Sunday featured the men’s individual sprint events, where Travis Smith of Calgary, AB, the 2010 Pan-American Champion, rode to the sixth place. In seventh place came Joseph Veloce of Fonthill, ON. Finally, Canada’s third sprinter in Argentina, Hugo Barrette of Cap-Aux-Meules, took the 12th position.
“My day started off pretty good qualifying in fifth place, with a 10.5 seconds 200m. I made it through into the next rounds to race in the 1/16th finals. Unfortunately I lost my race to the Columbian, and had to come through the repechage rounds to make it into the quarter finals. Unfortunately this meant I got paired against the fastest qualifier, where I lost only by inches. In the 5-8 final, my plan was to lead it out, which I did with two laps to go, and ended up finishing sixth. I was happy with how the day went,” said Travis Smith, of Calgary.
Despite a slower qualifying time and a seventh place, Veloce was happy with the experience and the precious UCI points gathered for Canada in Argentina.
“Racing today started out a bit slow, not qualifying quite as well as I would have liked. However, we all managed to turn it around in the sprint rounds. Overall, I was really happy with the way I raced, finishing seventh. The races were all close, and I learned a lot. We don’t get many chances to sprint throughout the year, so it was a great opportunity to gain some valuable sprinting experience and have some fun. We managed to earn some points on our competitors for an Olympic sprint spot, so now it is just a waiting game as we wait to see the results of the semis and finals, and refocus for our last day of racing here in the keirin!,” commented Veloce.
Hugo Barrette, the young rookie sprinter, is happy to come out of these Championships with a silver medal.
“My day started with a pretty bad 200m for me, qualifying in 13th place. In the 1/16th finals I won, to guarantee me top 12. In the 1/8th final I lost my first ride against Njisane Phillip, and in the repechage I lost against Hersony, and Blatchford, to finish overall 12th. I’m disappointed by my performance, but since we put all our effort for the team sprint, where we finished 2nd, I am not too bitter about my individual performance,” explained Barrette.
Racing in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, resumes tomorrow.
Results (brief)
Women Individual Pursuit
Final for Gold
1. María Luisa Calle (Colombia)
2. Marlies Mejía (Cuba) caught
Final for Bronze
3. Elizabeth Newell (USA) 03:50.6
4. Drexel, Ingrid (Mexico) 03:55.1
5. Yumari González (Cuba) 03:54.4
6.Valeria Muller (Argentina) 04:00.1
7. Gabriela Rojas (Chile) 04:03.3
8. Feszczuk, Alejandra (Argentina) 04:04.3
9. Flor Palma (Chile) 04:08.5
Men Individual Pursuit
Final for Gold
1. Gideoni Monteiro (Brazil) 4:35.863
2. Mauro Agostini (Argentina) 4:39.763
Final for Bronze
3. Carlos Linares (Venezuela) 4:37.289
4. Thiago Nardin (Brazil) 4:38.313
5. Carl Daniel (USA) 04:43.2
6. Gonzalo Miranda (Chile) 04:44.2
7. Matthew Lipscomb (USA) 04:47.5
8. Edison Bravo (Chile) 04:47.5
9. Daniel Badilla (Mexico) 04:50.8
10. Maximiliano Almada (Argentina) 04:51.2
11. Jason Vega (Costa Rica) 04:59.3
12. José Vega (Costa Rica) 05:00.8
13. Pedro López (Venezuela) 05:00.9
Women Team Sprint
Final
1. Venezuela 00:35.088
Daniela Larreal
Mariesthela Vilera
2. United States 00:35.841
Elisabeth Carlson
Dana Feiss)
3. Colombia 00:35.008
Diana García
Juliana Gaviria)
4. México 00:35.641
Daniela Gaxiola
Frany Fong