Tristen Chernove of Cranbrook, B.C., and Michael Sametz of Calgary each won a gold medal and Ross Wilson of Edmonton added a silver on Friday in their respective time trial races at the Para cycling world road championships.
In the C2 23.3 kilometre race, Chernove reigned supreme clocking 35 minutes and 32.72 seconds for his fifth career world crown. Australia’s Darren Hicks was second in 35:49.16 and Peru’s Israel Hilario Rimas third in 35:50.96.
“It was wonderful to win today,” said Chernove, a triple medallist at the 2016 Paralympic Games. “What strikes me most today is how ideally set the atmosphere is amongst this amazing Canadian team. Everything about the cohesion of this team is geared towards success, and we are seeing it across the board with all our great results.
“I’m loving it.”
In the C3 race, Sametz finished in 32:48.92 followed by Benjamin Watson of Britain second in 33:26.11 and Marin Munoz of Colombia third in 34:19.
“It feels really good to win the big one after winning a couple of World Cups this year,” admitted Sametz.
The men’s C1 division was won by Germany’s Michael Teuber. The multiple Paralympic and world champion, enjoyed a comfortable margin of 28 seconds over Canada’s Wilson.
“It was a great course and a lot of fun to be out there racing,” said Wilson. “I felt I rode really well and my training is paying off as my performances continue to improve, but we obviously have more work to do. I’m working with my coaches to devise a plan to find that half minute that I need to take the Rainbow Jersey next year.”
After two days of competition, Canada is at three gold, a silver and a bronze. On Thursday Shelley Gautier of Toronto and Charles Moreau of Victoriaville, Que., took gold and bronze in their time trial races.
In other categories, Marie-Claude Molnar of St-Hubert, Quebec, was fifth in the Women’s C4 competition, Nicole Clermont of St Denis de Brompton, Quebec, was eighth in the Women’s C5 category, the women’s Tandem team of Shawna Ryan (Saskatoon, SK) and Joanie Caron (Rimouski, QC) was seventh, and the men’s Tandem team of Matthieu Croteau Daigle (Sherbrooke, QC) and Benoit Lussier (Montreal, QC) was 12th.
Competition continues through to Sunday.
