OSTEND, Belgium – World champion Nathan Clement of West Vancouver and Alexandre Hayward of Quispamsis, N.B. won silver and bronze medals in the time trial events which concluded Friday at the second stop on the Para cycling World Cup road circuit.
In the men’s T1 (tricycle) time trial, Jianxin Chen of China edged Clement in the 19.7 kilometre race clocking 35 minutes and 43.602 seconds. Clement followed 19 seconds behind with Rongfei Lu of China third a further 11 seconds back.
The battle between Clement and the Chinese riders promises to be one of the big showdowns at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
Back in January at the season opening World Cup in Adelaide, Australia, Clement placed third behind the two Chinese in both the time trial and road race. Last August in Glasgow, Scotland, it was the Canadian who beat his rivals for the time trial world title.
In the men’s C3 (typical two-wheeled bike) race over the same distance, Eduardo Santas Asensio of Spain was the victor in 27:12.129 with Matthias Schindler of Germany second seven seconds back and Hayward, third, 18 seconds behind the winner.
Mike Sametz of Calgary was seventh out of 33 riders.
Like Clement, Hayward has emerged over the past two seasons as a top medal contender in international cycling. His progress was derailed in 2023 when he was out several weeks with mono but he has started 2024 on a strong note with gold and silver at the opening World Cup along with silver in the scratch race at the track worlds this past March in Rio.
In other Canadian time trial results, Keely Shaw of Midale, Sask. took fourth spot in the women’s C4 time trial (just three seconds from the podium) as did Shelley Gautier of Niagara Falls, Ont. in the women’s T1. Also for the women, Mel Pemble of Victoria was seventh in the C3 and Kara Douville of Calgary 10th in the H4 (handcycle) category.
For the men, Matthew Kinnie of Riverview, N.B. was seventh in the H2, Louis-Albert Corriveau-Jolin of Ste-Claire, Que. ninth in the T2; two-time Paralympic Games medallist Charles Moreau of Victoriaville, Que. and Joey Desjardins of Hawkesbury, Ont. were 12th and 13th in the H3 and Lowell Taylor of Lethbridge, Alta. and his pilot Ed Veal of Hamilton were 12th in the visually impaired race.
Michael Trauner of Ottawa, a military veteran from the war in Afghanistan, made his World Cup Para cycling debut and was 24th in the H4.
The road races are this weekend.
Canada shut out of individual medals at boccia World Cup
Paralympians Alison Levine, Iulian Ciobanu, and Danik Allard, all from the Montreal area, as well as Lance Cryderman of Sudbury, Ont. were eliminated in their respective quarterfinals in individual play at the boccia World Cup taking place this week in Montreal.
“It seemed to be a difficult competition for Canada,’’ said Cesar Nicolai, head coach, Boccia Canada. ‘’We had some good performances and some not so good performances. At this level we have to be excellent strategically, but we also need to execute our skills at key moments in the matches where we, ultimately, missed.”
The competition moves into the team and pairs events, with BC4 pair Levine and Ciobanu looking to successfully defend their 2023 Montreal title. They have already qualified for the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Find schedule and results here for the Team and Pairs tournament. Watch the webcast live coverage on CBC YouTube, the CBC Gem App, or the Défi sportif AlterGo stream.
