They're housemates and with each other 24/7. They do practically everything together — training, racing, travelling, eating and even share the same couch to watch television.
But, as Kelsey Mitchell said with certainty, she and Canadian track cycling teammate Lauriane Genest would not have been friends in high school. "We're different people but cycling brought us together and we balance each other perfectly.
We have each other's back, we're there for each other, and it's special," Mitchell told CBC Sports before Wednesday's final training session ahead of this week's UCI Track Nations Cup at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ont.
A former varsity soccer player with the University of Alberta, the 29-year-old made the transition to track cycling in 2017 after being discovered at an RBC Training Ground event, a program designed to discover young Canadian athletes with Olympic potential.