Canadian Mathias Guillemette won the elimination race in the opening round of the 2022 UCI Track Cycling Champions League Saturday in Mallorca, Spain. Kelsey Mitchell bounced back from relegation in the first round of the women’s individual sprint to come runner-up in the keirin. Sarah van Dam and Maggie Coles-Lyster both enjoyed good performances, taking fourth places in the scratch and elimination respectively. Kelsey
This season there are five rounds instead of four, including back to back days in London, as in 2021. Parallel to the number of rounds, there were five Canadians in the league, one more than last year. They were Tokyo Olympic Games gold medalist Mitchell, world scratch champion Dylan Bibic, Maggie Coles-Lyster, van Dam and Guillemette.
Go go power rangeeeeers 💙❤️💛💚
How cool is that? Team Canada came to the UCI Track Champions League with custom painted bikes that look awesome 😍
And guess what, you can even buy them, check out @CyclingCanada‘s profile for more info.
📷 @PaulineBallet #UCITCL pic.twitter.com/w93yGVwUIJ
— UCI Track Champions League (@UCITCL) November 11, 2022
The day started with three-up women’s individual sprint first round. Last season Mitchell was third all around in the sprint category, in which there are two races: individual sprint and keirin. Last season she took the top keirin honours in Mallorca. She was Canada’s lone participant in the sprint side of things.
Mitchell was thrown in with Dutch speedster Hetty van de Wouw and Irish rider Orla Walsh in Heat 3. Mitchell took Position 3 and then moved up the track to grab the front going into the final lap. The Canadian had little trouble taking the win, but then word came that she was relegated for dropping into the sprinter’s lane too early.
Bibic got a chance to show off his rainbow jersey in the men’s scratch, one of two races in the endurance category, the other being the elimination. The Champions League scratch is pretty straight forward: 18 riders–including Guillemette–on the boards for 20 laps, with the winner the first over the line.
This brief format elicits breakaways. It was an escapee, Brit Mark Stewart, who triumphed. Guillemette placed ninth and Bibic was 16th.
How would Coles-Lyster and van Dam fare in the women’s scratch? Canadian road and crit champion Coles-Lyster finished just off the podium last season in…
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