June 1, 2007 (Valencia, Venezuela) — Following Canada’s recent success at the 2007 Pan Am Road and Track Championships we caught up with some of the medal winners and Team Canada’s manager, Kris Westwood, for their perspectives on the competition.

Westwood is the CCA’s (Canadian Cycling Association) High Performance Director, and one of the chief strategists in Canada’s attempts to qualify the maximum number of athletes for Beijing.

Lawrence Leroux is the newest addition to the Canadian team sprint program which won a bronze in Venezuela. Leroux was a member of the junior national team and represented Canada at the Junior World Championships.

Gina Grain is one of Canada’s top medal threats on the track. We also caught up with the 2006 track world championship scratch silver medalist to get her thoughts on her disappointing 6th place in the Pan Am points race, and whether her bronze medal in the women’s road race helped to balance that out at all.

Kris Westwood

Did the track team meet its objectives? Obviously the team sprint was a pleasant medal surprise, but did Canada’s several 4th and 5th place finishes contribute to our UCI point total?

Kris Westwood: The track team did not meet its objectives, though in most events the results were close to what we were looking for. We had gone down there aiming for a medal in every discipline except the women’s sprint, and in the end we only got one medal – by the most untested riders in the event: the team sprint.

Now we have to sit down and take a close look at what the implications are for our programs from this point forward. Of course, a fourth place is almost as valuable in terms of Olympic qualification as a bronze, but what does the performance truly mean? Does it reflect a level of competitiveness that will help us qualify for the Olympics? And, moving forward, where does this tell us we should invest our limited track resources for the upcoming world cup season?

With two road medals for the elite men this must go a long way to helping maintain Canada’s position in the nation’s standings. Zach Bell’s medal indicates his continuing development and the same could be said for Martin Gilbert’s performance. What is the next step for the Canadian road men on their road to Beijing?

KW: Yes, the results in Venezuela were a huge boost to our Olympic qualification. The Pan Am championships represented our biggest points-scoring opportunity of the season as a national team. For the rest of the year, until the world championships, the riders will all go back to racing for their respective trade teams. There is a big concentration of UCI events coming up in North America, so hopefully our nations ranking will continue to improve. Bell has been progressing steadily for the last few years and it was great to see him ride a smart time trial to finish second. The road race was totally different from last year: no break ever got more than a minute, the racing was chaotic, and the boys took advantage of that and Martin got the win. We were lucky we never had to chase a big break, as we only had four guys in there after Keven Lacombe’s flat.

Regarding the UCI’s continental system – do the points that Dominique Rollin and Ryan Roth and scored in Ireland at the FDB Insurance RAS count towards the national rankings?

KW: Yes, they do. The nations ranking is calculated by taking the points earned by each rider in every continent, and then totaling the scores for the top ten riders from each nation.

One of the CCA press releases mentioned that Charlse Dionne was injured in a crash — can you update us on his situation?

KW: Charles was lining up for the sprint for ninth place when he got his wheel swept out by a Venezuelan rider with about 500m to go. He went down hard on his shoulder and luckily he didn’t break his collar bone, but he got scraped up pretty badly. The worst of it was that he hurt a couple fingers on his left hand – I think he tore a fingernail off, which as you can imagine can be pretty painful. Hopefully this won’t compromise Philly week for him, which is a big objective for him and his team, Colavita-Sutter Home.

Lawrence Leroux

Was this your first experience racing a senior level national team project? How did it compare to what you’ve done at the junior level?

Lawrence Leroux: This was my first experience with the elite national team. I was still on high following my selection and I noticed racers are faster and bigger but I was lucky to be so well pampered by Yannik (Morin) and Cam (Mackinnon) who did everything so that I felt comfortable and an integral part of the team.

What were the team’s expectations going into the event? Were you hopeful or confident that you could medal in the team sprint?

LL: I don’t know what the CCA’s expectations were but Cam told us in Burnaby that we would win a medal and I believed him. We knew by observing other teams in practice that we should not expect gold or silver but that we definitely had a shot at bronze which we did win.

What’s next for you? What are you goals for the rest of the season and what does your success here mean for you?

LL: I will not hide that my medium term objective is to be at the Olympic Games in Beijing. In the short term I want to work on all aspects of my racing — strength, speed and endurance – so that I can help the team even more to qualify for the Games. T-Town is definitely an option in June and August and then the Quebec Championships and the Canadian nationals. As far as the future for the team is concerned I don’t know yet. The CCA is supposed to get back to us on this.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your Pan Am experience?

LL: I’d like to add that I was so proud to be part of that team that stood on the podium at the Pan Am Championships with the Canadian flag and the medal around my neck. Thanks to the team staff for helping us bring that medal home.

Gina Grain

I imagine two 6th places must have been a little frustrating for a rider of your caliber – but did the road medal help to erase that?

Gina Grain: No, the road race didn’t help to erase that. My expectations and fitness level going into Pan Ams was far beyond 6th place in the points race. Realistically the way I was riding and training leading up to the race forecasted a podium result, not a 6th place.

Did you feel the races were very tactical and is it different racing at the Pan Ams where you might not be as familiar with all of the riders as you would be at a world cup?

GG: Yes, the points race is always tactical. The Pan Ams points race is certainly different from World Cups – different competitors, outdoor track, concrete, wind, all make for a different race. Generally each country had two riders representing them except for Canada and Jamaica. I knew a few of the competitors and knew the ones to watch for. It is always harder to control a race when you are the only one from your country. My health was not 100%, I got a cold, and a stomach bug. Racing in the heat when you are not 100% makes it hard to control the race.

What’s next for you on your schedule in terms of both road and track?

GG: I am currently in Montreal to race the Montreal Road World Cup and the Tour de Montreal with my road team Expresscopy.com. Following that is Philly and then I am going to Italy from some track racing.