March 6, 2006 — Sunday’s Track World Cup in Sydney, Australia marks the last competition for Canadian track riders before the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. The duo of Martin Gilbert and Zach Bell placed 12th in the Madison, with a two-lap delay behind the winners Michael Mørkøv and Alex Rasmussen of Denmark. Fellow Canucks Yannik Morin, Cam MacKinnon, and Travis Smith were also out in full force, finishing 11th in the Team Sprint.

“Zach and I still lack some experience racing together which explains the result today,” commented Gilbert on the outcome of the Madison, “however on the bright side, I really feel fantastic. I can see a 30% improvement in my personal times, so I’m excited and ready for the Commonwealth Games.”

Gilbert had a surprise result in the Points Race on Saturday where he finished 10th. He was not supposed to start the race but he replaced Bell who was feeing ill. “I was happy with the results of that race. I tried a different tactic which could have backfired but I’m happy it didn’t. I studied the strategy that Argentina’s riders had been using. Generally they take a one-lap advance and I noticed they hadn’t yet made their move, so I started to attack on the sprints and I won one.”

According to the points calculations made by Gilbert and his coach (Éric Van den Eynde), he should obtain official qualification for the upcoming Track World Championships in Bordeaux, France as the fruit of his efforts at the Sydney Track World Cup. The result that sealed the deal was Gilbert’s 8th place finish at Friday’s Scratch Race.

In the Team Sprint, Yannik Morin, Cam Mackinnon, and Travis Smith finished in 11th with a time of 46:829. Netherlands took home the gold, beating out France, while Japan grabbed the final place on the podium, taking the bronze.

Commenting on the Team Sprint, Quebec’s Morin said, “It’s an OK result – our time was a personal record so that is positive, however we’re also disappointed that we lost to Malaysia and New Zealand — two teams we generally beat easily. Its clear that the calibre of riders really increases as we approach the Commonwealth Games.”

Some shuffling is expected in the order of the riders for Canada’s Sprint Team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. Coach Éric Van den Eynde has decided to start with Mackinnon, followed by Smith, with Morin remaining in third place. “It’s a big change, so it has to work. Eric was happy with our time here at Sydney, but he’d like us to be more competitive, understandably. I am 100% in support of the changes,” added a positive Morin.