Day Three, Friday, August 29, 1997, Morning and Evening Sessions
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Some results and all reports kindly supplied by
Graham Dowden.
Morning
Evening
Sprint, Men - Qualifier, over 200 metresFlorian Rousseau (FRA) 10.224 Laurent Gane (FRA) 10.446 Jan Van Eijden (GER) 10.455 Darryn Hill (AUS) 10.486 Marty Nothstein (USA) 10.552 Arnaud Tournant (FRA) 10.581 Kens Fiedler (GER) 10.618 Anthony Peden (AUS) 10.618 John Giletto (FRA) 10.629 Eyk Pokorny (GER) 10.635 Viesturs Berzins (LIT) 10.635 Pavel Buran (RCH) 10.636 Roberto Chiappa (ITA) 10.643 Jean-Pierre Van Zyl (RSA) 10.741 Georgios Chimonetos (GRE) 10.745 Lampros Vassilopoulos (GRE) 10.752 Jose Manuel Moreno (ESP) 10.774 Keiji Kojima (JAP) 10.778 Grzegorz Trebski (POL) 10.789 Christian Arrue (USA) 10.814 Sean Eadie (AUS) 10.818 Ainars Kiksis (LIT) 10.835 Serguei Demtchenko (UKR) 10.890 Jason Craig (NZL) 10.894 Sprint, Men - Round 1Florian Rousseeau (FRA) beat Jason Craig (NZL) 11.259 Laurent Gane (FRA) beat Serguei Demtchenko (UKR) 10.925 Jan Van Eijden (GER) beat Ainars Kiksis (LAT) 11.194 Darryn Hill (AUS) beat Sean Eadie (AUS) 11.131 Marty Notbstein (USA) beat Christian Arrue (USA) 11.275 Arnaud Tournant (FRA) bt Grzegorz Trebski (POL) 11.153 Jens Fiedler (GER) bt Keiji Kojima (JAP) 11.432 Anthony Peden (AUS) bt Jose Moreno (SPA) 11.255 John Giletto (FRA) bt Lampros Vassilopoulos (GRE) 10.931 Eyk Pokorny (GER) bt Georgios Chimonetos (GRE) 11.126 Viesturs Berzins(LET)bt Jean-Pierre Van Zyl (AFS) 11.367 Roberto Chiappa (ITA) bt Pavel Ruran (RCH) 11.543 Team Pursuit - QualifierIt had to happen. Thanks to the joys of public transport I missed the very first qualifying round of the men's Team Pursuit. And for some reason they drew Australia to run first. So I can only assure you that they were very well drilled and that their wheels were almost touching becuase the lady sitting next to me saw it. Time: 4.17.905Ukraine then took to the boards and posted a cracking 4.10.630 to get what would be the second fastest time. Spain had their go go next on a mix of bikes including a diamond strut flattened tube carbon Colnago. Very nice, I'll have one for those Sunday evening rides - can't ride black in the morning, sorry. Their time, 4.16.630 and already their AUS team was being pushed down toward the bottom of the ladder. New Zealand had an immaculately turned out squad, all aboard identical black monocoques with twin Campag discs andd posted 4.14.359 to push the Spaniards down in turn. A super young Polish team (age 19-23) set a slow time of 4.20.602, dropping a man with still two laps to go. The British all turned out on lo-pro steel frames with rear discs and front trispokes, minus Graeme Obree, who could be seen sitting in the bearpit in a tracksuit, perhaps saving himself for the later rounds. Also, drama and tragedy struck Rob Hayles - with only two laps complete he pulled a foot out of his SPD type cleats, leaving the rest of the lads a difficult task indeed. But they rose to the occasion to put 4.17.475 on the scoreboard, a full half second above Australia. Rule Brittania! Are you wondering where this is being written? On the bonnie bonnie banks of the Swan River in downtown Perth, from where I can report that Telstra is laying fibre right along the middle of the road. Exciting stuff. Oh I am sorry, we were just getting to the Danes ... These chaps had two Pinarello Espada bikes, no doubt hand me downs from Miguel to Bjarne, and now no longer required. OK OK that's a little flippant. The other two bikes were sloping tube steel frames and the team put in a fair 4.17.139 to finish. The USA was next all on GT superbikes, ran to a very fast half way split of 2.08 and continued a very well drilled ride to get 3rd fastest overall. Russia did another fast time of 4.12.715, even though one of their men has a very bobbing style, while Markov reamined like a rock on target. The Germans and their amazing multi strut black FES carbon creations with very noisy chains and Rudy Project helmets put up 4.11.525 for 4th best time. Down to the very big guns now and France, complete with solid Mavic chainrings on their lovely yellow Look frames with twin Comete discs looked a bit too gappy and wobbly for what turned out to be the fastest time by a second, 4.09.941. So it was left to Italy to finish the qualifiers, and perhaps because Collinelli had swapped his silver helmet for a more muted blue one, they could only get the second fastest half and three quarter splits to finish 5th best at 4.11.771. So a fairly tight field for the next round, with most in the 4.11s, promising some good racing later on. Too bad for AUS, POL, and DEN who all failed to qualify, along with GBR and former two times individual champion Obree, who was later spotted sinking tins of appropriately, or wistfully named Swan Gold in the stalls ...
First 8 to Quarter Finals 1. France 4.10,040 2. Ukraine 4.10,630 3. United States 4.11,315 4. Germany 4.11,630 5. Italy 4.11,900 6. Russia 4.12,795 7. New Zealand 4.14,545 8. Spain 4.16,460 Quarters Draw: France - Spain Ukraine - NZ USA - Russia Germany - Italy Team Pursuit - Quarter Finals
1km 2km 3km Time Km/h
1. ITALY 1'05"449 2'05"788 3'06"884 4'08"055 58.052
Capelli, Andrea
Citton, Christiano
Collinelli, Andrea
Benetton, Mario
beat
GERMANY 1'05"122 2'05"836 3'07"083 4'08"790 57.880
Fulst, Guido
Becke, Daniel
Lademann, Christian
Rund, Torhsten
2. Friedick, Mariano 1'06"205 2'06"476 3'06"942 4'08"500 57.948
Laurnet, Adam
Mulkey, Tommy
Vandevelde, Christian
beat
RUSSIA 1'06"098 2'06"331 3'07"729 4'09"850 57.635
Chantyr, Anton
Gritsoun, Edouard
Kouanetsov, Nikolai
Markov, Alexei
3. UKRAINE 1'05"218 2'04"314 3'04"354 4'05"830 58.577
Klimenko, Alexandre
Fedenko, Alexander
Matveyev, Serguei
Simonenko, Alexandre
beat
New Zealand 1'07"067 2'08"390 3'09"995 4'12"790 56.964
Anderson, Gary
Cameron, Brendon
Carswell, Timothy
Henderson, Gregory
4. FRANCE 1'06"059 2'06"189 3'06"547 4'06"385 58.44
Da Cruz, Carlos
Ermenault, Philippe
Neuville, Jerome
Perque, Franck
beat
SPAIN 1'07"134 2'08"650 3'11"194 4'13"790 56.740
Alperi Plaza, Adolfo
Galvez Lopez, Isaac
Herrero Atienza, Ivan
Martinez Oliver, Juan
Points Race - WomenOnly 13 women lined up for the Point's Race on Friday night, held over 96 laps (24km) with sprints every 8 laps for points and double points on the last lap, and a lap ahead defeating any number of points.The start list: * Teutenberg GER * Smith AUS * Gorojanskaia BLR * Wang CHN sprinter * Ruano Sanchon ESP * Reinhart USA * Boyden GBR * Bellutti ITA world cup points leader * Razmaite LIT sprinter * Guerrero MEX * Haringa NDL * Karimova RUS * Larreal VENSmith of AUS was off to a flying start to the usual cheers, getting to a lead of 100m before being swept up by the pack. Still, she took the first sprint. Points after sprint 1: AUS 5, MEX 3, ITA 1 USA and GER made a 20m break and were swept up, whereupon ESP flew out of the pack to a 90 lead and got the next sprint. Points after sprint 2: AUS 5, ESP 5, NDL 5, MEX 3, ITA 1 Ruano Sanchon (hereafter referred to as ESP) was still out the front at 70m, then 100m, with the bunch looking at each other in expectation, hope, or just plain disinterest, wandering along like a Sunday afternoon training ride and enabling ESP to take the next sprint. Points after sprint 3: ESP 10, AUS 5, NDL 5 This was the singal for Wang to repeat her performance in the sprint, dropping out for now apparent reason. ESP was still at 100m and this time someone in the bunch decided something had to be done so there was a burst of speed, splitting the main group into two as people fought to hold on. ESP slowed down a bit and was clearly working hard, but still managed to hold everyone off, or at least keep going at a constant speed, and naturally took the next sprint. Points after sprint 4: ESP 15 Well at least Russia and Mexico realised the race would be over unless they did something and roared ahead, actually (gasp!) working together to join ESP at an unbelievable 150m ahead of the rest. The bunch woke up just enough to drop VEN and LAT off the back as they tried to bridge the gap but the leading trio of ESP, RUS and MEX had them in their sights in the back straight and voila! with 55 laps to go it was all over. Pathetic! Points after sprint 5: ESP 18, RUS 11, MEX 7, rest -1 lap Sudden drama: Spain falls over into the inner fence right in the middle of the back straight for no apparent reason! Hastily on her feet and helped by an army of assistants she gets up and wheels back on to the track, bike and body intact, to rejoin the bunch on the next lap. Points after sprint 6: ESP 18, RUS 12, MEX 9, rest -1 lap Consternation among my fellow spectators: is she allowed to take a lap out or is she now with the bunch a lap down? The scoreboard shows she is still a lap up so it appears the former is true. Bellutti of Italy leads the best of the rest in the charge for the next sprint to score. Points after sprint 7: ESP 18, RUS 15, MEX 11, rest -1 lap ITA 10 GER and NDL have a go. Pack in disorder. Points after sprint 8: ESP 18, RUS 17, MEX 11, rest -1 lap ITA 10 This is ridiculous, the entire bunch have slowed down so much that they will soon be trackstanding to let one another past! But dinga-lingaling the alarm clock goes off, waking them up enough for GER to take the next sprint ahead of RUS. Points after sprint 9: RUS 22, ESP 19, MEX 11, rest -1 lap USA 11, ITA 10 ITA drops back 30m for no obvious reason, but Lo! All things come back to she who waits and sure enough, of its own accord the pack respectfully lowers its speed again to let her get back on. Oh dear, there's the bell again ... Points after sprint 10: RUS 23, ESP 19, MEX 11, rest -1 lap USA 13, ITA 10 What's this? Sandra Smith, urged on by a titaninc roar, shoots to the front but fails to proceed, is caught, wherupon the natural reduction in speed enables the four dropped off the back to get back on. Not suprising considering it takes about 26 seconds for a lap (34km/h). Smith is at least able to take the next sprint. Points after sprint 11: RUS 25, ESP 19, MEX 11, rest -1 lap USA 16, AUS 10 -1 lap, ITA 10 In a strange turn of events, Bellutti goes on the attack with 3 laps to go, either tryinh the impossible, or loosening her legs up for tomorrow's individual prusuit.. She holds a 30m lead and comes in to take the final double points sprint with NDL roaring alongside to take second. Everyone slows down and goes back to their corrals. The Mexican girl is weeping while her coach embraces her, probably having just won Mexico's first medal at World Chamopionship level. Well. Well, what can be said about a start and stop disorganised sort of race, the results of which were decided at less than half way and never challenged? Not much more than I have said already really ...
1. Karimova, Natalia RUS 29 points
2. Ruano, Sanchon ESP 29
3. Guerrero, Belem MEX 19
At 1 lap
4. Bellutti, Antonella ITA 20
5. Haringa, Ingrid NED 16
6. Reinhart, Nicole USA 16
7. Smith, Sandra AUS 10
8. Boyden, Sally GBR 9
9. Teutenberg, Ina GER 7
10. Gorojanskaia, L BLR 4
At 2 laps
11. Razmaite, Rita LTU 1
12. Larreal, Daniela VEN 0
13. Wang, Yan CHN DNF
Women's Sprint Semi-finalsRide off for 4th-8th - A lacklustre display saw Freitag GER beat Yanovych UKR, Enioukhina RUS and Dubnicoff CAN. Thats all.Ride off for 3rd and 4th So to the second last round of the sprint, the ride off for 3rd and 4th place between Grichina of Russia and Faure of France. * Faure leads for most of the way, then a desparate side by side contest down the home straight leads to the first real photo finish of the competition which goes to Grichina. * Grichina leads, Faure comes up and again its neck and neck down the straight with Faure getting it by a wheel on the line. * A very slow lead out by the Russian, Faure zips by with 2 to go, the Grichina fights back around the last bend and into the home straight to win by a small margin, and get the bronze medal. Finally, some hard fought competition in what has otherwise been a fairly straightforward contest. Back in the Russian bearpit its all smiles and kisses between the tall, blond Russian woman in her tracksuit whom I have never seen do anything, and the very chunky Grichina and her teammate Enioukhina. Semi Final Ballanger FRA vs Grichina RUS * Ballanger lead all the way for an easy win. * RUS lead out, FRA dived underneath before the bell and holds it for another easy win. The top seed through to the final as expected. Ferris AUS vs Faure FRA * FRA lead out, AUS cam around the side on the back and holds it easily despite a late challenge. * AUS lead out, a quick wiggle up the bank before the bend the AUS is away to an clean win without seeming to make too much effort. No suprises, a Ballanger - Ferris final, as these two have been in a class of their own against all the other women and have never been seriously challanged. Pity.
Felicia Rallanger (FRA) beat Okssana Grishina (RUS) 2-0 Michelle Ferris (AUS) beat Magali Humbert-Faure (FRA) 2-0 Women's Sprint FinalFrench Felicia Ballanger won her third World title in the sprint after beating Australian Michelle Ferris (2-1) in the final. The third place went to Russian Oksana Grishina, who beat French Magali Humbert-Faure.And so to the final we had to have: the young home favourite Michelle Ferris of Australia against my favourite Felicia Ballanger of France, older and more experienced (alors, quest-que j'ai dit?). No really, as longs as its a good match I don't mind ... * Ballanger lead out very high, Ferris dropped underneath, Ballanger in turn drops under before the bell and Ferris comes ramming home trying to push her into the infield, holding her hard against the wash zone. Ballanger sits up in the home home straight as if to say "Did you see that?" to the commissaire standing on the home bend. The commissaires deliberate in fornt of the TV monitor, the corner judge walks over. The Australian track coach walks over. More time passes. An announcement is made: Ferris is the winner. * Ferris to lead this time and a fast pace with Ballanger on her tail. Ballanger moves up on the bell lap and leads out hard and true all the way to the line with Ferris absolutely unable to pass. One all, so it goes to a tie break. And so it always should. * The guy next to me who used to race track in Trinidad (true!) says Ferris can only win if its a short sprint. So this time Ballanger leads, up high with two to go, then they are both flying sied by side for the whole bell lap, neck and neck then Ballanger has it won by the last bend and Ferris is backing off as she continues to the line. Mesdames et mesieurs, le nouvelle championne du monde, Felicia Ballanger! Applause and cheers all around as both women do a few laps, Ballanger with a French flag, Ferris holding her hands up and applauding as she rides down the home straight. At the medal ceremony the following night I happen to really notice Ballanger legs for the first time in the binoculars. Friends, these are no ordinary legs, they are extraordinary legs. The lower muscle group of her thighs clearly overhang her kneecaps, which two enormous blocks of quadriceps visible at the front. I mean, I noticed that she has a fairly big rear, but in proportion, it is not. She makes all the other women, and many of the men, look small in the leg department. No wonder she is multiple sprint and time trail champion, but here we are getting ahead of ourselves ...
1. Felicia Ballanger (Fra) - 12"017 11"726 2. Michelle Ferriss (Australia) 11"734 - - 3. Oksana Grichina (Rus) 12"049 - - 4. Magali Faure (Fra) - 12"384 - 5. Kathrin Frietag (Ger) 12"489 Magali Marie Faure (Fra) was warned for riding on the blue band during the sprint. |