Canadian cyclist Bibic claims silver in men’s elimination race at world championships

Canadian Dylan Bibic outlasted 22 other competitors to claim silver in the men’s elimination race on Monday at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Scotland.

Great Britain’s Ethan Vernon bettered his bronze-medal performance in the elimination race at the 2022 world championships in France with a gold medal in Glasgow, and 2022 gold medallist Elia Viviani of Italy took bronze.

While Vernon and Viviani were no strangers to the world championship podium in the event, the Mississauga, Ont., native Bibic rocketed up the leaderboard after finishing in 24th (last) at the 2022 worlds in October.

The second-place finish continues a torrid stretch for the 20-year-old that has seen him rack up a gold medal in the scratch race at the 2022 worlds, and nine gold medals across the 2022 and 2023 Pan American Track Cycling Championships – which includes elimination race titles in Peru in August of 2022, and Argentina, in June.

Para cyclists Shaw, Pemble add 2 medals to Canada’s total

One day after Calgary’s Kate O’Brien won Canada’s first Para cycling medal at the 2023 worlds with a silver in the women’s C4 500-metre time trial, two more Canadian women followed suit on Monday.

The 29-year-old clocked in with a time of 3:50.004, 7.094 seconds back of Australia’s Emily Petricola, who is the reigning champion in the event at both the worlds and Paralympics.

American Samantha Bosco defeated New Zealand’s Anna Grace Taylor in the bronze medal match.

“I’m always happy to bring home hardware for Canada at [the] World Championships, it’s always an honour to stand on the podium amongst the best in the world,” said Shaw to Cycling Canada. “I came up a little bit shy on the time I was looking for today but I think there’s a lot of things we can take away from today’s race as we move into the next year and the Paris Paralympic Games. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do in the next 12 months.”

Mel Pemble of Victoria, B.C., added another medal for Canada on Monday by taking bronze in the women’s C3 500m time trial.

The 23-year-old narrowly missed the podium in the event in 2022 with a fourth-place finish, but was able to secure third-place on Monday with a time of 41.404.

Pemble but won gold in both the omnium and scratch race at the 2022 world championships in October, the latter of which she’ll look to defend on Tuesday.

The former Para alpine skier who competed at the 2018 Paralympics will be looking to add a summer Paralympics to her resume in Paris in 2024.

Mitchell, Genest gear up for women’s elite sprint

In other action on Monday, Lauriane Genest of Lévis, Que., and Kelsey Mitchell of Sherwood Park, Alta., qualified for the Round of 16 in the women’s elite sprint, which will take place on Tuesday, followed by the medal races on Wednesday.

The 2020 Olympic sprint gold medallist Mitchell will take on 2022 worlds sprint champion Mathilde Gros of France, while China’s Guo Yufang stands in Genest’s path to the quarterfinals.

Tarek Dahab of Beloeil, Que., just missed the men’s C2 1km time trial podium with a time of 1:11.918, 0.473 seconds back of Australian bronze medallist Gordon Allan.

France’s Alexandre Leaute won gold with a time of 1:09.947, edging out Japan’s Shota Kawamoto by 0.753 seconds.

Five days into the 11-day competition, Canada has won eight medals, but is still searching for its first gold.

On Friday, Bodhi Kuhn of Rossland, B.C., won silver in the junior men’s mountain bike downhill, while Esta Bovill (women 45-49), Pascal Herve (men 55-59) and Michelle Gagnon (women 19-34) added medals in the Gran Fondo, with a silver and two bronze medals, respectively.