December 1/19 8:54 am - Day 4 Hong Kong Track World Cup: Report and results

Posted by Editoress on 12/1/19
 

Canadian riders finished off the third round of the Track World Cup in Hong Kong on Sunday with top-10 results in the women's Keirin and a third place for Devaney Collier in the Points Race of the women's Omnium.  Canada finishes the World Cup with one bronze medal, for Kelsey Mitchell in the women's Sprint.

Devaney Collier had a slow start to the four event Omnium, finishing 21st in Scratch Race and 13th in the Tempo Race.  However, she improved dramatically for the final two events, with a fifth place result in the Elimination Race and third in the Points Race (one of three riders to take a lap), to finish 11th overall with 78 points; five points out of the top-10.

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"We knew going in that this Omnium field was lacking some of the usual dominant riders, which allowed me the opportunity to be more of an aggressor than I could've been otherwise," explained Collier.  "I made some mistakes in my first couple of races, but I had good legs and was able to rectify my position a bit by the end of day.  The new format [all four races in one competition session] is challenging but exciting, I think for both the fans and riders."

In other Canadian results, Canadian women sprinters Lauriane Genest and Mitchell finished ninth and tenth, respectively, in the women's Keirin.  Both riders did not qualify in the first round, but won their respective repechage races to move on to the second round.  They failed to make the medal final, but finished third [Genest] and fourth [Mitchell] in the 7-12 final.  In the men's Sprint 200 metre qualifying, Hugo Barrette was 19th with a time of 9.965 seconds, and Nick Wammes was 27th at 10.045 seconds.  Both moved on to the sprinting rounds but were each knocked out in their one-sixteenth final races.  In the men's Scratch Race, Aidan Caves was 23rd.

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"Stand out performance needs to go to Kelsey Mitchell in only her second World Cup taking on very experienced, seasoned campaigners in claiming her first ever World Cup medal," said Brendon Cameron, Track Head Coach.  "Other solid performances were from the job the Next Gen development athletes had to contribute to Olympic Qualifying duties.  Evan [Burtnik] and Chris [Ernst] in the men's Team Pursuit riding to sixth place [Days 1 and 2] and Devaney Collier finishing a solid 11th [in the Omnium].  Also promising was to see a good return from Hugo Barrette, bouncing back after the injury he sustained at Pan Am Champs in Bolivia, here winning his first heat and finishing eighth in the Keirin."

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Barrette talked about his return to racing, after fracturing his scapula in a crash at the Pan Am Championships in early September.

"The level was very high today [Saturday]," said Barrette after the Keirin.  "All the best were present and there was no room for error.  Normally, two cyclists go on to the next round, but, exceptionally, there was only a direct pass for the semifinal, so it was a little harder. I had a good race and I managed to make it!"

"I was a bit rusty in the semifinal; my legs and speed were there, but I did not have the split second. I finished fourth and only the first three advanced.  I'm very hard on myself and I'm still aiming for the podium, so there is some disappointment, that's for sure.  On the other hand, when I look back and see that it was only a few months ago that my back was broken, I can not really complain about my performance.  I'm happy with the way I handled my day and it's encouraging."

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Results from the 4th and final day of  racing in Hong Kong

Day 1 Hong Kong Track World Cup

Day 2 Hong Kong Track World Cup

Day 3: Bronze Medal for Mitchell at Hong Kong Track World Cup