the next round. Only Wammes qualified for the quarters, where he was stopped by Malaysian Muhammad Sahrom.
The latter lost to Australian Matthew Richardson in the duel for the bronze medal. Trinidadian Nicholas Paul won the gold, his second medal of the weekend with the bronze amassed in the keirin. The 200m world mark holder beat Poland’s Mateusz Rudyk in straight sets.
In Madison, the Canadian duo of Dylan Bibic and Michael Foley collected six points to finish 12th. The Portuguese Manuel Alves Oliveira and Iuri Leitão won the event with 61 points, ahead of the Dutch Yoeri Havik and Vincent Hoppezak of the professional team Beat, as well as the French Thomas Boudat and Benjamin Thomas.
Finally in the omnium, the two Canadians Sarah van Dam (third in her heat) and Maggie Coles-Lyster (eighth) reached the final rounds. The top 12 riders from each heat of qualifying progressed to the next grueling rounds, contested in the evening.
