World Track Championships

Germany, October 20-24, 1999

Day 4 - October 23

Report - France continue dominance as Asian countries emerge

German Jens Fiedler lost but played anyway the main part in the men's sprint finals. In the first round his opponent, France's Laurent Gané tried to pass him on the inside but the German forced him off the track and passed the finish line first. Fiedler, unbeaten all the way to the final. was relegated to second and also got a 100 Swiss franc fine. Fiedler lost concentration and was defeated in the second round.

"I didn't think my action deserved such a severe punishmen,. it's a normal part of racing at this level. Now I'll put it behind me and concentrate on defending my keirin title tomorrow." Fiedler said after the race.

The new World Champion Laurent Gané actually comes from New Caledonia. Before becoming a full time cyclist he worked in a nickel mine on his home island. In 1995 he came to France and got the legendary Daniel Morelon as a trainer.

France's Felicia Ballanger, also trained by Morelon, took her second gold in the women's 500 metres time trial. Yesterday she won the sprints and today the time trial. China's Cuihua Jiang was the surprise of the race winning the silver medal only 0.392 of a second slower than Ballanger's 34.477. sec.

In the points race another Asian sensation took the bronze. South Korea's Cho Ho-sung finished after Switzerland's Bruno Risi and Ukranian Vasyl Yakovlev. The three riders shared the lead into the final kilometre. The Korean's impressive sprinting abilities made Risi attack and go clear of the pach with three lower placed riders and thus gain points enough to take his fourth points race title.

The 25 years old Korean was as surprised as anyone else at the Berlin velodrome: "It's the Republic of Korea's first ever world medal in track cycling, and has come as a great surprise. The sport is not well known in my country, there are only about 700 racing cyclists," he said. Meanwhile, Silvio Martinello could only manage fifth place with Francis Moreau in sixth.

Results

Men's points race. 40 kms:
1.  Bruno Risi (Swi)        25 points
2.  Vasyl Yakovlev (Ukr)    18 
3.  Cho ho-Sung (Kor)       15 
4.  Andreas Kappes (Ger)    15 
5.  Silvio Martinello (Ita) 10 
6.  Francis Moreau (Fra)     9 
7.  Franz Stocher (Aut)      8 
8.  Juan Llaneras (Spa)      8 

At one lap:
9.  James Carney (USA)      13 
10. Marlon Perez (Col)       9 
11. Juan Curuchet (Arg)      8 
12. Robert Hayles (Gbr)      8 
13. Matthew Gilmore (Bel)    3 
14. Fernando Avila (Mex)     0 
15. Kouji Yoshii (Jpn)       0 

At two laps:
16. Lubor Tesar (Cze)        7 
17. Edouard Gritsoun (Rus)   6 
18. Jukka Heinikanen (Fin)   2 

18 riders classified


Men's sprint, finals:

Laurent Gané (Fra) beat Jens Fiedler (Ger) 2 - 0
(declassification and 11.032)

For third:
Florian Rousseau (Fra) beat Arnaud Tournant (Fra) 2 - 0
(11.543 and11.008)

Final classification:
1. Laurent Gané (Fra)
2. Jens Fiedler (Ger)
3. Florian Rousseau (Fra)
4. Arnaud Tournant (Fra)
5. Marty Nothstein (USA)
6. Eyk Pokorny (Ger)
7. Mickaël Bourgain (Fra)
8. Darryn Hill (Aus)


Women's 500 metres

1. Félicia Ballanger (Fra)     34.477 
2. Jiang Cuihua (Chn)          34.809 
3. Ulrike Weichelt (Ger)       35.166 
4. Katrin Freitag (Ger)        35.262 
5. Magali Faure (Fra)          35.333 
6. Michelle Ferris (Aus)       35.567 
7. Katrin Meinke (Ger)         35.627 
8. Tanya Dubnicoff (Can)       35.677 
9. Lyndelle Higginson (Aus)    35.780 
10. Julie Forrester (Gbr)      35.979 
11. Nancy Contreras (Mex)      36.058 
12. Oksana Grishina (Rus)      36.177 
13. Tatiana Malianova (Rus)    36.215 
14. Karelia Machado (Ven)      36.219 
15. Szilvia Szabolcsi (Hun)    36.315 
16. Fiona Ramage (Nzl)         36.554 
17. Jennie Reed (USA)          36.709 
18. Iryna Yanovych (Ukr)       36.889