Day One, Wednesday, August 27, 1997, Morning Session
On Morning OneResults for the Keirin Heats, Individual Pursuit, Men - Qualifier, and Sprint, Women - Qualifier and some trackside gossip from our special reporter, Graham Dowden..KeirinHeatsHeat 1 saw Alexandre of Argentina take the motor and lead all the way until the bell then get swamped in the war of the crowd and some very wild swings up and down the banking. Big Marty Nothstein of the USA was blocked right under my nose on the final bend and had to settle for third and a second chance in the repecharge.
* Kamiyama JPN * Jacques GBR * Nothstein USA * Angelidis GRE * Alexandre ARG The next round included Gary Niewand to the crowd's delight. It was lead from the start by Chiappa of Italy followed by Van Zyl of South Africa. These two led into the bell lap then Niewand charged and was able to score second.
* Van Zyl RSA * Niewand AUS * Cabrero Buenache ESP The next heat was lead out by Chimonetos fo Greece on a very tasteful blue and white monocoque with Christian Arrue of the USA alongside. At the finish the seasoned Frederic Magne of France powered ahead to a clear win.
* Magne FRA * Arrue USA * Guidoni ARG In the last heat before the repecharges, which took place after the Women's Sprint Qualifier, the freight train from the West, Darryn Hill utterly crushed the opposition by leading from the front all the way from when the motor came off, stepping on the gas in the back straight, and powering to a clear and unassailable lead to the roar of the crowd and assembled primary school children in the back seats. Which reminds me, seen from the back when warming up on rollers, Darryn's enormous thighs actually bulge inward, such is the quantity of muscle in them. Ladies and Gentlemen, this young man is looking good for the final and the sprint.
* Hill AUS * Fiedler GER * Buran CZE Repecharge In the best of the rest, or the second chance for those finishing past second place in the heats, a minor accident marred the first round as Buran of CZE did himself out of the race by riding into the pale blue wash zone on the last bend and falling shrotly after, taking no-one else with him. Marty Nothstein was able to redeem himself by finishing a clear winner with Roberto Chiappa of Italy.
* Nothstein USA * Chiappa ITA The final repechage was lead by two Greeks all the way. Then then faded to finish toward the back while Spain and Argentina shared the last two places in the second round.
* Cabrero Buenache ESP * Guidoni ARG Individual Pursuit, Men, QualifierThe honour of being the first to race in the 1997 Track Worlds was given to Rob Hayles of Britain and Arsen Kazaryan of Armenia as the first pair in the Men's Individual Pursuit. From my perch in the home straight I could see Hayles being rubbed down and skinsuited by the British coach, then given a spoonful of something from a small bottle. Strange.As the pips then electronic gun went off both men were out of the saddle cranking their steel frames around to gain speed then settling in to their rhythm. By the third lap Hayles had a clear advantage aided by the UK coach who leaned over the inner track rail yelling "Ruf Ruf Ruf" or similar every time he went past. Hayle's lead increased quickly until he caught Kazaryan at halfway, then continued to try and set a fast qualifier. Hayles GBR 4:35.23 caught Kazaryan ARM 4:51.8 This was to set the pattern for the qualifiers, as only one round of the eight did not end in the loser being caught. Next up was Luke Roberts of Australia, filling in for the unwell Bradly McGee, versus Michele Canevarolo of Italy. The match looked as if it had a forgone conclusion as Roberts led away from the beginning on his superbike, with the Italian trailing on his Pinarello monocoque by 1.6 to 1.9 seconds going in to the second last lap. Sadly for Australia and the cheering crowd it was here that Cacevarolo pulled off a miracle, or unleashed carefully hidden reserves, and ran down Roberts to pull back two seconds and win by 0.03 at the line. Or as he indicated to his coach when coming back, "by that much", holding his fingers about 30mm apart. Actually I calculate 0.432m at 51.857 km/h average speed. Canevarolo ITA 4:37.653 ct Roberts AUS 4:37.683 In the next round the first of the French riders Neuville, on yellow Look monocoques with twin Comete disks moved to a rapid lead of 1.3s by two laps against Rozendall of the Netherlands, on steel frame with front Shamal and rear disc. He increased his lead rapidly and caught the Dutchman at 3:30 as the heavens opened and the roof of the Speed Dome resounded to the sound of heavy rain, finishing with the fastest time yet of 4:25.75. Neuville FRA 4:25.75 ct Rozendall NDL 4:38.62 Another fast time was set in the next round by the seasoned Jens Lehman of Germany, riding a very Darth Vader style ultranarrow black FES carbon multistrut frame against a young South African on a yellow Lotus. By 3.30 it was over: Lehmann GER 4:2?.25 ct Bloch RSA 4:41.8 Next up was Australia's next hope, Stuart O'Grady in GAN knicks and Australian top, versus Phillipe Ermenault of France, in French skinsuit. O'Grady was in trouble from the first few laps, and despite the encouragement of the crowd was caught by the Frenchman at 3:30, probably for the first time in his international track career, but not overly suprising considering his training for the event of a pro road season including the Tour de France, compared to the previous year long intensive track preparation of the previous five years. An unfortunate end to what should have been a hard contest between one of the world's two best endurance riders. Ermenault FRA 4:24.85 ct O'Grady AUS 4:38.2 In the next round Stefan Steinweg of Germany set another fast time against David George of South Africa, catching him just past halfway. Meanwhile in the bearpit, Gary Niewand and Michelle Ferris of Australia could be seen warming up on rollers surrounded by a host of TV and still photographers. Steinweg GER 4:26.95 ct George RSA 4:42.6 Ukraine's Alexandre Simonenko was the next victor, rocking his bike like crazy after the start and right through the round to defeat Lee Vertongen of New Zealand on board a steel cross frame Avanti with Spinergy wheels, catching him right on the line. Simonenko UKR 4.31.51 ct Vertongen NZL 4.40 The same thing happened in the next round as Spain's Juan Martinez Oliver almost sprinted to catch Robert Kasnicki of Poland on his line. Martinez Oliver SPA 4.27.77 ct Kasnicki POL 4.36.39 Alexi Markov of Russia set another cracking time on board a Lotus against Michael Stanstod of Denmark, who held on almost in the Russian's slipstream despite being caught at 3.30. Markov RUS 4.24.448 ct Stanstod DEN 4.32.71 The final round and it was time for Olympic champion and world silver medallist Andrea Collinelli to take to te boards in a helmet more silver than any medal could be. Sitting straight and sweet and clean on his Pinarello he ran to a lead of 6 seconds by 3 laps and overtook his American opponent on the GT ultranarrow bike developed to sweep the world away with technology. Collinelli ITA 4.24.578 ct Vandevelde USA 4.33.42. Qualifiers Unfortunately for Australia, we have no qualifiers proceeding to were too fast for any Australians to get to the final, which looks set to be a great showdown between Markov, Collinelli and the two Frenchmen, depending on who proceeds through the quarter finals this evening. Stay tuned.
* Markov RUS 4.24.448 * Collinelli ITA 4.24.578 * Ermenault FRA 4:24.85 * Neuville FRA 4:25.75 * Steinweg GER 4:26.95 * Martinez Oliver SPA 4.27.77 * Lehmann GER 4:2?.25 * Simonenko UKR 4.31.51 * Stanstod DEN 4.32.71 * Vandevelde USA 4.33.42 Trevor Trackpump's Gossip ColumnWell friends and fellow track enthusiasts, I was just going into the nearby Midland Gate shopping centre, you know, one of those huge mall things, when I spied two bike chained together, but not to any solid object, with an old chain. Dear me, eager pumpers, whose name do you think should be on it but Graeme Obree no less, and of course I immediately recognised those black Specialized Trispokes he always uses. Blow my valve eager readers but what do you suppose he was up to? I looked through Kmart and Coles trying to find him but to no avail. So we shall just have to wait until he surfaces in the team pursuit.Pssshhhhhttt. Trevor deflating until next time ... Sprint, Women, QualifierThe Women's sprint quals were run at a fairly rapid rate, with the next competitor setting off while the previous one was in the last lap. The fastest early time was set by Wang of China 11.847, which was later taken over by Nicole Reed of the USA at 11.830. Getting toward the best seeds times starting dropping until Australia'a Michelle Ferris wound up her gear to post a very speedy 11.476, which was only bettered by last woman off the blocks, Felicia Balanger of France. The experienced Enioukhina of Russia and Tanya Dubnicoff of Canada also set good times, so the stage is set for some snappy rounds as we proceed.Results
* Ballanger FRA 11.305 * Ferris AUS 11.476 * Faure FRA 11.527 * Grichina 11.686 * Dubnicoff CAN 11.714 * Enioukhina RUS 11.760 * Freitag GER 11.767 |