December 1, 2007 (Sydney, Australia) — Within Canada, track cycling remains the poor cousin of other cycling disciplines. With the recent demolition of the Quebec City velodrome, the country only has eight functional velodromes left, and only two of these are indoor facilities, which compares unfavourably to other countries. Despite this, Martin Gilbert, Ryan McKenzie, Zach Bell and other top riders have been accumulating points to increase Canada’s chances at the Beijing Olympics. Gilbert will be in action Sunday with McKenzie in the Madison event while Bell has been competing in solo events (note: Bell placed second today in the Men’s Scratch Final at the Track World Cup in Sydney, Australia).

“We’ve been trying to maximize the number of points we can pick up while also keeping our costs down and respecting our obligations with the road teams,” explains Gilbert. “From now on, to obtain points in a World Cup, we must finish in the top ten teams.´

Complicating this is the fact that the 2007-2008 season is the first that sees professional teams on the circuit previously reserved for national teams.

“There are almost 400 riders here in Sydney this weekend, something never seen before. For some endurance contests, there will be three qualifying rounds. This is not to our advantage because some professional teams are working with the national teams such Australia and Russia.”

“The national federation [CCA] doesn’t really believe in us because we only have a slight chance [of winning.] The CCA pays for our plane tickets and we have to look after all the rest. But I love racing on the track and I really want to participate at the Olympic Games, so I’m concentrating 100% on the track right now.”

Gilbert and some of his team mates have been in Australia since early November. Since then, they’ve been busy renting a track, found housing, and hired someone to ride the motorpace.

For the complete release in French only click here.