UCI Track World Cup expands to five events for 2017-18 - News shorts

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The UCI on Tuesday announced the schedule for the 2017-2018 Track World Cup, with four new host cities joining Manchester for the five-weekend series, the first time the World Cup has included five events since the 2008-2009 season.

The first race of the series will take place November 3-5 in Pruszkow, Poland, followed a week later by the Manchester races on November 10-12. The World Cup will travel to Canada next for the first-ever World Cup event in Milton December 1-3. The series heads to South America next for the World Cup in Santiago, Chile December 9-10, with the finale taking place more than month later in Minsk, Belarus January 19-21.

2017-18 UCI Track World Cup Schedule:

• Pruszków (Poland), November 3-5, 2017
• Manchester (Great Britain), November 10-12, 2017
• Milton (Canada), December 1-3, 2017
• Santiago (Chile), December 9-10, 2017
• Minsk (Belarus), January 19-21, 2018

Tuft takes 10th Canadian time trial win

Svein Tuft (Orica-Scott) claimed his 10th Canadian time trial championship on Tuesday in Ottowa, covering the 36km course in 48:13, five seconds faster than runner-up Nigel Elsay (Silber Pro Cycling). Rob Britton (Rally Cycling) was third, 22 seconds down.

"This title is more important to me than just the statistic of it being my 10th title," Tuft said. "Last year I came here and didn't take it too seriously. I thought I would be able to win it and didn't quite realise how much the level has improved here in Canada and I ended up running third."

The race in Ottawa took place in wet conditions, but Tuft wasn't slowed by the weather over the undulating course.

"I knew it would be difficult today because it isn't a course that particularly suits me," Tuft said. "There was a lot of climbing, maybe 600 metres in total over 36km. It wasn't a super high average speed, so I had to really expend my energy well.

"I really wanted to keep my motivation high after the Giro d'Italia and race hard in Slovenia so that I could come here and have a good go at the nationals, so I am pretty proud of that aspect more than anything," he said. "I had complete respect for my rivals and I am super happy to pull it off and take a tenth title."

Canuel claims Canadian time trial championship

Karol-Ann Canuel (Boels Dolmans) took her second Canadian time trial title on Tuesday, repeating her 2015 win. Canuel covered the 26km course more than a minute better than runner-up Leah Kirchmann (Team Sunweb). Rally Cycling Sarah Poidevan was third.

The win is Canuel's second of the season and her second Canadian time trial title. It is the sixth national championships victory for Boels-Dolmans.

"I was really bummed to lose the jersey last year," Canuel said. "It's so nice to get it back. I would have been really disappointed if I hadn't, especially in front of my family and my friends."

The venue near Canuel's home town of Gatineau allowed friends and family to watch in person, while the course through plenty of challenges at the riders.

"The course was really, really hard," Canuel said. "It was rolling with some climbs, which made it hard to pace. I wanted to go harder in the climbs, to make up time there, and recover on the downhill, but I also wanted to push good power throughout the rolling sections."

Four hours after her race finished, Canuel was on a plane bound for Italy. She'll debut her new speedsuit at the Giro Rosa, which begins on Friday.

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