February 21, 2015 (St Quentin-en-Yvelines, France) – Pedal caught up with Kirsti Lay following the Canadian Women’s Team Pursuit bronze medal performance, along with Hugo Barrette and Evan Carey at the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships for their take on the racing at Worlds and what lies ahead.
Kirsti Lay – Women’s Team Pursuit
Congratulations on your bronze medal – tells us how it feels and how the day unfolded?
After Wednesday’s qualification ride we felt that we should be able to put down a faster time and close the gap to the Brits and Aussies. We made some technical mistakes that cost us energy and time so today we went to the start line knowing we could execute and have a much stronger ride.
We really believed in ourselves that we could make that push for the gold medal final but unfortunately came up short. We are still proud of our semi ride though. We got a new Canadian record and left it all out there.
The bronze medal final was exciting and we knew that we could execute to finish it off. It’s been a really great year of building for the team but we know we have some more work to do with the time the Aussies rode. We definitely are inspired to keep improving as a team and are hungry to get on that top step.
Hugo Barrette (CAN)
How do you feel about Canada’s Team Sprint performance in France?
I’m pleased with way we rode. We did our season’s best performance with a 13th place and a sea level Canadian record – 44.4 sec. – I think that we are improving at a fast rate as a team. There is still a lot a work to be done, but for now that result showed we are finally on the right path to do so.
Now that the team has a sprint coach, what do you feel is the next step in the progression to medals at Worlds?
I think that having a new base in Canada, the Milton velodrome, should be the key ingredient for the sprint program to really flourish over the next couple years. With that in mind I think that the next step is to establish a strong program in that new infrastructure, which is easier said than done.
Tell us about your expectations in the men’s Match Sprint.
I’m hoping to qualify tomorrow, but it’s going to be a hard task as per usual at world championships. I clocked some promissing times in training so I’m confident I can do it. I’m not the best time trialer but if I can get in the rounds anything can happen really!
Evan Carey (CAN)
You’ve just competed at your first Elite worlds Team Sprint – how does it feel?
It feels surreal – as though I am living a dream. Except, the beauty of it is that it’s all actually happening which makes me want more.
What do you and the team need to work on in order to be on the podium at the world level?
Hugo, Joseph, and I are a relatively new team and there is a lot of room to grow, especially in my position. In my opinion working together in a daily training environment such as the Mattamy National Cycling Centre with National coach, Erin Hartwell, will give us the edge we need to reach the international podium in the future.
What’s next for you regarding training and racing – are you planning on moving to Milton?
The next step in my training and racing is to start preparing for the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games. This will involve leaving the natural beauty of BC to move to the very welcoming Milton area in about a months time. I’m very excited for the new experiences to come!