August 21, 2018 (Baie-Comeau, QC) – Canada had a strong finish to the para-cycling road season on Sunday at the final round of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, with four medals on the last day of competition, including two golds. Canada finishes the final round of the World Cup with a total of 12 medals, including six gold; tied with Great Britain and Germany for the most gold medals. Overall, Canadian athletes won six gold, two silver and four bronze medals over the week.
In the final World Cup standings, Shelley Gautier finished off an incredible road season that saw her sweep all six World Cup events – three time trials and three road races – for a perfect 360 points, in addition to her two world titles earlier in the month. Tristen Chernove finished second overall in the men’s C2 World Cup rankings, despite competing in only four of six events, while Michael Sametz of Calgary finished third in men’s C3 standings, despite racing in only half of the events; all of which he won. Holly Dapp of Fort Erie, Ontario, was second overall in women’s H2, Charles Moreau of Victoriaville, Quebec, finished second overall in men’s H3, while Nicole Clermont of St Denis de Brompton, Quebec, was third overall in women’s C5.
“It was a really, really good World Cup for us,” said Sebastien Travers, Para head coach for Cycling Canada. “Twelve medals is a new record for the Para group, and it is comprised of medals from the High Performance and the NextGen groups, which is exactly what we hoped for. The athletes that came on board for this event showed a lot of potential, and we can be assured we will see more of them in the coming years. Points-wise, we are in a good position; we have already earned a spot for the Paralympics, so things are looking good. Of course, 2019 and 2020 are still part of the qualification process, so we have to make sure we are qualifying as many spots as we can for the Games. I’m happy and proud of everyone, and it was a good event for us.”