GLASGOW, United Kingdom – Canada claimed its first ever World Cup medal in the men’s team pursuit on Friday with a bronze-medal performance.

The team of Vancouver’s Aidan Caves, Adam Jamieson of Barrie, Ont., Victoria’s Jay Lamoureux, Bayley Simpson of Lindsay, Ont., and Toronto’s Ed Veal beat Switzerland with a time of four minutes 1.958 seconds in the four-cyclist race for third place.

Canada, with Simpson riding for Veal in the final race, took the lead after the first half lap of the 4,000-metre race, and pulled away to win by over three seconds. Olympic champions and world record holder Britain won the gold-medal race against France.

“To go from our best World Cup result being ninth in New Zealand last year, to coming here, the first World Cup of this season, and be five seconds faster than any race last year, it’s incredible,” said Jamieson.

“We lost a couple of our strongest guys (Sean MacKinnon signed for professional road team and Remi Pelletier-Roy returned to school) and to be honest I was a little worried, and I think everybody else was too, that we wouldn’t be as strong. But we have proved now that we are a solid, solid team, and we are going places.”

After finishing second at the Pan Am Championships and now third in the World Cup, Canada is in a strong position to qualify for the world championships.