1998 World Cycling Track Championships

Medal Tally

               Gold   Silver  Bronze Total

France           6       1       2       9
Spain            2       0       0       2
Germany          1       3       4       8
Australia        1       3       1       5
Ukraine          1       0       0       1
Belgium          1       0       0       1
Italy            0       1       2       3
Canada           0       1       1       2
Nederland        0       1       0       1
Mexico           0       1       0       1
Latvia           0       1       0       1
Russia           0       0       1       1
United States    0       0       1       1

Round Up:

On the last night, Dori Ruano-Sanchon in the point's race gave Spain a double victory for the Championships, following the win by Juan Llanderas Rosello in the men's points race on Saturday night.

The Keirin title went to German Jens Fiedler while Belgium won the Madison.

The French though were on the podium 9 times during the 5 days. The President of the French Cycling Federation, Daniel Baal has indicated that there are several reasons for this domination. He told the press: "In the first place, there is the talent and the hard work of the athlètes. But also the structure of the Federation has been important. For the last 10 years we have worked hard to promote cycling and to find and nurture talent."

France has two big track stars. 27-year old Félicia Ballanger, who has now won a double world championship for the fourth time. And this time set a new world recor in the 500m (34.010 seconds - 7/1000s below the previous record set in 1995 in Bogota). She has now won 8 gold medals since 1995. She says that her remaining challenge is whether she can below 34 seconds.

The men's star is Florian Rousseau, who is the obvious leader of the French team and has won the world sprint title for the third consecutive year. He also was in the gold medal sprint team.

In contrast to the French performances, Australia won only five medals and only one gold (Lucy Tyler-Sharman, in women's pursuit). It was a miserable performance by a team surrounded by allegations of improprietary and clearly well supported at the expense of our road discipline by the taxpayer.

Track coach Charlie Walsh however said that he was pleased with the performance. The only gold went to Lucy Tyler-Sharman, who has fallen out with Walsh. Graham Sharman (husband of Lucy) was part of the silver medal Olympic Sprint team. Walsh was very gracious in his praise of this performance.

This does not mean that falling out with Walsh is the key to success. Darryn Hill put in a shocker and lost out in the quarters of the sprint and failed to make the Keirin final.

For the rest it was mediocrity. The rider they relied on to instill morale, Sean Kelly failed badly in the Kilo. The team has not put in a strong performance at the World level for several years now.

But one Aussie did do very well - well as a Belgian anyway. Matthew Gilmore who rejected his Australian nationality in favour of Belgian citizenship was a star in the Madison. He is one of several world class riders who have fallen out with Australian cycling officials over the years over their apparent failure to select the best riders irrespective of whether they participate in the official program or not.

Gilmore has ridden on the tough 6-day circuit for several years now following Danny Clark. He won his first 6-day race this season. He says that despite being the best two 6-day riders and Madison riders, both he and Danny Clark have been consistently ignored for selection by Australia. He told the press after winning the World Madison Championship with fellow Belgian Etienne De Wilde: "I found it very stupid when Danny Clark and I were the number one (Australian) six-day riders here in Europe for two years and we weren't selected for the Madison for Australia. It's their loss and my gain. I was fortunate to be able to have the option of ... getting the Belgian citizenship, where I have the full support from the Belgian Cycling Federation."

Charlie Walsh was asked about Gilmore's success and he was not exactly forthcoming with praise. The local press reported that he was asked whether seeing Gilmore win as a Belgian was painful. Walsh is reported as saying: "Yes and no. The guy he rode with, De Wilde, also is exceedingly good. He's old, he's got a magnificent brain on him, and as a team they do extremely well."

Women's Sprint:

200 metres Qualifying Time Trial:

 1. Felicia Ballanger (Fra) 		11.259
 2. Michelle Ferris (Aus) 		11.341
 3. Chris Witty (USA) 			11.361
 4. Jennie Reed (USA) 			11.386
 5. Magali Faure (Fra) 			11.423
 6. Tanya Dubnicoff (Can) 		11.428
 7. Oksana Grichina (Rus) 		11.648
 8. Irina Yanovich (Ukr) 		11.692
 9. Susann Panzer (Ger) 		11.733
10. Olga Slioussareva (Rus) 		11.741
11. Kathrin Frietag (Ger) 		11.747
12. Lori Ann Muenzer (Can)		11.827
13. Olga Grichina (Rus) 		11.831
14. Szilivia Szabolcsi (Hun)		11.888
15. Ulrike Weichelt (Ger) 		12.156

First Round - Head-to-head:
(winners advance to next round with time of winner's last 200m)
 
 Jennie Reed (USA) 12.453 defeated Ulrike Weichelt (Ger)
 Magali Faure (Fra) 11.888 defeated Szilivia Szabolcsi (Hun)
 Tanya Dubnicoff (Can) 12.174 defeated Olga Grichina (Rus)
 Oksana Grichina (Rus) 12.354  defeated Lori Ann Muenzer (Can)
 Kathrin Frietag (Ger) 12.584 defeated Irina Yanovich (Ukr)
 Susann Panzer (Ger) 12.371 defeated Olga Slioussareva (Rus)

Repechages - Winners advance:

 Olga Grichina (Rus) (12.188) defeated Olga Slioussareva (Rus) *
 Szilivia Szabolcsi (Hun) (12.494) defeated Lori Ann Muenzer (Can)
 Irina Yanovich (Ukr) (11.808) defeated Ulrike Weichelt (Ger)

* Olga Slioussareva (Rus) relegated to 2nd for not holding line

Second Round:

 Felicia Ballanger (Fra) 11.663 defeated Irina Yanovich (Ukr)
 Michelle Ferris (Aus) 12.152 defeated Szilivia Szabolcsi (Hun)
 Olga Grichina (Rus) 12.240 defeated Chris Witty (USA) *
 Jennie Reed (USA) 12.205 defeated Susann Panzer (Ger)
 Kathrin Frietag (Ger) 11.948 defeated Magali Faure (Fra)
 Tanya Dubnicoff (Can) 12.322 defeated Oksana Grichina

* Witty relegated to 2nd for not holding line

Repechages - Winners advance to quarters:

 Susann Panzer (Ger) (12.281) defeated Oksana Grichina and Yanovich.
 Magali Faure (Fra) (12.508) defeated Witty and Szabolcsi.

Quarter Finals:

 Felicia Ballanger (Fra) beat Magali Faure (Fra) (Fra) 2-0
 Michele Ferris (Aus) beat Susann Panzer (Ger) 2-0
 Tanya Dubnicoff beat Olga Grichina (Rus) 2-0
 Jennie Reed (USA) beat Kathrin Frietag (Ger) after dsq

Women's Sprint Final: 

 Felicia Ballanger (Fra) defeated Michelle Ferris (Aus) 2-0

Third Place:

 Tanya Dubnicoff (Can) defeated Jennie Reed (USA) 2-0

Places 9-15:

 9. Oksana Grichina
10. Yanovich
11. Witty
12. Szabolczi
13. Slioussareva
14. Muenzer
15. Weichelt

Men's 4000m Pursuit:

Qualifying:

 1. Francis Moreau (Fra)		4.19.324
 2. Philippe Ermenault (Fra) 		4.21.096 
 3. Alex Simoneko (Ukr) 		4.23.653
 4. Robert Bartko (Ger) 		4.23.944 

Semi-Finals: 

Alex Simoneko (Ukr) v Philippe Ermenault (Fra)
Francis Moreau (Fra) v Robert Bartko (Ger)

Notable Eliminations:

11. Alexei Markov (Rus) 		4.27.711
12. Chris Boardman (GB) 		4.28.810

World Record: 4.11.114 (Boardman, Manchester, 1996)

Semi-finals:

Philippe Ermenault (Fra) 4.24.464 beat Alexandre Simoneko (Ukr) 4.28.975

Francis Moreau (Fra) 4.23.181 beat Robert Bartko (Ger) 4.27.707

Final:

 1. Philippe Ermenault (Fra) 4.20.627 beat 2. Francis Moreau (Fra) 4.21.466 
 3. Robert Bartko (Ger) 4.26.890 beat 4. Alexandre Simenko (Ukr)

Men, 1 km Time Trial Final:

 1. Arnaud Tournant (Fra)  		1.01.879
 2. Shane Kelly (Aus)			1.02.261
 3. Erim Hartwell (USA)			1.02.834
 4. Stefan Nimke (Ger) 			1.02.688
 5. Soren Lausberg (Ger) 		1.02.777
 6. Frédéric Lancien (Fra) 		1.02.834
 7. Jason Queally (Gbr)        		1.03.494
 8. Gregorz Krejner (Pol)      		1.03.793
 9. Joshua Kersten (Aus)       		1.04.040
10. Jose Raimondez (Spa)		1.04.207
11. Gregorz Trebski (Pol		1.04.554
12. Dmimitris Georgalis (Gre)		1.04.924
12. Takanobu Jumonji (Jpn)		1.04.924
14. Christian Meidlinger (Aut) 		1.04.989
15. Nikolaos Agelidis (Gre)    		1.05.058
16. Diego Ortega (Spa)         		1.05.190
17. Hiroaki Tanaka (Jpn)       		1.05.929
18. Marcelo Ammednolia (Arg)   		1.06.143

Brief

Shane Kelly failed to win the kilo for a 4th time after 20-year old Frenchman Arnaud Tournand motivated by a "dream" and "years of work" beat him. Tournand is a former World Junior record holder.

Men's 4000m Team Pursuit:

Qualifiers to Quarters:

 1. Ukraine 4.04.830
    (Sergei Chernyavski, Alexander Fedenko, Sergei Matveyev and Ruslan Pidgorny) 
 2. France 4.05.295
    (Francis Moreau, Philippe Ermenault, Jerome Neuville and Franck Perque)
 3. Italy 4.06.770
    (Mario Benetton, Adler Capelli, Cristian Citton and Andrea Collinelli)
 4. Germany 4.07.010
    (Daniel Becke, Guido Fulst, Christian Lademan and Thorsten Rund)
 5. Australia 4.08.505
    (Brett Lancaster, Timothy Lyons, Bradley McGee and Luke Roberts)
 6. United States 4.09.235
    (Dirk Copeland, Derk Bouchard-Hall, Tommy Mulkey and Mariano Friedick)
 7. Britain 4.09.795
    (Jonathan Clay, Tobert Hayles, Matt Illingworth and Colin Sturgess)
 8. Russia 4.09.840
    (Anton Chantyr, Edouard Gritsoun, Nikolai Kuznetsov and Alexei Markov)

Final: 

 Ukraine beat Germany 4.02,895 - 4.08,160

Third Place:

 Italy beat France (walkover)

Women's 3 kms Individual Pursuit:

Qualifying - Top 4 to Semi-finals:

 1. Lucy Tyler-Sharman (Aus) 		3.34.540
 2. Leontien Van Moorsel (Ned) 		3.35.164
 3. Judith Arndt (Ger) 			3.35.798
 4. Yvonne McGregor (GB) 		3.38.287
 5. Natasha Karimova (Rus) 		3.38.682
 6. Antonella Bellutti (Ita) 		3.38.840
 7. Rasa Mazeiktye (Lit) 		3.39.335
 8. Svetlana Samokhvalova (Rus) 	3.39.540
 9, Jane Quigley (USA) 			3.41.921
10. Karen Burrow (Aus) 			3.46.195
11, Maria Calle (Col) 			3.46.659
12. Teodora Ruano (Spa) 		3.48.320
13. Anke Wichmann (Ger) 		3.48.715
14. Michelle Ward (GB) 			3.49.345
15. Gitana Gruodyte (Lit) 		3.50.374
16. Wang Qingzhi (Chi) 			3.51.238

 Lucy Tyler-Sharman (Aus) versus Yvonne McGregor
 Leontien Van Moorsel (Ned) versus Judith Arndt

Semi-Finals:

 Leontien Van Moorsel (Ned) beat Judith Arndt (Ger)	3.35.548 - 3.35.938
 Lucy Tyler-Sharman (Aus) beat Yvonne McGregor (GBr) 	3.36.116 - 3.37.706

Final: 

 Lucy Tyler-Sharman (Aus) beat Leontien Van Moorsel 	3.35.255 - 3.37.291

Third Place:

 Judith Arndt (Ger) beat Yvonne McGregor (GB)		3.35.676 - 3.39.225

Men's Individual Sprint:

200-meter time trial 

 1. Florian Rousseau (Fra)  		10.076 (71 kph)
 2. Laurent Gane (Fra)  		10.119
 3. Jens Fiedler (Ger) 			10.228
 4. Marty Nothstein (USA) 		10.233
 5. Jan Van Eihden (Ger) 		10.314
 6. Arnaud Tournant (Fra)  		10.348
 7. Viesturs Berzins (Lat)		10.348
 8. Darryn Hill (Aus) 			10.349
 9. Eyk Pokorny (Ger) 			10.399
10. Sean Eadie (Aus) 			10.410
11. Frederic Magne (Fra) 		10.506
12. Anthony Peden (NZ) 			10.518
13. Grezgorz Trebski (Pol) 		10.525
14. Hedeki Yamada (Jap) 		10.618
15. Craig Percival (GB) 		10.646
16. Jose Perinan (Spa) 			10.650
17. Noriaki Mabuchi (Jap) 		10.654
18. George Himonetos (Gre) 		10.663
19. Labros Vassilopoulos (Gre) 		10.699
20. Craig McLean (GB) 			10.757
21. Marcin Mientki (Pol) 		10.792
22. Bruno Bohigues (Fra)  		10.849
23. Valeri Potapov (Rus) 		10.851
24. Gabriele Gentille (Ita) 		10.963

Second Round - Time of winner's last 200m
	
 Florian Rousseau (Fra) 11.671 defeated George Himonetos (Gre)
 Laurent Gane (Fra) 10.980 defeated Noriaki Mabuchi (Jap)
 Jens Fiedler (Ger) 10.906 defeated Jose Perinan (Spa)
 Marty Nothstein (USA) 11.069 defeated Craig Percival (GB)
 Jan Van Eihden (Ger) 11.035 defeated Hedeki Yamada (Jap)
 Arnaud Tournant (Fra) 11.098 defeated Grezgorz Trebski (Pol)
 Viesturs Berzins (Lat) 11.513 defeated Anthony Peden (NZ)
 Darryn Hill (Aus) 10.963 defeated Frederic Magne (Fra)
 Eyk Pokorny (Ger). 10.789. defeated Sean Eadie (Aus)

Repechages

 Sean Eadie (Aus) 11.125 defeated Himonetos and Trebski
 Anthony Peden (NZ) 11.211 defeated Yamada and Mabuchi
 Frederic Magne (Fra) 11.202 defeated Percival and Perinan

Quarter Finals:

 Florian Rousseau (Fra) beat Jan Van Eihden (Ger) 2-0
 Laurent Gane (Fra) beat Frederic Magne (Fra) 2-0
 Jens Fiedler (Ger) beat Arnaud Tournant (Fra) 2-0
 Marty Nothstein (USA) beat Darryn Hill (Aus) 2-1


Final:

 Florian Rousseau (Fra) 10.681 10.466 beat Jens Fiedler (Ger) 2-0 

Third Place:

 Laurent Gane (Fra) 10.775  10.749 beat Marty Nothstein (USA) 10.681 2-1

Men's Olympic Sprint:

Qualifiers to Second Round:

 1. France 44.586 seconds
    (Vincent Le Quellec, Florian Rousseau and Arnaud Tournant)
 2. Germany 45.484
    (Soeren Lausberg, Stefan Nimke and Eyk Pokorny)
 3. Australia 45.845
    (Danny Day, Shane Kelly and Graham Sharman)
 4. United States 45.947
    (Sky Christopherson, Erin Hartwell and Marty Nothstein)
 5. Poland 46.415
    (Grezgorz Krejner, Bartiolomie Saczuk and Grezgorz Trebski)
 6. Spain 46.453
    (Jose Raimondez, Jose Perinan and Jose Villanueva)
 7. Greece 46.545
    (George Himonetos, Dimitris Georgalis and Labros Vassilopoulos)
 8. Czech Republic 46.575
    (Pavel Buran, Martin Polak and Ivan Vrba)

Second Round:

 USA 45.792 beat Poland 46.015
 Australia 45.350 beat Spain 46.116
 Germany 45.581 beat Greece 46.239
 France	44.473 beat Czech Republic 46.559

Final:

 France (Le Quellec, Rousseau and Tournant) 44.338 beat Australia 45.464

Third Place:

 Germany 45.210 beat USA 45.653

Men's Keirin:

1. Jens Fiedler (Ger)
2. Ainars Kiksis (Lat) 
3. Laurent Gane (Fra)
4. Shinichi Ota (Jap)

Men's Madison:

 1. Belgium (Etienne De Wilde and Matthew Gilmore)	34 points
 2. Italy (Andrea Collinello and Silvio Martinello)
 3. Germany (Andreas Kappes and Stefan Steinweg)
 4. Russia (Dimitri Galkine and Oleg Grichine)
 5. France (Christophe Cappelle and Carlos Dacruz)
 6. Denmark (Tayeb Braikia and Jakob Pil)
 7. Argentina (Gabriel Curuchet and Jean Curuchet)
 8. Spain (Juan Llanderas Rosello and Miguel Alzamore)
 

Women's Points Race:

 1. Dori Ruano-Sanchon (Spa) 		 6 points
 2. Belem Guerrero Mendez (Mex)		 0

At 2 laps:

 3. Olga Slioussareva (Rus)		35
 4. Lucy Tyler-Sharman (Aus)		22
 5. Leontien Van Moorsel (Ned) 		12
 6. Erin Veenstra (USA)			10
 7. Anke Wichman (Ger)			 9
 8. Antonella Bellutti (Ita)		 9
 9. Maria Luisa Calle (Col)		 7
10. Mandy Poitras (Can)			 6
11. Edita Kubelskiene (Lit)              5

At 3 laps:

12. Monika Tyburska (Pol)		  0
13. Michelle Ward (GB)			 0

Previews and Reports:

World track pursuit record holder, Chris Boardman was eliminated from the event today. He was only 12th fastest qualifier and admitted that he was under-prepared for the event. He told the press that he now was aiming for the ITT at the World Road Race Championships in Valkenburg in early October. He said: "I am up for that, and I will ride the Vuelta a Espana as preparation for it. I feel bad about it because I did not come up with the goods. Especially as I told my manager, Roger Legeay, that I was ready for it and he set aside staff to help me. I needed a lot of luck and perhaps I was a little arrogant to think that I could be competitive. Now I don't have the explosivity that is necessary for successful pursuiting. May be one day I will return to pursuiting, and do things properly, but now my target is the world time trial title."

Boardman, who will be 30 this week, did not have an ideal preparation for the Track titles. Nor was he mentally prepared to do well. Yesterday he told the press that he had lost his passion for the event. He said: "I really finished with pursuiting in Manchester. I will be very surprised to make the first four. It is a lot to ask. It's a gamble but I intend to give a professional performance, something respectable."

Boardman sees all his future on the road. Next Sunday in Brussels he will ride in the GP Eddy Merckx Grand Prix. The following weekend he will begin the 22-stage Vuelta a Espana in preparation for the World Road ITT in October.

Kelly to go for record 4th win

Meanwhile, in the troubled Australian camp, Shane Kelly is emerging as a force to promote peace. He wants to win a 4th world title today (setting a 1981 record in the kilo held by German Lothar Thoms) as a signal to rally the rest of the team around the medal effort. The team has been torn apart by the allegations of misspent money, sexual harassment and other internal problems.

Kelly has some tough opposition though including two very fast Germans in the form of Soren Lausberg (2nd in 1997) and Stefan Nimke (3rd in 1997). Frenchmen Arnaud Tournant and Frederic Lancien are also likely to be strong contenders.