(Milton) Lauriane Genest and Kelsey Mitchell did not seem short of legs on Saturday during qualifying for the individual sprint of the Cycling Nations Cup. The two Canadians finished in the top 4 and skipped the second stage of qualifying, scheduled for later in the day.
Genest set the benchmark time of 10.482 seconds. Mitchell clocked the fourth and final time to avoid the Round of 16 at 10.756.
Colombian Martha Bayona Pineda (10.640), bronze medalist in the discipline at the Milton stage last year, and Germany’s Alessa-Catriona Pröpster (10.709) entered between the two representatives of the maple leaf.
Genest and Mitchell, along with Sarah Orban, helped Canada win a silver medal in the team sprint on Friday night. It didn’t show in their morning performances. These results will allow them not to struggle in the first elimination round.
It’s been a busy day at the Mattamy National Cycling Center in Milton. The men’s omnium qualifications followed those of the women’s sprint. The Canadian Michael Foley, however, missed his qualification, finishing 13th in the first wave, while the first 12 positions gave access to the final.
The men’s keirin is also on the program. Ryan Dodyk, James Hedgcock and Nick Wammes are the three Canadians in contention. Finally, the female Madison will conclude the evening. However, Canada does not have a representative in this event, as its athletes did not meet the selection criteria.
