In team pursuit the U.S. changed bikes, Canada added a skier

By Callum Ng, CBC Sports

It was utterly ridiculous for lifelong skier Georgia Simmerling to think she could make Canada's track cycling team pursuit squad.

The four-rider race involves drafting at razor-thin margins, at over 50 km/h, powered by the lung capacity of a whale.

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And asking for a mere explanation of the four kilometre race is like enrolling in an aerodynamics class taught by a physiology wizard.  

And yet Simmerling, without any substantial experience, cracked Canada's world and Olympic medal-winning team pursuit roster, in less than a year.

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"A lot of us didn't think she could do it because we knew how much work and time we had put in as individuals into the sport," said teammate Laura Brown of Vancouver, an alternate in London.

"We were like 'As if someone can just come in and make the team. We're so fast', and she proved everybody wrong."

"It was a long shot," admits Craig Griffin, the coach of Canada's endurance women, who took a bold phone call from the West Vancouverite in the spring of 2015 asking how to make his team.

He told her to ride a 3:44 individual pursuit (3 km on the track). Two weeks later, she did.

By January of this year Simmerling rode in her first World Cup. The team won.

She was then named to the World Championships team where she rode in the final. The Canadians won silver.

Griffin had no choice but to select Simmerling for his five-woman Olympic roster making Rio her third Olympics in a different sport; following Sochi 2014 (ski cross), and Vancouver 2010 (alpine skiing). She is the first Canadian to ever do the triple.

"Yeah I'm surprised, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't but it's a good surprise it's not a bad surprise," said Griffin.

More competitive than it's ever been

Simmerling, 27, is another strong rider to help Canada win an Olympic medal.

Vancouver's Jasmin Glaesser, 24, is the only holdover from the London team that won a bronze medal, during the event's Olympic debut. She's joined by Brown, 29, Allison Beveridge, 23, and Kirsti Lay, 28.

Four years ago the race was only three riders and as many kilometres.

Today it's much more competitive. Any of five teams are in the conversation.

Australia are the world record holders. But this week in Rio they reminded us of the sport's inherent danger. They crashed during training, sending team member Melissa Hoskins to the hospital. She was cleared later for Thursday's qualifying.

The team from Great Britain won the last Olympic title at the 2012 London Games.

The Americans beat Canada by almost three-seconds in the world championship final in March. They have also switched to a new bike, featuring the drive train on the left side and other modifications their coach believes may cut more than three-seconds off their time.

Canada's Griffin says New Zealand is also in the conversation. "On any day you could have a completely different podium," he said. "We've improved immensely over the last couple years, but so has everyone else."

What Canada has to do to win

Canada has won a medal at each of the world championships since their London Olympic bronze, but never gold.

"Anything's possible, we've got as good a chance as anyone," said Griffin.

He'll use speedsters Beveridge, from Calgary, or Montreal's Lay as his starter to get the team up to pace.

Strategy is critical in team pursuit. The front rider pulls the others along in her draft. It's hard to ride at the front, so the cyclists switch to conserve energy.

"Each athlete has a bucket of energy but each athlete has a different size hole in their bucket," said Griffin.

"We just try and manage everyone's energy to make sure that when we get to the finish line everyone's bucket is emptying as they cross the line."

The time stops when the third rider crosses the finish line, so teams can burn someone off.

Griffin is counting on his aerobic animals to bring the team home. They are Glaesser and, Georgia Simmerling.

If the Americans have their bikes, Canada's edge may be a skier.

"She was just hungry, she was just passionate, and persistent and ultimately that persistence paid off," said Griffin of Simmerling.

Team pursuit qualifying begins on Thursday and medal finals are on Saturday.

With files from The Associated Press