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Preview: 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships
Aug 11, 2022
The hunt for rainbow stripes begins today for 14 Australians at the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Baie-Comeau, Canada.
The 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships will be the first for the Australian Cycling Team since 2019, wherein Australia claimed 15 medals: nine gold, one silver and five bronze.
An original 15-member squad was announced in June, with the only change for this week being the absence of experienced para-triathlete Lauren Parker.
The racing from August 11 to 14 in Baie-Comeau, located in Canada’s Quebec province, comes hot off the final round of the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Quebec City last weekend.
Australia picked up five medals in Quebec City, with four coming on the time trial days led by Tokyo 2020 Paralympic gold medallist Darren Hicks (MC2) and Kaitlyn Schurmann (WC1) winning gold, Meg Lemon (WC4) taking silver, and Stuart Jones (MT2) finishing with bronze.
32-year-old Lemon added a second silver medal to her tally for the week in the road race and will once again form one half of a dangerous WC4 duo with the category’s 2019 time trial world champion, Emily Petricola.
All but two of Australia’s seven world champions from 2019 will seek to regain their rainbow stripes over the coming days, with the quintet of Hicks, Alistair Donohoe, Carol Cooke, Paige Greco and Petricola hungry to once again stand on the top of a world championship podium.
Hicks has confidence by his side in Baie-Comeau but told Paralympics Australia that road racing is always unpredictable.
"The guy that came third at the Paralympics is actually the current world champion, which is a nice thing for me because it should mean I’m in a good position, but in sport you never know," Hicks said to Paralympics Australia.
"It’s not like racing on the track, where the distances are exact.
"Courses change, there are hills, the surfaces are different, there’s wind and other factors. That’s a good part about the road. You get to differentiate and find things that work to your strengths and you make the best of what you’re presented.
"It really comes down to being around your threshold the whole race. If you’re not, then you’re doing it wrong. We go into it knowing that you’re going to dip into your reserves a bit for the hills and then hopefully find time to recover slightly in the downhills or easier sections.
"In the end, hopefully you get a number that’s really close to your threshold and you tick that box."
#BaieComeau2022 schedule
Day 1 - August 11
What: Individual Time Trials – T1-2; H1-5
Who: Five Aussies
- Carol Cooke at 11:56pm AEST* (WT2)
- Stuart Jones at 11:35pm (MT2)
- Alex Welsh at 4:11am (MH3)
- Grant Allen at 3:53am (MH4)
- Stuart Tripp at 3:37am (MH5)
Day 2 - August 12
What: Individual Time Trials – C1-5; B
Who: Nine Aussies
- Darren Hicks at 12:04am (MC2)
- Alistair Donohoe at 3:58am (MC5)
- Kaitlyn Schurmann at 1:03am (WC1)
- Amanda Reid at 12:54am (WC2)
- Paige Greco at 12:40am (WC3)
- Meg Lemon at 12:34am (WC4)
- Emily Petricola at 12:32am (WC4)
- Candice Kennedy (WB) and Kelly Fettes (pilot) at 3:31am
Day 3 - August 13
What: Road Races – T1-2; H1-5
Who: Five Aussies
- Carol Cooke (WT2)
- Stuart Jones (MT2)
- Alex Welsh (MH3)
- Grant Allen (MH4)
- Stuart Tripp (MH5)
Day 4 - August 14
What: Road Races – C1-5; B
Who: Nine Aussies
- Darren Hicks (MC2)
- Alistair Donohoe (MC5)
- Kaitlyn Schurmann (WC1)
- Amanda Reid (WC2)
- Paige Greco (WC3)
- Meg Lemon (WC4)
- Emily Petricola (WC4)
- Candice Kennedy (WB) and Kelly Fettes (pilot)
*All times listed in AEST
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