Barely returned from Spain, where they were attending a major road cycling training camp in anticipation of the World Championships, Quebec’s long-distance speed skaters achieved satisfactory results on the first day of Tomaszow Mazowiecki’s Coupe du World in Poland on Friday.
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Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu, who competed in two events, finished fourth in the team pursuit and seventh in the 1,500 meters. For her part, Valérie Maltais also finished seventh in the 3000m;
The Canadian trio of Gélinas-Beaulieu, Connor Howe and Hayden Mayeur got off to a great start but paid the price at the end of the race. They lost first place in the provisional table to the Norwegians, the eventual winners and against whom they were paired. The Canadians, wearing streamlined time trial helmets for the first time in competition, extended their lead to about 1 second, a lead that lasted for two laps and then quickly faltered with four laps to go.
Two laps later, the Norwegians took over the race while the Canadians tried to save the furniture. They were 3.21 seconds behind the Norwegians, who were joined on the podium by the Americans (+0.05 seconds) and the Dutch (+1.26 seconds).
“We knew we were contenders for the gold medal and we went for it. After that it started to get harder and kick in the legs like a curse! launched Gélinas-Beaulieu, adding that the ice was not fast on Friday, which according to him “did not forgive”.
“Right now, at this World Championship, we’re not at our best on the ice and that’s going to get better. It didn’t work, but we know it could come back in the next few weeks,” he added confidently.
Earlier in the day, the Quebec skater surprised himself by finishing seventh in the 1500 meters. In Group B of this distance, David La Rue finished fifth.
“It’s my best performance over this distance in a long time and I’m satisfied! Thanks to more information about the ice, the stars will align in the coming weeks, continued Gélinas-Beaulieu. I’m in good shape and now it’s just a matter of finding benchmarks and racing feelings that we haven’t had since December,” concluded the one who will compete in the 1000 meters on Sunday.
In the women’s 3000m, Valérie Maltais was paired with Dutch and future bronze medalist Marijke Groenewoud, who pushed the pace with the shot.
“I wanted to be conservative in the beginning with the challenging ice and have good energy towards the end. It was a good strategy, except I could have given a little more in the beginning. It’s the first World Cup for a while, but I’m still satisfied.
The delay of the skater from La Baie meant that she was unable to fully utilize the suction effect behind her opponent when changing lanes.
“I could have kept up the speed with her. I missed a small opportunity to go faster. On the other hand, I’ve had experiences where I tried too hard to try my opponent and lost focus on what I needed to do. Maybe there’s a middle ground I should have done to save some energy. I can’t wait to do another 3,000 meters next week.”
The Olympic team pursuit champion will be back on the ice on Saturday to compete in the event.
Team Canada headliner Laurent Dubreuil will take to the track on Saturday to compete in the 500m, as will Christopher Fiola.
Béatrice Lamarche will compete in the 1,500m and Aimé Perreault will make his first World Cup start in Group B of the men’s 5,000m.