(Milton) Quebecer Lauriane Genest easily reached the second round of the keirin at the Milton Cycling Nations Cup, dominating her heat of qualifying, while Kelsey Mitchell had to take a longer route.
Genest, who skipped the individual sprint in the quarter-finals on Saturday to save her energy for the keirin, finished several bike lengths ahead of her closest rivals.
The bronze medalist in the discipline at the Tokyo Olympics – Canada’s very first Olympic medal in the keirin – had indicated the day before that she had slowed down in her quarter-final because she needed a good performance this Sunday.
A poor performance at the last Worlds relegated her to 17e world rank. She must be part of the top 24 to receive an invitation for the next World Championships in Glasgow, next August.
Her compatriot Mitchell, however, had to go through the repechage, she who finished second in her wave. The Albertan, already a double medalist of this Nations Cup, was overtaken by the German Alessa-Catriona 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 rode the last two laps in front of the group, winning by a bike.
In the men’s sprint, Canadians Ryan Dodyk, Nick Wammes, Tyler Rorke and James Hedgcock all easily passed the qualifications.
Hedgcock’s journey ended in 16are finals, while Dodyk and Rorke reached the next round. Only Wammes qualified for the quarters, where he was stopped by Malaysian Muhammad Sahrom.
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 qualifying heat advanced to the next grueling rounds, which will be contested in the evening.
Finally in Madison, Canada will count on the tandem formed by Dylan Bibic and Michael Foley to try to add to its harvest. The two men obtained their place for the final, disputed in the evening.
