Team Canada found it hard to advance on Wednesday’s first day of competition at the 2025 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Santiago, Chile. Originally back in 2022 San Juan, Argentina was selected as hosts. Chile now hosts the competition for the first time, at the Velodromo Penalolen. South America last held the Worlds in Colombia in 2014.
The day began with team pursuit qualification. First came the women, Canadian quartet Lily Plante, Ariane Bonhomme, Fiona Manjendie and Alexandra Volstad just missing out on making the first round with 4:25.054 over four kilometres. Italy was the fastest with 4:09.609. The Canadian men’s squad of Dylan Bibic, Mathias Guillemette, Sean Richardson and Chris Ernst, slotted in at 11th with 3:53.811, ten seconds slower than top outfit Denmark.
Canadian women rolling a team pursuit.
Ryan Dodyk, Tyler Rorke and James Hedgcock comprised the men’s team sprint trio. Again, in qualifying the Canadians came up a little short, missing the first round by 0.2 seconds.
Canada’s final Wednesday hope fell on Volstad’s shoulders in the women’s scratch race. Volstad started at the blue line. Better known for her road and gravel racing, defending world scratch champion Lorena Wiebes was one to watch over the 40 laps. The pulls were brief and the tempo relaxed over the first 10 laps. A Lithuanian attacked with eight laps to go. Marion Borras of France was her closest pursuer. When it came back together Dane Amalie Dideriksen made a surge that Wiebes countered and then the Dutch rider hit the line first. Volstad was 13th.
Lauriane Genest contests the sprint and Bibic is in the scratch on Thursday’s schedule.