08.28.08 - Olympic cyclist Svein Tuft wins men’s individual pursuit at Tim Hortons Track Nationals

BURNABY, B.C. – Svein Tuft’s super season continued Wednesday at the Tim Hortons Track Nationals cycling competition as he won the men’s individual pursuit. It was a second career national pursuit crown for the Olympian from Langley, B.C..

Tuft defeated Matt Potma of Vancouver in the final. Trevor Gunderson of Calgary was third.

At the Olympic Games, Tuft produced one of Canada’s most impressive cycling results with a seventh place finish in the men’s time trial road race. Also this season, he placed first overall at Tour de Beauce stage race -the first Canadian to accomplish that feat since 1995- and was a triple gold medallist on the track at the Pan Am Championships.

‘’I took a break after the Olympics and I was feeling a little stale early on today,’’ said Tuft. ‘’But once you open up a few time it isn’t too bad. In the final, I knew I had to stick to my game plan. I was really impressed with Matt, he’s a really strong kid and it’s good to see young guys like that right now with that kind of ability. He fought hard.’’

Tuft is still beaming about his performance in Beijing.

‘’It’s something I’m really proud of,’’ he said. ‘’I came home and it was hard to realize just the magnitude of it. I did better than I imagined. The Olympics lit a fire under me and made me realize I can compete with those guys.’’

In the men’s team pursuit, Potma helped Team Kona/Campione win the gold with John-Christopher Reid, Jonathan Gormick and Scott Laliberte. Team Ontario was second with Daniele Defranchesci, David Byer, Vince de Jong and Stephen Meyer. Team Quebec-Ontario was third with Francois Chabot, Maxime Vives, Jean Michel Lachance and Scott Lundy.

In junior competition, the top-three in the men’s individual pursuit were Cody Campbell of Surrey, B.C., in first, Ryan Aitcheson of Kitchener, Ont., in second and Kevin Thorpe of North Vancouver in third.

In the junior men’s team pursuit, Team BC 2 took top spot with Campbell, Thorpe, Jacob Schwingboth, and Scott Mulder. Team Quebec was second with Guillaume Charest, Antoine Duchesne, David Boily and Frederic Poisson. Team BC 1 was third with Curtis Jung, Ben Cowburn, Jason Manning and Evan Flater.

Competition continues through to Sunday at the Burnaby Velodrome.

For more information: http://www.burnabytracknationals.com/