June 4, 2007 (London, ON) – The best track racers in Ontario converged at the Forest City Velodrome in London, Ontario this past weekend to test their medal and win some medals on the boards of the 138m Velodrome. The high banks did not intimidate the 74 racers who demonstrated their fitness and put down some of the best events times in the short 2-year history at the FCV.

The action got started on Friday night with Kilo & 500m action for all categories. In an effort to challenge all of the U19 racers the track encouraged most riders to ride up a category and compete at a higher level….. it worked. 15-year-old racers Mateo Dalcin, Trever Daman and Andrew Lattimore proved to be the equal of the older juniors and rode aggressively all weekend….. valuable experience for the Nationals coming in six weeks.

Fast time in the Kilo was set by 18-year-old Joe Veloce (Team Aquila) from St Catherine’s Ontario. Joe recorded a time of 1:10.3 in the event that saw five categories break the track record over the weekend. Veloce then set fast time in Sprint qualifications and captured gold with Ryan Crawford (Team Aquila) and Steve Meyer (CoachChris.ca) splitting the silver medal with identical times of 1:12.9.

Meyer and Crawford made it to the Pursuit final on Saturday night with Crawford trying to catch Meyer but came with in 10m of the upset win, his legs blew up and had to settle for silver while Meyer captured the mass start gold medals in the Scratch and points races.

In Sunday’s Keirin the final came down to a dog fight between the two speedsters Veloce and Crawford with Veloce just edging out Crawford for gold.

The Junior Women, Cadet Men and Elite action was also hot and heavy with Stephanie Bester (CoachChris.ca) winning the Jr. women sprint events and Denise Ramsden (Kingston) winning the endurance events. Florence Lapointe-Lamarsh (Ottawa), a 14-year-old rider to watch, surprised the other junior women placing in the medals in all the events she entered. The Omnium was very close with Bester just nipping Ramsden by two points after the five events. The future of women’s track racing in Ontario looks very solid with the strong results from this competition.

In the Elite Women’s field, Joanna Wiersma from London showed her track experience by winning all events, in the Omnium. Chloe St. Arnaud-Watt (Ottawa) finished in 2nd position.

Six Cadet men (U17) shared the medals in the weekend’s action with Kyle Rupay (Peterborough) edging 12-year-old Ryan Lave (Ilderton), Matt Bester, Ryan Daman, Mitchell Cuddie and Kyle Pierson. It is amazing watching racers with less than six months of track experience digging into holes on the Velodrome that you thought only seniors would go for.

The Velo-Kids also put on a great show with Brianne Rupay (11) and Paul Orphan (10) winning their categories – well done to all the Kids.

It seemed like we were a cafe during the Elite Men category, as it turned into the Jet Fuel parade as Jet Fuel teammates Jamie Shankland (Waterloo) and Daniele Defranceschi (Windsor) took home the Sprint and Endurance events over the weekend.

Two of the highlights were Shankland coming around Defranceschi in the Sprint final to make it two years in a row for the Sprint title, and Defranceschi using his teammate Dave Byers as a pick in the Scratch race final. Overall placing in the Elite Omnium had Branden Throop (London), Chris Atkins (La Bicicletta) and Vince DeJong (Brantford) finishing 2nd, 3rd, 4th behind the Jet Fuel coffee baron Defranceschi.

A solid field of Masters and Sport Racers had to be split into three divisions to accommodate the numbers of riders and to level the competition. In Master 1 Mike Reneboog (Brantford) had his way in most of the events and captured gold in the Omnium followed by Paolo Eugeni and Chris Vlemmix.

A special thank you to the race officials and volunteers who helped make the events run very smoothly. After three days of competition and over 124 events the schedule was within 45 minutes at the end of the day on Sunday.

The next race night at FCV is Saturday night June 16th at 7pm. Ontario “Stars of the Future” will be on track to demonstrate their skills.

These are the Medalists from the weekend.

Event: 500M

Elite Women
1. Joanna Wiersma 39.10
2. Chloe St. Arnaud-Watt 43.10

Master 1
1. Rob Good 36.50
2. Michael Renneboog 37.90
3. Roderick Olliver 38.20

Master 2
1. Julian Shea 38.34
2. Jim Henning 40.10
3. Brian Kelly 41.92

Cadet Men (Under 17)
1. Kyle Rupay 41.20
2. Ryan Lave 41.70
3. Matthew Bester 44.84

Junior Women
1. Stephanie Bester 42.40
2. Florence Laplante-Lamarche 44.00
3. Denise Ramsden 44.50

Youth Boys (Under 13)
1. Paul Orphan 46.20
2. Riley Bere 51.30
3. Kieren Marray 53.10

Youth Girls (Under 13)
1. Brianne Rupay 48.90
2. Amberley Berman 50.70
3. Devon Lowrie 54.80

Sport Racer
1. Taras Kleban 38.70
2. Dean Lowrie 40.70
3. Chris Savila 41.10

Event: Kilo

Elite Men
1. Jamie Shankland 1.10.5
2. Chris Atkins 1.13.3
3. Vince De Jong 1.13.5

Junior Men
1. Joe Veloce 1.10.3
2. Stephen Meyer 1.12.9
3. Ryan Crawford 1.12.9

Cadet Men (Under 17)
1. Kyle Rupay 1.26.5
2. Ryan Lave 1.26.7
3. Ryan Damen 1.28.4

Sport Racer
1. Dean Lowrie 1.21.9
2. Taras Kleban 1.23.1
3. Dave Haycock 1.26.6

Youth Boys (Under 13)
1. Paul Orphan 1.38.5
2. Riley Bere 1.47.7
3. Kieren Marray 1.53.3

Youth Girls (Under 13)
1. Brianne Rupay 1.45.7
2. Amberley Berman 1.49.5
3. Devon Lowrie 2.00.9

Event: 4000M

Elite Men
1. Eric Robertson 4.57.1
2. Daniele Defranceschi 5.01.5
3. Dave Byer 5.06.8

Event: 3000M

Elite Women
1. Joanna Wiersma 4.05.4
2. Jessica Spence 4.08.0
3. Chloe Saint-Arnaud-Watt 4.33.7

Master 1
1. Paolo Eugeni 3.55.2
2. Charlie Squires 3.55.7
3. Garnett Abbey 3.56.1

Junior Men
1. Stephen Meyer 3.45.0
2. Ryan Crawford 3.56.3
3. Andrew Lattimore 3.56.6

Cadet Men (Under 17)
1. Kyle Rupay 4.23.0
2. Ryan Lave 4.35.4
3. Ryan Damen 4.42.6

Sport Racer
1. Dean Lowrie 4.14.4
2. Taras Kleban 4.33.1
3. Raymond Richards 5.13.2

Event: 2000M

Master 2
1. Julian Shea 2.49.6
2. Brian Kelly 3.05.7
3. Robert Rupay 3.06.1

Junior Women
1. Denise Ramsden 2.45.2
2. Stephanie Bester 2.52.1
3. Florence Laplante-Lamarche 3.01.5

Youth Boys (Under 13)
1. Paul Orphan 3.28.6
2. Riley Bere 3.38.2
3. Kieren Marray 3.43.2

Youth Girls (Under 13)
1. Brianne Rupay 3.32.1
2. Amberley Berman 3.49.7
3. Devon Lowrie 4.12.7

Scratch Race

Elite Men
1. Daniele Defranceschi
2. Dave Byer
3. Brandon Throop

Elite Women
1. Joanna Wiersma
2. Chloe St Arnaud-Watt
3. Kristen Worley

Master 1
1. Paolo Eugeni
2. Michael Renneboog
3. Chris Vlemmix

Junior Men
1. Stephen Meyer
2. Ryan Crawford
3. Andrew Lattimore

Junior Women
1. Stephanie Bester
2. Denise Ramsden
3. Florence Laplante-Lamarche

Cadet Men (Under 17)
1. Kyle Rupay
2. Mitchell Cuddie
3. Matthew Bester

Sprint Tournament

Elite Men
1. Jamie Shankland
2. Danielle Defranceschi
3. Alex Fournier

Elite Women
1. Joanna Wiersma
2. Chloe St Arnaud-Watt
3. Kristen Worley

Master 1
1. Mike Renneboog
2. Rob Good
3. Lorne Falkenstein

Master 2
1. Julien Shea
2. Jim Henning
3. Brian Kelly

Junior Men
1. Joe Veloce
2. Ryan Crawford
3. Stephen Meyer

Junior Women
1. Stephanie Bester
2. Florence Laplante-Lamarsh
3. Denise Ramsden

Cadets
1. Kyle Rupay
2. Ryan Lave
3. Kyle Pearson

Keirin

Elite Men
1. Jamie Shankland
2. Danielle Defranceschi
3. Vince Dejong

Junior Men
1. Joe Veloce
2. Ryan Crawford
3. Will Lampe

Master 1
1. Rob Good
2. Chris Vlemmix
3. Paolo Eugeni

Junior Women
1. Denise Ramsden
2. Stephanie Bester
3. Florence Laplante-Lamarsh

Elite Women
1. Joanna Wiersma
2. Chloe Chloe St Arnaud Watt

Cadet Men (Under 17)
1. Kyle Rupay
2. Ryan Damen
3. Ryan Lave

Master 2
1. Julian Shea
2. Brian Kelly
3. Raymond Richards

Omniums

500m/Kilo, Pursuit, Flying Lap, Scratch Race, Points Race

Senior Men
1. Danielle Defranceschi
2. Brandon Throop
3. Chris Atkins

Junior Men
1. Stephen Meyer
2. Ryan Crawford
3. Joe Veloce

Master 1
1. Mike Renneboog
2. Paolo Eugeni
3. Chris Vlemmix

Senior Women
1. Wiersma
2. Saint-Arnaud-Watt

Junior Women
1. Bester
2. Ramsden
3. Laplante-Lamarche

Points Race

Elite Men
1. Danielli Defranceschi
2. Dave Byer
3. Brandon Throop

Junior Men
1. Stephen Meyer
2. Ryan Crawford
3. Andrew Lattimore

Master 1
1. Mike Renneboog
2. Paolo Eugeni
3. David Jack

Junior Women
1. Denise Ramsden
2. Stephanie Bester
3. Sarah Mckenzie-Picot

Elite Women
1. Joanna Wiersma
2. Chloe St Arnaud-Watt

Cadet Men (Under 17)
1. Kyle Rupay
2. Ryan Lave
3. Ryan Damen

Pursuit Final

Elite Men
1. Eric Robertson
2. Daniele Defranceschi

Master 1
1. Paolo Eugeni
2. Charlie Squires

Junior Men
1. Stephen Meyer
2. Ryan Crawford

Junior Women
1. Denise Ramsden
2. Stephanie Bester

Sport Racer
1. Dean Lowrie
2. Taras Kleban

Cadet Men (Under 17)
1. Kyle Rupay
2. Ryan Lave

2 Lap Standing Start

Elite Men
1. Daniele Defranceschi 21.9
2. Dave Shankland 22.2
3. Chris Atkins 22.9

Elite Women
1. Joanna Weirsma 24.2
2. Chloe St Arnaud-Watt 26.6

Master 1
1. Michael Renneboog 23.0
2. Rob Good 23.2
3. Rod Olliver 23.8

Master 2
1. Julian Shea 23.5
2. Brian Kelly 26.0
3. Robert Rupay

Junior Men
1. Joe Veloce 21.8
2. Ryan Crawford 22.5
3. Will Lampe 22.9

Junior Women
1. Florence Laplante-Lamarche 25.9
2. Stephanie Bester 26.3
3. Denise Ramsden 28.0

Cadet Men (Under 17)
1. Kyle Rupay 25.5
2. Mitchell Cuddie 27.7
3. Matthew Bester 27.8

Sport Racer
1. Raymond Richards 28.4
2. Ernie Regan 31.6
3. Dean Lowrie

Team Sprint

Women – 4 Laps
1. Chloe St Arnaud Watt
Sarah Mckenzie-Picot 39.1
Flo Laplante-Lamarsh

2. Steph Bester
Emily Mckenzie-Picot 41.1
Denise Ramsden

Men – 6 Laps

1. Falkenstein 31.9
Fournier
Shankland

2. Jack 32.7
Meyer
Veloce

3. Atkins 32.8
Dejong
Good

4. Eugeni 32.8
Crawford
Defranceschi

5. Throop 32.9
Vlemmix
Renneboog

6. Brian Kelly 33.6
Julian Shea
Rod Olliver

7. Wiersma 34.6
Lampe
Triani

8. Del-Cin 35.4
Damen
Lattimore

9. Cuddie 36.2
Damon R.
Rupay Kyle