Montreal, November 6, 2021 – No less than 72 athletes met on Saturday at the Palma velodrome, in Spain, to compete in the very first stage in the history of the Champions League in track cycling. Among these, we found Hugo Barrette and Lauriane Genest who have distinguished themselves in separate events.

Eliminated from the start in the sprint, Barrette recovered well by reaching the grand final in the keirin, where the six best cyclists in the qualifications were gathered to compete for the top honors.

Starting from first place for the occasion, the athlete from the Magdalen Islands had a good start, but was unable to maintain the pace in the second part of the race. His opponents then took advantage of the draft to overtake him and relegate him to fifth place.

The German Stefan Botticher was the first to complete the three laps of the event to sign the victory. Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen, world champion in the discipline and bronze medalist in the keirin at the Tokyo Olympics, took second place ahead of his compatriot Jeffrey Hoogland.

It was the second podium of the day for Lavreysen who had won the sprint final just an hour earlier. All this allowed him to take the lead in the cumulative ranking of the men’s sprint events with 37 points.

Stefan Botticher (33 points) is second, while Jeffrey Hoogland (30 points) completes the top-3. Hugo Barrette occupies the 10and rank with a total of 11 points.

Genest narrowly misses the final

On the female side, Lauriane Genest had his best moments of the competition in the sprint. After finishing first in her start in qualifying, the Lévisienne set off in a strong wave during the semi-finals.

Despite a good effort, the Maple Leaf representative had to settle for second place behind Germany’s Emma Hinze. The reigning world sprint champion then defeated her compatriot Lea Friedrich to win this event.

Crowned in the keirin a little earlier, Kelsey Mitchell also saw her career come to an end in the semi-finals. The Albertan thus ended her day with 35 points, two less than Hinze, who sits at the top of the general classification of the speed events for women.

Whitewashed in the keirin, Lauriane Genest for her part amassed 13 points in the sprint, which places her provisionally ninth.

The Champions League will run until December 11 and will have a total of five stages. The next stop will be on the side of Lithuania, more precisely in Panevėžys, on November 27.