February 21, 2014 (Ottawa, ON) — A mix of veterans and newcomers will race in the Canadian colours at the track cycling world championships in Cali, Colombia, from Feb. 26 to March 2. Canada’s medal hopes will centre on the women’s team pursuit team, which won the overall World Cup this season with a gold and two silvers.

Olympic bronze medallist Jasmin Glaesser will be joined by long-time teammates Laura Brown and Steph Roorda. With Gillian Carleton missing the worlds due to illness, Allison Beveridge and Kirsti Lay will round out the squad. The four-rider starting lineup will be decided after the team travels to Cali, as will the starter for the omnium and for the points race.

Hugo Barrette will be the sole Canadian entrant in the men’s sprint and keirin, coming off a strong performance in the final World Cup of the season. Missing the worlds will be Olympian Joseph Veloce who continues to improve after being seriously injured in a crash last summer. Veloce competed in the final World Cup of the season last month but he has opted to skip worlds in order to focus on the Commonwealth Games.

“As we continue building towards Rio, it’s encouraging to see that we continue creating depth in our programs and can field a competitive team, despite some of our top athletes not being present,” says Jacques Landry, High Performance Director at Cycling Canada. “With the Olympic qualification period afoot Canada’s track team is definitely in a good position to perform in Rio when we factor in our ever increasing talent pool, top level coach leadership and soon to be world class facility in Milton to train in.”

Team Canada:

Women’s Endurance (Team Pursuit, Omnium, Points Race)
– Jasmin Glaesser (21, Coquitlam BC)
– Laura Brown (27, Vancouver BC)
– Steph Roorda (27, Vancouver BC)
– Allison Beveridge (20, Calgary AB)
– Kirsti Lay (25, Calgary AB)

Men’s Sprint (sprint, keirin)
– Hugo Barrette (22, Sherbrooke QC)