Canada wins gold in women's team pursuit at track cycling World Cup
Glaesser, Beveridge, Roorda, Lay reach top of podium
Canada won gold in the women's team pursuit event at the UCI Track World Cup and also secured the white jersey as the UCI World Cup leaders in Cali, Colombia on Saturday.
The four-woman team qualified with the fastest time of 4:21.359, just edging the reigning Olympic Champions from Great Britain, who posted the second-fastest time of 4:21.736.
The Canadian team of Jasmin Glaesser, Allison Beveridge, Stephanie Roorda and Kirsti Lay advances to face China in the first round and won by five seconds to qualify for the gold medal race.
In the second race of the first round, the U.S. faced Great Britain and created an upset by beating the international powerhouse by over two seconds, setting the table for an all North American final.
In the gold-medal race of the night, Canada managed to lower its qualifying time with a comfortable win over the U.S. by more than five seconds.
Great Britain and China battled for bronze, with Great Britain edging their opponents by less than 0.2 seconds to round up the podium.
Canada's women endurance coach Craig Griffin was thrilled with the performance.
"This win was a great team effort from the qualifying round to the final. With a couple of riders not at 100%, the girls really stepped up to produce three solid rides in capturing the World Cup leader's jersey after this first round.
"It validates the hard work they have put in at this point and indicates our training is tracking well for the 2016 World Championships and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games."
In the women's team sprint, Canada's duo of Monique Sullivan and Kate O'Brien posted an impressive time of 33.726 seconds for the eighth place. The team did not advance to the medal rounds but continue to climb the international rankings, most important for the Olympic qualifications.
Canada was the best country among the Americas on Friday night, posting better results than their rivals from Colombia (12th) and Mexico (14th).
The UCI World Cup continues Saturday and ends on Sunday.
With files from Cycling Canada