March 4/12 23:26 pm - Pan Am Track Championships: Day 2 CCA report

Posted by Editoress on 03/4/12
 

A day after riding to the silver medal in the men’s team sprint event, the three sprinters were back in action at the 2012 UCI Pan-American Championships in Mar Del Plata, Argentina.

Sunday featured the men’s individual sprint events, where Travis Smith of Calgary, AB, the 2010 Pan-American Champion, rode to the sixth place. Joseph Veloce of Fonthill, ON finished in seventh place. Canada’s third sprinter in Argentina, Hugo Barrette of Cap-Aux-Meules, took the 12th position.

“My day started off pretty good qualifying in fifth place, with a 10.5 seconds 200m. I made it through into the next rounds to race in the 1/16th finals. Unfortunately I lost my race to the Columbian, and had to come through the repechage rounds to make it into the quarter finals. Unfortunately this meant I got paired against the fastest qualifier, where I lost only by inches. In the 5-8 final, my plan was to lead it out, which I did with two laps to go, and ended up finishing sixth. I was happy with how the day went,” said Travis Smith, of Calgary.

Despite a slower qualifying time and a seventh place, Veloce was happy with the experience and the precious UCI points gathered for Canada in Argentina.

“Racing today started out a bit slow, not qualifying quite as well as I would have liked. However, we all managed to turn it around in the sprint rounds. Overall, I was really happy with the way I raced, finishing seventh. The races were all close, and I learned a lot. We don't get many chances to sprint throughout the year, so it was a great opportunity to gain some valuable sprinting experience and have some fun. We managed to earn some points on our competitors for an Olympic sprint spot, so now it is just a waiting game as we wait to see the results of the semis and finals, and refocus for our last day of racing here in the keirin!,” commented Veloce.

Hugo Barrette, the young rookie sprinter, is happy to come out of these Championships with a silver medal.

“My day started with a pretty bad 200m for me, qualifying in 13th place. In the 1/16th finals I won, to guarantee me top 12. In the 1/8th final I lost my first ride against Phillip Njisane, and in the repechage I lost against Hersony, and Blatchford, to finish overall 12th. I'm disappointed by my performance, but since we put all our effort for the team sprint, where we finished 2nd, I am not too bitter about my individual performance,” explained Barrette.

Racing in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, resumes tomorrow.

Report Courtesy CCA