Cycling Canada signals new era with 4 world championship medals

With the world championships said and done, Cycling Canada's four medals set a modern era record and puts them in a good position to win a medal in at least one event at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Team Canada returns from London with bronze medals in women's individual pursuit and scratch race, and silver medals in women's team pursuit and points race. These wins put Canada fourth in the overall medal standings for the 2015-16 season — and represent more medals than the team has won, ever, at a track world championships.

• Canada races to silver in women's team pursuit at cycling worlds

• Stephanie Roorda wins Canada's 2nd medal at cycling worlds

• Annie Foreman-Mackey wins individual pursuit bronze at cycling worlds

• Canada's Jasmin Glaesser captures silver at track cycling worlds

Tweaks to implement

Yet out of those four events, only the women's team pursuit is an Olympic event. Allison Beveridge, Jasmin Glaesser, Kristi Lay and Georgia Simmerling finished with a time of 4:19.525, just behind the American's first place time of 4:16.802.

"We were aiming for gold on that one," said Cycling Canada's high performance director and head coach Jacques Landry, about what Cycling Canada expected at worlds. "We [came] close with the omnium as well, and that was a secondary target for us there."

Beveridge finished fourth in the two-day, six-part omnium, due to what she called "a pretty disastrous first day." 

"I made some big tactical errors and that really cost me quite a few points," she said.

Beveridge did have a silver lining in her performance by setting a new track record of 13.924 seconds in the flying lap competition. 

"We still have a few little 'tweaks' that we had planned to implement post track worlds," Landry told CBC Sports. "By May, June we will be set."

Another step toward Summer Games

Despite falling just short of two goals heading into championships, this weekend has left Cycling Canada in a good position heading towards the Olympics.

"[We are] confident heading into Rio," Landry said.

"All is going to plan."