March 17, 2004 – On March 9th, in Dallas Texas ten nervous Canadian track athletes boarded a plane for Agualientes, Mexico to compete in the second Track World Cup event. They were nervous for one reason: They had been told that not all the bikes were going to make the flight due to the limited space on the small aircraft. They all crowded around the small plane windows making bets which bikes wouldn't make it, but they all secretly hoped it wouldn't be theirs. Fortunately Erin Hartwell, a coach and former track champion who was hired to help the Canadian team in Mexico, was able to come to the rescue. The team benefited from his cycling knowledge and his schooling as a licensed pilot. He was able to “talk-the-talk” with the aircraft crew, who in turn were very accommodating and able to get all but one bike onboard!
That evening the whole Canadian team, 12 in total, congregated for the first team meeting conducted by Canadian track coach Eric Van den Eynde. The first order of the meeting was to congratulate the athletes on making the team. All of these athletes, except for Mandy Poitras of British Columbia, Erin Carter of Manitoba and Lori-Ann Muenzer of Alberta, had undergone rigorous qualification procedures in Florida two weeks earlier before being named to the World Cup team. The athletes who made the final cut for the men's sprint events were: Lars Madsen, Steen Madsen, Cam MacKinnon and Travis Smith, all from Alberta. The five endurance men selected for the team were Mark Ernsting from British Columbia, and Quebec riders, Bruno Langlois, Jean-Francois LaRoche, Alex Cloutier and Martin Gilbert.
The first two days were spent getting accustomed to the track, an outdoor 333m cement track with a 37-degree banking. Both days were windless and hot which resulted in fast times and high hopes. On the second training day, Travis Smith completed a flying 500m in 28.6, which is the fastest he's ever gone in his cycling career. “I wish my race had been that day!” said Smith, who by race day felt a bit flat. “It was hard to stay focused. Everything was much bigger then I expected, bigger crowds, more depth in the racing, and kids always wanted autographs,” laughed a humble Smith. He was one of three newcomers to the World Cup circuit, the other two were MacKinnon and Langlois.
“It was amazing to see how the best guys in the world look,” said MacKinnon who had only ever seen the best sprinters on television. He went on to exclaim, “Experience is worth everything. It is essential in the development of an athlete.” MacKinnon will now go home with renewed motivation to someday realize he's become one of the best sprinters in the world. He is already one of the best starters for the Olympic Sprint that Canada has ever had. From a dead start MacKinnon completed a lap of the track in 23.11 which is a new Canadian record. The Olympic Sprint team finished with a time of 1.04, which placed them 14th overall. It was a great ride for their first time competing together at a World Cup event.
The top Canadian finisher of the weekend was Muenzer, who finished 6th in the sprints and 7th in the 500m time-trial. “I had the perfect ride,” said Muenzer about her time-trial which she executed in a time of 35.2 seconds. “It's a personal best for this time of year. I just wish I had a better finishing position but, being an Olympic year, the competition is very tough.”
Muenzer's coach and training partner Steen Madsen was also happy with his performance in the flying 200m qualifying event. His time of 10.5 seconds met the Canadian time standard and put him in 11th place. He made sure to point out that his time was only .24 seconds behind Gane, of France who was the 2003 Sprint World Champion.
As for the endurance athletes, most were disappointed with their performances. No-one was able to crack the top ten in either the individual or the mass-start events. The Team Pursuit finished just shy of their goal of breaking the Canadian record of 4:25 minutes with a time of 4:27 minutes. Unfortunately this means that these athletes will not attempt another pursuit, and will go their separate ways for the rest of the season.
There are two World Cup events remaining. The next one is in Manchester, England in April and the final one is in Sydney, Australia in May. Stay tuned!
Results
Men's 30K Points Race
1 Juan Esteban Curuchet (ARG), 15 points
2 Franck Perque (FRA), 15
3 Angelo Ciccone (ITA), 14
23 Mark Ernsting (CAN), 1
Women's Keirin Final
1 Simona Krupeckaite (LTU), 12 points
2 Jennie Reed (USA), 10
3 Anna Meares (AUS), 8
Men's Sprint – Flying 200m Qualifier
1 Laurent Gane (FRA), 10.267
2 Damian Zielinski (POL), 10.301
3 Mickael Bourgain (FRA), 10.306
11 Steen Madsen (CAN), 10.509
Final Sprint Classification
1 Mickael Bourgain (FRA), 12 points
2 Laurent Gane (FRA), 10
3 Josiah Ng On Lam (MAS), 8
Men's 4000, Team Pursuit
1 France, 4:19.496
2 New Zealand, 4:19.568
3 Spain, 4:20.231
13 Canada, 4:28.724
Women's 10 Scratch Race
1 Elena Tchalykh (RUS), 14.22
2 Gema Pascual Torrecilla (ESP)
3 Sarah Ulmer (NZL)
19 Erin Carter (CAN)
DNF Mandy Poitras (CAN)
Women's Team Sprint
1 Australia (Rosealee Hubbard/Anna Meares), 12 points
2 France (Celine Nivert/Clara Sanchez), 10
3 Netherlands (Yvonne Hijgenaar/Willy Kanis), 8
Men's 40K Madison
1 Ukraine (Volodymyr Rybin/Vasyl Yakovlev), 12 points
2 Switzerland (Alexander Aeschbach/Franco Marvulli), 10
3 Russia (Konstantin Ponomarev/Alexey Shmidt), 8
13 Canada (Martin Gilbert/Alexandre Cloutier)
Men's Team Sprint
1 France (Michkael Bourgain/Laurent Gane/Arnaud Tournant)
2 Japan (Toshiaki Fushimi/Masaki Inoue/Tomohiro Nagatsuka)
3 Germany (Stefan Nimke/Michael Seidenbecher/Jan Van Eidjen)
14 Canada (Cam MacKinnon/Steen Madsen, Travis Smith)