July 16, 2015 (Milton, ON) – The Women’s Team Pursuit qualifications kicked off Day 1 of the Pan Am Track competitions at the Cisco Milton Pan Am/Parapan Am Velodrome. The Canadian Women’s Team Pursuit are the defending champions from the 2011 Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, but since then the women’s TP has transformed from a 3-women 3km race to a 4-woman race over 4km (so technically there will be a new PanAm Games record in this event). Both Laura Brown and Jasmin Glaesser, who are currently on the team, were members of that gold medal winning squad, and joining them on the TO2015 track are Alison Beveridge and Kirsti Lay.

In the early rounds there were some respectable times, one of particular note coming from Venezuela (4:44.176) after a false start twice (they were allowed another re-start as the second time up a rider pulled a pedal and touched down). The USA set the time to beat in the qualifying round before Canada, anchored by 4-time World Champion and current world IP record holder Sara Hammer.  They rode smooth and clocked a time of 4:25.051, besting the 3rd best time of the morning by over 12 seconds. Hammer stated that this was the first time that this team has raced together at this level of competition so she was pleased with their ride.

The Canadians had a little more in their tank putting in the best qualifying time of the morning with 4:24.368. All but one team qualified for the 1st round which will happen later in the evening. The new UCI format has multiple rounds of TP, giving each team multiple chances to make it into the finals on Friday (previously only the top four after qualifying had a chance at medals).

Men’s Omnium – Scratch Race
The next event was the Scratch Race for the Men’s Omnium with current Canadian Omnium champion, Remi Pelletier-Roy, representing the red maple leaf for this event (only one rider per country). The race started out hot with Guatemalan rider Alfredo Ajpacaja Tax gaining 1/2 a lap before his effort was shut down by the group (he was later lapped and pulled by the commissaries). Several small groups attempted to get away in the first half of the race but their attempts were controlled by the main contenders. Remi P-R put in a very hard surge with 30 laps to go to line out the field, but was unable to break away (his effort dropped two riders out of the race).

At 20 laps into the race it was still all together. With 10 laps to go Jose Ragonessi Guzman (ECU) managed to gain 1/2 lap on the pack. By 7-to-go he reeled the group in and put himself up one lap on everyone. From here it was a race for second. Pelletier-Roy put in a massive attack with two laps to go which had the crowd on their feet.  He managed 3rd place just behind Gideoni Rodrigues Monteiro of Brazil.

After the race Pelletier-Roy told Pedal that his goal in the Scratch and the Elimination is to “limit losses” as he is confident that his results in the flying lap and individual pursuit will help keep him in contention for the overall. When asked about his finishing effort that erupted the crowd he stated that he “used his experience of racing on this track to time his effort” (the length of the banking makes it a little more difficult to pass in the last lap compared to tracks with longer straightaways). The IP is the next event in the Omnium.

Women’s Team Sprint

The Women’s Team Sprint had some stiff competition with three teams ranked higher than Canada at the world level in this event – Colombia 10th and Cuba 12th and Mexico 13th in the UCI world rankings. Venezuela, the defending PanAm champions and Games record holders, set an early fast time of 35.318. That time was not to last long though as the Canadians and Mexicans were up next.

Both teams knocked the Venezuelans out of the hot seat and the team of Monique Sullivan and Kate O’Brien (CAN) set a new Games record and a Canadian record to boot. The new best time was 33.584 with two teams to go. Colombia and Cuba both put in solid rides qualifying them for the medal rounds, but neither were fast enough to knock the Canadians off the top spot. Canada would ride for gold against Cuba and Colombia will race Mexico for the bronze.

Men’s Team Sprint
In the Men’s Team Sprint the Canadian team of Evan Carey, Joe Veloce and Hugo Barrette were in a similar position as the women as they were up against two teams currently higher in the world rankings – Venezuela 9th and Colombia 12th.

When it was their turn on the track team starter Carey put the team in a solid position, Papa Joe (Joe Veloce recently became a father) had a good second lap for the team and Barrette ripped up the final lap to set a new Canadian sea level record (previously set in France at the world championships… a track considered the fastest in the world, not just at sea level).  The time was the fastest at the Games so far and put the Canadians in the gold medal final later this evening against Venezuela. The Canadians qualified 0.5 of a second faster than their opposition so their chances of winning gold are strong.

Men’s Omnium Individual Pursuit
The last event of the morning session was the Individual Pursuit for the Men’s Omnium. Pelletier-Roy’s third place in the Scratch race allowed him to go in one of the last heats.  He started out strong, posting the best time for the first kilometre. His pace faltered a little, but in the last kilometre he had his opponent in the same strait and he turned on the jets. When he caught him with just over a lap to go, the crowd erupted in a roar – which he told us later gave him more energy for the finish.

Pelletier-Roy’s time of 4:25.189 is a new personal best for him at sea level and just short of 1/10th of a second off of Zach Bell’s sea-level Canadian record (Bell is a hero of Pelletier-Roy btw). Pelletier-Roy’s time held up in the final pairing and he won the event putting him in an excellent position for a possible medal with four events left – the Elimination race is later this evening as Session 2 begins at 6pm – full results below.

Results

Women’s Team Pursuit

Qualifications
1. Canada 4:24.368 
Allison Beveridge
Laura Brown
Jasmin Glaesser
Kirsti Lay

2. United States 4:25.051
Jennifer Valente
Ruth Winder
Sarah Hammer
Kelly Catlin

3. Mexico 4:37.075
Sofia Arreola
Ingrid Drexel
Mayra Rocha
Lizbeth Salazar

4. Cuba 4:40.019
Yoanka Gonzalez
Yumari Gonzalez
Arlenis Sierra
Yeima Torres

5. Venezuela 4:44.176
Jennifer Cesar Salazar
Zuralmy Rivas Molina
Leidimar Suarez Medina
Gleydimar Tapia Romero

6. Chile 4:46.067
Denisse Ahumada
Daniela Guajardo
Valentina Monsalve
Flor Palma

7. Colombia 4:49.287
Maria Luisa Calle Williams
Yeny L. Colmenares Colmenares
Jannie Milena Salcedo Zambrano
Camila Andrea Valbuena Roa

8. Guatemala 4:57.091
Nicolle Bruderer
Emelyn Galicia Ramirez
Cynthia Lee Lopez
Jasmin Soto Lopez

9. Costa Rica 5:07.156
Edith Guillen Chavarria
Paula Herrera Hernandez
Marcela Rubiano
Maria Vargas Barrientos

Men’s Omnium

Scratch Race
1. Jose Ragonessi Guzman (Ecuador)
2. Gideoni Rodrigues Monteiro (Brazil) -1 lap
3. Mauro Richeze (Argentina) -1 lap
4. Remi Pelletier-Roy (Canada) -1 lap
5. Enrique Diaz Cedeno (Venezuela) -1 lap
6. Ignacio Prado (Mexico) -1 lap
7. Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Colombia) -1 lap
8. Cristopher Mansilla (Chile) -1 lap
9. Varun Maharajh (Trinidad & Tobago) -1 lap
DNF Alfredo Ajpacaja Tax (Guatemala)
DNF Eduardo Colon Ortiz (Puerto Rico)

Individual Pursuit
1. Remi Pelletier-Roy (Canada) 4:25.189
2. Gideoni Rodrigues Monteiro (Brazil) 4:26.931
3. Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Colombia) 4:28.097
4. Ignacio Prado (Mexico) 4:28.935
5. Mauro Richeze (Argentina) 4:34.279
6. Jose Ragonessi Guzman (Ecuador) 4:37.811
7. Enrique Diaz Cedeno (Venezuela) 4:39.971
8. Varun Maharajh (Trinidad & Tobago) 4:45.842
9. Cristopher Mansilla (Chile) 4:47.760
10. Alfredo Ajpacaja Tax (Guatemala) 4:53.659
11. Eduardo Colon Ortiz (Puerto Rico) 4:57.454

Women Team Sprint

Qualifications
1. Canada 33.584* Q
Kate O’Brien
Monique Sullivan

2. Cuba 34.414 Q
Marlies Mejias
Lisandra Guerra

3. Colombia 34.592
Diana Maria Garcia Orrego
Juliana Gaviria Rendon

4. Mexico 34.902
Frany Fong
Luz Gaxiola

5. Venezuela 35.318
Angie Gonzalez Garcia
Mariaesthela Vilera

6. Argentina 36.921
Deborah Coronel
Cristina Greve

7. Guatemala 37.552
Maria Jimenez Galicia
Joanne Rodriguez Hacohen

Fastest 2 teams race for gold, and 3rd and 4th teams race for bronze
*Pan Am Record

Men Team Sprint

Qualifications
1. Canada 44.242 Q
Hugo Barrette
Evan Carey
Joseph Veloce

2. Venezuela 44.715 Q
Hersony Canelon Vera
Cesar Marcano Sanchez
Angel Pulgar Araujo

3. Brazil 44.918
Flavio Vagner Cipriano
Frietas K. Fonseca Da Silva
Hugo Vasconcellos Osteti

4. Colombia 44.961
Anderson Parra Cortez
Fabian H. Puerta Zapata
Santiago Ramirez Morales

5. Trinidad And Tobago 45.381
Jude Codrington
Justin Roberts
Njisane Phillip

6. United States 46.145
Matt Baranoski
David Espinoza
Danny Robertson

7. Argentina 48.861
Mauro Agostini
Leandro Bottasso
Adrian Richeze

Fastest 2 teams race for gold – 3rd and 4th teams race for bronze