Results and Reports for December 27Grosser Weihnachtspreis Dortmund, Germany, December 26, 1999 Carsten Podlesch once again Stayers are an all but extinct species since they lost their World Championships five years ago, but in the German indoor season they can still pull a crowd with the "Welt Pokal" (World Cup) at the Großer Weihnachtspreis (Great Christmas Trophy) in Dortmund as the highlight. This year Carsten Podlesch, the last World Champion, took his fourth victory, paced by Bruno Walrave, and beat the current German champion Andreas Kappes (with Dieter Durst). The expected main opponent Andreas Beikirch did not start due to an injury from the six days in Munich but will start in the six days of Berlin January 6. The other main attraction, "Omnium der Asses" (Omnium of the Aces) was a match where a German team, Erik Zabel, Rolf Aldag, Jens Fiedler and Ronny Lauke was pitted against an European combination, Ainars Kiksis (Lat), Bruno Risi (Swi), Jimmi Madsen (Den) and Marco Villa (Ita). Local heroes Aldag and Zabel decided the match by taking a double in the final 50 kms Derny race in front of more than 10 000 fans. Germany defeated Europé by 74 points to 61. The 31 years old Aldag, who also rides the six days each year in the Westfalenhalle of Dortmund, did his ninth "Weinacht" and says that it is a special event for him: "When you are on the road as much as I am during the road season you really appreciate your home area," he said and promised to do more winter racing next year, not only in Dortmund but also in Berlin and Bremen with Erik Zabel. Worth mentioning from the races is also Jens Fiedler's , 10.8 seconds lap at 66.6 kph and Erik Zabel's victory over Jimmi Madsen in the opening elimination.
Twickenham CC Winter Series # 5 Hillingdon, England, December 18, 1999 Pete Swettenham bang in form Courtesy of www.echelon-velo.co.uk Last year's Winter Series overall winner, Peter Swettenham (Twickenham CC) showed that a change in position on his bike and his recent training has done wonders for his form when along with Mick Hill and Alan Leach, they dominated race 5 in the winter series. Twenty nine riders took to the start on a cold and dull day last weekend to compete in the 5th race of the Twickenham CC Winter Series. The wind, which had helped destroy the field the week before, was nowhere near as strong this weekend, helped inspire the riders to go on the attack, which they did from the start. Although the winner was quoted as saying it wasn’t as fast out there as it looked, the average was on par with other weeks at 43kp/h. Among the early attackers were Doug Crow (Twickenham CC), Jason Streather (Amore-e-Vita), Paul Doherty (Heffs Cycles), and Stuart Jackson (Heffs Cycles). These moves however did nothing else but soften up the field up for the attack that did do some damage. This came from Pete Swettenham and Mick Hill while Alan Leach (Team Sport and Publicity) and Mick McManus (Twickenham CC) saw the danger and quickly attached themselves to the two leaders. McManus however paid for the effort needed to get up to the leaders and dropped back to the chasing bunch shortly afterwards. Despite the constant attacking in the chasing group, the break worked well with Swettenham and Hill dominating the workload and Alan Leach confessing later to "hanging on". The string holding the chasing group together, broke from time to time, but when the riders doing the attacking eased, the rather large group kept coming back together. A surprise attack from Dave Griffiths though surprised and with the Twickenham riders helping to go with any counter moves, Griffiths managed to attach himself to the leaders (although a lap down). This seemed a good ploy until the chasers managed to unlap themselves as they sprinted for 4th places, in the process catching Griffiths. While the three leaders were sorting out the win with Swettenham just holding off Mick Hill with Alan Leach coming in a second down, the sprint for 4th place was started by Bill Butterworth with 500 metres to go and he managed to put some day light between himself and the rest. Jason Streather however managed to drag himself up to Butterworth only for Butterworth to kick again and take 4th place and keep his lead in the overall. Another overall contender, Doug Crow (Twickenham CC), spent the race containing the many attacks being launched to bring his team mates back to the chasers but still managed to grab 10th place to maintain his challenge to the overall. Next event is on December 26 at 11am giving riders a chance to work off a bit of the Christmas pudding. Results Elite men, 52 km 1. Peter Swettenham(Twickenham CC) 2. Mick Hill (Viking Wheelers) 3. Alan Leach (Team Sport and Publicity) 4. Bill Butterworth (Twickenham CC) 1 lap 5. Jason Streather (Amore-e-Vita) minute 6. Vince Freeman (Terry Wright Cycles) 7. Stuart Jackson (Heffs Cycles) 8. Paul Doherety (Heffs Cycles) 9. Dave Griffiths (Twickenham CC) 10.Doug Crow (Twickenham CC) 11. Vince Halpern (Twickenham CC) 12. Larry Hickmott (Team Synergy) 13. Jex Cox (Twickenham CC) 14. Harry Web (Twickenham CC) 15. Russell Scott (VC Meudon) 16. Mario Manelfi (Ports) 17. Mick McManus (Twickenham CC) 18. Cal Hobday (Team Cherwell) 19. Peter Noble (Team Sport & Publicity) 0.04 20. Tony Ball (Team Cherwell) 21. Richard Barrowclough (Team Sport & Publicity) 22. Dave Cowie (Twickenham CC) 23. Dave Simpson Overall after 5 Races 1. Bill Butterworth (Twickenham CC) 139 pts 2. Peter Swettenham (Twickenham CC) 123 3. Doug Crow (Twickenham CC) 119 4. Paul Doherty (Heffs Cycles) 118 4. Stuart Jackson (Heffs Cycles) 118 6. Dave Griffiths (Twickenham CC) 103 7. Peter Noble (Team Sport & Publicity) 95 8. Jason streather (Amore-e-Vita) 87 9. Vince Freeman 84 10. Alan Leach (Team Sport & Publicity) 80 11. Vince Halpern (Twickenham CC) 73 12. Jamie Streather (CC Cardiff) 71 13. Mick McManus (Twickenham CC) 68 14. Russell Scott 67 14. Mick Hill 67 16. M Manelfi 66 17. Larry Hickmott (Team Synergy) 51 18. Harry Webb 50 18. Gary Evans (Twickenham CC) 50 20. Rich Barrowclough (Team Sport & Publicity) 48 21. John Leitch (Redhill CC) 41 Latrobe Track Carnival Day 1 Australia, December 26, 1999 Courtesy of Matthew Conn The format has been altered slightly from previous years. A first round of heats for the Latrobe Wheel Race were held today with only the winners of each heat going into tomorrows final (5 heats). Local Latrobe favourite and former AIS track rider Nathan Clarke was one of the riders now qualified for his home town race. "Tasmanian" Belgian Matthew Gilmore gave a hint of his form and intentions by winning the first heat of the day, guaranteeing him an opportunity to repeat the exploits of his father Graeme who won Latrobe in 1963. Victorian Stephen Pate was also a first round winner meaning that the scratchmen have already established a formidable presence in the final. Earlier in the day, Devonport rider Darren Young won the A.J. Clarke and Sons 2000m Handicap from the scratch mark. The remainder of the days racing was postponed due to light rain setting in at around 3pm. All unsuccessful riders from today's heats will have a second chance to qualify for the $12,000 wheelrace during tomorrow's programme. |