Canadian Nathan Clement kicks off Para road cycling worlds with time trial gold

Canada is on the board early at the Para road cycling world championships in Dumfries, Scotland.

In the second race of the event, Nathan Clement of West Vancouver, B.C., won gold in the men's T1 time trial. Shortly after, Shelly Gautier of Niagara Falls, Ont., scored bronze in the women's version of the race.

Clement, 28, crossed the line in 18 minutes 50.35 seconds — well ahead of silver medallist Jianxin Chen of China, who was more than seven seconds behind. Fellow Chinese racer Rongfei Lu took bronze.

A converted swimmer, Clement is aiming to go to his second Paralympics next summer in Paris after competing in the pool at Rio 2016.

"The roller-coaster of life really brings on different challenges, different curveballs you're not expecting. If you told me right after Rio in 2016 that less than two years later I'd be out of the sport, I would have told you get out because that was not something in my thought process at that time," Clement told CBC Sports' Zack Smart ahead of worlds..

Gautier, meanwhile, took a comfortable third-place finish, clocking in a little over three minutes behind gold medallist Pavlina Vejvodova of the Czech Republic. Great Britain's Eltje Malzbender rounded out the podium with silver.

The 54-year-old Canadian is a three-time Paralympian and 18-time world champion across the road race and time trial dating back to 2009.

Also, Charles Moreau of Victoriaville, Que., placed fourth in the men's H3 time trial, missing out on the podium by eight one-hundredths of a second.