01.23.10 -Zach Bell wins second gold medal

January 23, 2010 – Zach Bell stood on top of the podium for the second time in two days to sing the Canadian national anthem. Bell, of Watson Lake, Yukon, was ranked 9th in the world in the scratch race last year, rode an aggressive race. Having only raced in one international scratch race this year, he was sitting 135th in the world ranking and knew he would have to place in the top 4 in order to qualify for the World Championships at the end of March, but he wouldn’t be happy unless he finished on the podium. He rode a tactfully strong race and powered to the front when needed to rev it up and cross the finish line first, gaining a gold medal and most likely a berth at Worlds.

There are over 300 competitors at the Beijing World Cup and the event with perhaps the stiffest competition was the men’s Keirin. Coach Richard Wooles claimed that all the heats were strong and “could be World or Olympic final groupings.” Travis Smith, of Calgary, Alberta, was one of the strongest competitors at the last round of the World Cup was looking to make better tactical decisions and sharpen his racing senses. After breaking his hip in this event almost 3 years ago, this is the first season that has shown a return and improvement to his pre-crash speed and power as well as mental confidence. Smith finished 4th in round one and was relegated in the repechage, to finish in 21st place. His focus will now be on the Commonwealth Games in October and looking forward to the 2012 Olympics.

Allan Leparskas, from London, Ontario, represented Canada at the Junior World Championships last August made his World Cup debut in the kilo and finished in 22nd place with a very respectable time of 1:06.981. Monique Sullivan competed in the 500 meters with a time of 36.111 for 18th place. The Calgarian will be looking for a top 8 finish in the Keirin on the last day of racing.

Tara Whitten, from Edmonton, Alberta, won a bronze medal on day 1 in the individual pursuit won her qualifying heat in the points race to advance to the final. She racked up points in the 3rd and 5th points laps for a total of 5 points and sat tied in 5th place going in to the final sprint. Her attempts at gaining more points were not successful and she crossed the finish line 15th and ended in 8th place overall.

The final day of racing will get under way tonight at 9:00 pm EST and the Canadian Women’s Team Pursuit team have a shot at a medal after winning gold at the last World Cup. Canadians will also be racing in the following events:

Men’s Sprint: Joseph Veloce (ON) and Stephane Cossette (QUE)
Women’s Team Pursuit: Tara Whitten (AB), Laura Brown (AB), Stephanie Roorda (AB)
Women’s Keirin: Monique Sullivan (AB)