Canadians held off the podium on final day of cycling worlds, finishing event with 19 medals

Canada was unable to secure a podium finish on the final day of competition at the inaugural combined UCI Cycling World Championships on Sunday, ultimately finishing with a medal total of 19 (three gold, seven silver, nine bronze) across the 11-day event in Scotland.

In a result emblematic of the competition as a whole, Canada's best result on the last day came from its Para cycling team. Canada finishing in seventh place in the mixed H team relay at the Para road cycling worlds in Glasgow.

Matthew Kinnie of Riverview, N.B., Joey Desjardins of Hawkesbury, Ont., and Alexander Hyndman of Morpeth, Ont., combined to finish with a time of 27 minutes, 58 seconds in the 15.3-kilometre race. France clocked in at 25:35 to defend its title won at the 2022 Para road cycling worlds in Baie-Comeau, Que.

Germany earned the silver finishing 15 seconds behind France, with the United States claiming bronze in a time of 26:06.

Hyndman's first lap of 2:50 and Desjardins' first lap of 2:52 were their fastest times of the day. Kinnie finished strong with a 3:13 time on the ninth and final lap to overtake both the Swiss and Austrian teams.

Elsewhere at the Glasgow BMX Centre, Canada was not able to send any riders through to the finals at the BMX racing worlds.

Molly Simpson of Red Deer, Alta., put together a promising result against the best in the world in the women's elite competition, being eliminated in the semifinals with a time of 38.328 seconds, 0.625 seconds back of the time needed to qualify for the eight-woman final.

Olympic gold medallist Bethany Shriever of Great Britain and American Alise Willoughby, the top two women in Simpson's semifinal heat, ended up taking gold and bronze respectively in the final.

Laura Smulders of the Netherlands won silver.

The 20-year-old Simpson has a decorated junior career, which includes a bronze medal in the under-23 competition at the 2022 world championships in France. She also has four World Cup podiums to her name, including a gold at the 2022 World Cup in the Netherlands in the under-23 category.

Keira Murphy of Nanaimo, B.C., also made the semifinals in the junior women's event, finishing 1.864 seconds back of the time needed to qualify for the finals.

Veronika Stūriška of Latvia won gold in the final, with Sienna Pal of Australia and American Ava Corley securing silver and bronze, respectively.

Curtis Krey was the top men's competitor for Canada. The Etobicoke, Ont., native advanced to the quarterfinals of the men's under-23 event and finishing 0.718 seconds back of qualifying for the semis.

The top rider in Krey's quarterfinal heat, Filib Steiner of Switzerland, won gold, with France's Mateo Colsenet winning silver and Rico Bearman of New Zealand taking bronze.

The world championships wrapped up with a gruelling 154.1km women's road race through the Scottish countryside from Loch Lomond into the centre of Glasgow. Quebec City's Simone Boilard, Alison Jackson of Vermilion, Alta., and Olivia Baril of Rouyn-Norance, Que., crossed the finish line one after the other to secure 32nd, 33rd and 34th-place respectively.

Lotte Kopecky of Belgium won gold with a time of 4:02:12, seven seconds ahead of silver medallist Demi Vollering of the Netherlands and bronze-medal winner Cecilie Ludwig of Denmark.

It was a perfect cap to a dominant week for the 27-year-old, as she also won both the elimination and points race at the track cycling worlds.

Kopecky was the runner-up in the 2022 race in Wollongong, Australia, finishing behind two-time champion Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands, who finished in eighth on Sunday.

Canadian Para cyclists lead the way

The main standouts for Canada throughout the competition were the Para cyclists. The team accounted for 11 of Canada's 19 medals, split between the Para track cycling worlds that ran from Aug. 2-7, and the Para road cycling worlds from Wednesday-Sunday.

Four Para athletes were multi-medallists at the world championships for Canada.

Victoria's Mel Pemble led the way with three at the Para track cycling worlds (gold in the women's C3 omnium, silver in the scratch race and bronze in the time trial).

Two athletes won two medals each at the Para road cycling worlds.

Nathan Clement of West Vancouver, B.C., won gold in the men's T1 time trial and bronze in the road race, while Shelly Gautier of Niagara Falls, Ont., collected a pair of bronze medals in the women's T1 and C4 time trials.

Keely Shaw of Midale, Sask., was the only athlete to secure a medal at two different events, winning silver in the women's C4 individual pursuit at the Para track cycling worlds. She then followed it up with a bronze in the time trial at the Para road cycling worlds.

Calgary's Kate O'Brien added a silver medal in the women's C4 time trial at the Para track worlds, while fellow Calgarian Mike Sametz won bronze in the men's C3 time trial at the Para road cycling worlds.

Dylan Bibic of Mississauga, Ont., was the lone Canadian athlete at the track cycling worlds to claim a medal, taking home silver in the exciting men's elimination race.

A young contingent of Canadians experienced success at the mountain bike worlds, highlighted by Isabella Holmgren of Orillia, Ont., and Marin Lowe of Squamish, B.C., finishing first and second in the women's junior cross-country event.

Ian Ackert, also of Orillia, Ont., won bronze in the men's junior cross-country, while Bodhi Kuhn of Rossland, B.C., picked up a silver in the men's junior downhill event.

Three riders got Canada off to a great start on the first weekend of competition at the Gran Fondo world championships .

Esta Bovill secured a silver in the women's 45-49 age category, with Pascal Herve (men's 55-59) and Michelle Gagnon (women's 19-34) adding two bronze medals.

The competition as a whole was a resounding success for host Great Britain, which led the way with gold medals at 47 and total medals at 100.

Canada's 19 total medals placed them 13th overall.