With victories in the elimination and omnium, Canadian Dylan Bibic became the most important figure of America in the Track Nations Cup that took place this weekend (February 2-4) in Adelaide, Australia, with the presence of delegations from more than 40 countries.
Bibic won the first day, winning the elimination race ahead of the local Blake Agnoletto and the American Grant Koont; while the second day could not have a tighter outcome in the omnium, as Dylan Bibic and the Italian Elia Viviani finished tied at 104 points, being their positions in the last sprints, and far from the lead, 12 and 13, the ones that decided the race.
America’s second best performance came from American Jennifer Valente, who was unable to beat New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston in the women’s elimination race and had to settle for a valuable silver medal. The podium was completed by Great Britain’s Jessica Roberts.
Valente added another bronze on the closing day in the omnium, a race in which Woollaston finished her magnificent performance over Scotland’s Katie Archibald 134 points to 125. The northern rider could not do anything to catch the first two and it seemed that she would have no problems to take the bronze, although a winning lap of Neal Evans (Inspired) led to a tie at 100 points, which was decided for the American by a better final position.
The fifth medal for our continent came in the women’s keirin from Canada’s Lauriane Genest, bronze behind Japan’s Mina Sato (undoubtedly the best world specialist to date) and Great Britain’s Katy Marchant. Genes returned to the podium in this discipline after her bronze in Tokyo, in a high-level final completed by Emma Finucane, Capwell and Lea-Sophie Friedrich.
After the first stage of the 2024 Track Cycling Nations Cup in Adelaide, the competition dates are as follows: 15-17 March in Hong Kong (Hong Kong, China) and 12-14 April in Milton (Canada).
Among the more than 40 nations registered for this stage, America was represented by cyclists from Barbados, Canada, Colombia, United States, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.