08.11.11 - WHITTEN, MACKINNON ON TOP FORM AT CANADIAN TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS IN BROMONT

Omnium event showcases best all-around athletes on the track

(Bromont, QC – August 11, 2011) Cameron MacKinnon, from Calgary living in Dieppe, NB and training at the Atlantic Cycling Centre, spent two years out of competitive cycling prior to making his comeback in 2010. Now, he’s the Canadian Champion in the omnium, a six-race event that features both endurance and speed events.

MacKinnon profited from an excellent opportunity, especially with the absence of 2010 World Cup Champion Zach Bell of Watson Lake, Yukon, training in North Vancouver, BC. MacKinnon jumped on the opportunity, winning four races to take the coveted Canadian title, his 13th career Canadian title.

“I am really happy, especially coming off a road season and limited time on the track. It’s a little bit disappointing not to have Zach Bell competing here, but I’ll take it, said MacKinnon. “Last year I came to Canadian championships without any road races at all, so this is my first season with road racing since my junior years. It definitely helped with the intensity and the volume of racing with six events.”

“Now I get to go home, and train hard. There are plenty of young guys coming up like [Jacob] Schwingboth, [Jean-Michel] Lachance, and [Rémi] Pelletier-Roy. There are so many young guys so the future looks bright. It’s hard to say what’s going to happen on the World Cup season. I will be talking to Richard Wooles, the head coach of the team, and take it from there,” added MacKinnon.

Riding for Team H&R Block, Cameron spent a lot of time this summer doing road races, especially in British Colombia, including the 2011 IMMUNITY-FX Canadian Road Championships. Earlier this summer, he took the first place at the Giro de Burnaby.

Prior to his two-year departure from the sport in 2008, MacKinnon was one of Canada’s top sprinters, competing around the world and excelling. He won 12 Canadian titles in track cycling, combined in Elite and Junior categories, and now add the lucky 13th to his credentials, as well as titles in Individual Pursuit and Kilo races.

MacKinnon is no stranger to international racing as he participated at Commonwealth Games, Pan-American Games, where he won Gold in 2006, World Junior Championships, as well as World Championships.

Now, at 27 years of age, he’s slowly but surely on his way back up in the sport. MacKinnon rides in the Team Pursuit and in the Scratch for Canada at international events. This past season, he wore the Maple Leaf on his back at the World Cup stops in Beijing, China, and Cali, Colombia.

In addition to his Omnium title, MacKinnon won the titles for the individual pursuit and the Kilo races.

In the women’s race, it’s without any surprises that World Champion Tara Whitten of Edmonton, AB came on top, winning all six races to score the lowest possible points in the gruelling event.

“In am pretty happy to win. But I am also pretty happy with my training. It shows I am at a pretty good level right now. I am excited about the season to come. It’s less than a year to the Olympic Games now, so the main objective will be to prepare for the Olympic games. I am in an excellent spot for qualifications, so I don’t have to worry quite as much with regards to the World Cups,” said Tara Whitten.

“The focus has been on some road racing and building endurance. I had a good training base this summer, but at the same time I believe in never getting to far away from the top speed. I have been trying to be on the track every ten days or so and maintain the sharpness,” continued Whitten. “I am really hoping that at some point when I retiring I can do some things to improve the participation level and depth of track cycling in Canada, and especially on the women’s side.”

Laura Brown of Vancouver , BC took the second place of the omnium in a tight race with teammate Stephanie Roorda.

In her first race as in the Elite category, Jasmine Glaesser, who raced with a German licence but will receive her Canadian citizenship in the weeks to come, impressed many, almost beating Tara Whitten in the scratch race. The young Canadian cycling protégé, hailing from British Columbia, has a bright future in front of her. The young 19 year old racer flew in on the Tuesday night red-eye from Vancouver to race at the Canadian Championships on Wednesday, as she wrote her citizenship exam Tuesday.

In the sprint events, both Monique Sullivan and Travis Smith of Calgary, Alberta, successfully defended their titles. Smith won his two races in the gold medal heat against Joseph Veloce of Ontario, while Sullivan defeated Gillian Carleton of British Columbia.

Results for the races held on Thursday are attached, and can be found on www.canadian-cycling.com in the Canadian Track Championships section found in the menu on the left side.

Tomorrow, the event will feature another full day of racing with the start of the Masters and Para-cycling races.

CANADIAN CHAMPIONS – ELITE

OMNIUM – WOMEN

1. WHITTEN, Tara (Velocity Racing)

2. BROWN, Laura (CyclingBC)

3. ROORDA, Stephanie (CyclingBC)

OMNIUM – MEN

1. MACKINNON, Cameron (Team H&R Block)

2. SCHWINGBOTH, Jacob (Cycling BC)

3. LACHANCE, Jean-Michel (Rocky Mountain –Desjardins-Valeurs Mobilières)

POINTS - MEN

1. MULDER, Erik (Cycling BC)

2. CHADDOCK, Ben (Team Exergy)

3. DIONNE, Luc (Jean Coutu / CIBC Wood Gundy)

POINTS - WOMEN

1 1 WHITTEN, Tara (Velocity Cycling Club)

2. BROWN, Laura (Cycling BC)

3. ROORDA, Stephanie (Cycling BC)

SCRATCH - MEN

1 49 MULDER, Erik CAN19900729 Cycling BC

2 40 CHADDOCK, Ben CAN19850409 Team Exergy

3 45 DIONNE, Luc CAN19840211 Jean Coutu / CIBC Wo

SCRATCH - WOMEN

1 1 WHITTEN, Tara (Velocity Cycling Club)

* GLAESSER, Jasmin (Cycling BC)

2. BROWN, Laura (Cycling BC)

3. ROORDA, Stephanie (Cycling BC)

INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT – MEN

1. MACKINNON, Cameron (Team H&R Block)

2. PELLETIER-ROY, Rémi (Garneau-Club Chaussures)

3. SCHWINGBOTH, Jacob (CyclingBC)

INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT – WOMEN

1. WHITTEN, Tara (Velocity Cycling Club)

2. BROWN, Laura (Cycling BC)

3. ROORDA, Stephanie (Cycling BC)

KILO – MEN

1. MACKINNON, Cameron (Team H&R Block)

2. SCHWINGBOTH, Jacob (CyclingBC)

3. LACHANCE, Jean-Michel (Rocky Mountain –Desjardins-Valeurs mobilières)

500m TT – WOMEN

1. SULLIVAN, Monique (Team PCL)

2. CARLETON, Gillian (Cycling BC)

3. WHITTEN, Tara (Velocity Cycling Club)

SPRINT – MEN

1. SMITH, Travis (MCG/Atomic)

2. VELOCE, Joseph (Team Ontario)

3. MULDER, Scott (Cycling BC)

SPRINT – WOMEN

1. SULLIVAN, Monique (PCL Racing)

2. CARLETON, Gillian (Cycling BC)

3. LAPLANTE LAMARCHE, Florence (Team Ontario)

CANADIAN CHAMPIONS - JUNIORS

POINTS – WOMEN

1. LABRIE, Audrey (QC)

2. PAQUETTE, Laurence (QC)

3. NESDOLY, Nina (ON)

SPRINT – WOMEN

1. LABRIE, Audrey (QC)

2. PAQUETTE, Laurence (QC)

3. NESDOLY, Nina (ON)

SCRATCH – WOMEN

1. LABRIE, Audrey (QC)

2. PAQUETTE, Laurence (QC)

3. NESDOLY, Nina (ON)

SCRATCH – WOMEN

1. LABRIE, Audrey (QC)

2. PAQUETTE, Laurence (QC)

3. NESDOLY, Nina (ON)

INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT – WOMEN

1. LABRIE, Audrey (QC)

2. NESDOLY, Nina (ON)

3. PAQUETTE, Laurence (QC)

KEIRIN – WOMEN

1. LABRIE, Audrey (QC)

2. PAQUETTE, Laurence (QC)

3. NESDOLY, Nina (ON)

500m TIME TRIALS – WOMEN

1. LABRIE, Audrey (QC)

2. PAQUETTE, Laurence (QC)

3. NESDOLY, Nina (ON)

TEAM SPRINT – WOMEN

1. Team Québec (LABRIE, Audrey/PAQUETTE, Laurence)

2. Team Ontario (NESDOLY, Nina/DOWSWELL, Erin)

POINTS – MEN

1. CATAFORD, Alex (ON)

2. BUCKOSKY, Kyle (BC)

3. RUPAY, Kyle (ON)

SCRATCH – MEN

1. CATAFORD, Alex (ON)

2. ALBERT, Joakim (QC)

3. CAVES, Aidan (BC)

SPRINT – MEN

1. ALBERT, Joakim (QC)

2. DE HAITRE, Vincent (QC)

3. OVSENEK, Kristofer (ON)

KEIRIN – MEN

1. ALBERT, Joakim (Équipe du Québec)

2. OVSENEK, Kristofer (Invita-FCV)

3. MARANS, Jesse (Cycling BC)

TEAM PURSUIT – MEN

1. TEAM ONTARIO (SIMONDS, William/CATAFORD, Alex/MCGINLEY, Patrick/RUPAY, Kyle)

2. TEAM BC (CAVES, Aidan/HUGHES, Tristan/BUCKOSKY, Kyle/MARANS, Jesse)

3. ÉQUIPE DU QUÉBEC (PINARD, Alexandre/BOURGEOIS, Alexandre/JEAN, Emile/GATINEAU, Lambert)

TEAM SPRINT - MEN

1. TEAM ALBERTA (ANDREWS, Ty/STAFFORD, Kevin/JOHNSTONE, Eric)

2. TEAM BC (MARANS, Jesse/CAVES, Aidan/BUCKOSKY, Kyle)

3. QUÉBEC (ALBERT, Joakim/GATINEAU, Lambert/JEAN, Emile)

CANADIAN CHAMPIONS – U17 (CADET)

OMNIUM - WOMEN

1. POISSON, Marie-Ève (Équipe du Québec)

2. BONHOMME, Ariane (Équipe du Québec)

3. XIE, Bailin (Ottawa Bicycle Club)

OMNIUM – MEN

1. PINEDA, Hendrik (Équipe du Québec)

2. COUTURIER-LAMY, Félix (Équipe du Québec)

3. SIMONDS, William (Invita-FCV)

2011 CANADIAN TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 2011 Canadian Track Championships is Canada’s top domestic track cycling event. The event annually attracts some of the country’s best track cyclists challenging for the Red and White Jersey awarded to the Canadian Champions. Organized by the Fédération québécoise des sports cyclistes (FQSC), the event is governed by the Canadian Cycling Association (CCA), a member of the International Cycling Union (UCI). The 2011 Canadian Track Championships will be held on August 8-14 on the outdoor velodrome track at the National Cycling Centre in Bromont, Québec, and showcases racing for all categories: Junior, U23, Elite and Masters.