Canadian cyclists won three medals on Saturday in the 2021 Union Cycliste Internationale Track Champions League in Panevezys, Lithuania. Canadian Olympic bronze medallist Lauriane Genest of Montreal, Quebec won the silver medal in the women’s sprint race, Maggie Coles-Lyster of Maple Ridge, British Columbia won the silver medal in the women’s scratch race, and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Kelsey Mitchell of Brandon, Manitoba won the bronze medal in the women’s Keirin race.
Canada has now won six medals after two events on the UCI Track Champions League schedule. Earlier this month, Canadian cyclists came away with three medals from Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Mitchell won gold in the women’s Keirin, and bronze in the sprint, and Coles-Lyster won gold in the scratch.
After four of eight sprint events in the Track Champions League, Mitchell is in third place with 50 points, while Genest is tied for fourth place with Martha Bayona of Colombia. Emma Hinze of Germany leads with 74 points, and Lea Friedrich of Germany is in second place with 56 points. Hinze has won both sprint races in Spain and Lithuania, while Friedrich won the Keirin race in Lithuania. Hinze finished second in both Keirin races, while Friedrich was second in the sprint in Spain.
After four of the eight endurance events in the Track Champions League, Coles-Lyster is in second place with 60 points. Katie Archibald of Great Britain, who has won three of four endurance events, leads with 73 points.
At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, Mitchell won the gold medal in the women’s track cycling sprint, and Genest won the bronze medal in the women’s Keirin. The medals for Mitchell, Genest and Coles-Lyster in Lithuania will give them confidence in their preparations for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
