Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Giro finale Photo ©: Bettini |
Introduction to Track Racing - What's a Wheelrace? - Introduction to Six Day racing - UCI codes
Los Angeles Track World Cup - CDM
ADT Velodrome, Carson, California, USA, January 19-21, 2007
Main Page Results Overall standings Next Session
Session 1 - Morning, Friday January 19: Women: sprint qual; points race qual. Men: keirin qual; individual pursuit qual; scratch qual
Upset day in LA
By Rob Jones
|
The opening session of the Los Angeles Track World Cup did not see any finals contested, but there were plenty of upsets, as numerous favourites did not make it through qualifying or first round action. Among those upset were Olympic sprint silver medalist Tamilia Abassova (Russia) and Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands) in the women's sprint, Canada's Travis Smith in Men's Keirin and David O'Loughlin (Ireland) in the Individual Pursuit.
Women's Sprint
Nineteen riders were entered in the sprint, so the top 16 would qualify from the 200M time trial. Normally, this would be straightforward for the top contenders, but both Abassova and Nancy Contreras (Mexico) didn't make the cut. China's Guo Shuang set the fast time of 11.366 seconds, followed by the Dutch pair of Willy Kanis (11.447) and Hijgenaar (11.500).
In the first round Hijgenaar was up against first-time World Cup competitor Liz Carlson - the final qualifier. Hijgenaar may have been too confident because she left the door open late in the second lap for Carlson to drop down and claim the inside lane. Hijgenaar dropped in on Carlson, forcing her onto the apron and was relegated, knocking her out of competition.
"I know she is fast, so I tried to ride from behind and wait for an opportunity to surprise her," explained Carlson. "Then she dropped down and ran into me. But it is pretty amazing to go on to the next round at my first event - holy crap!"
The other favourites made it through to the next round of eight, except for Oksana Grishina (Russia), who lost against former world champion Clara Sanchez (France). The quarter-finals only took two rides each, with Guo, Sanchez, Jane Gerisch (Germany) and Anna Meares (Australia) moving on to tonight's semi-finals.
Men's Keirin
With the exception of Smith and Josiah Ng (Malaysia), all the top riders made it through the first round, with Ng getting to the second round through the repecharge. Smith wasn't so lucky. In the first round he was up against Roberto Chiappa (Italy) and Gregory Bauge (France), and in the repecharge he was relegated for leaving his line and drifting up the track as the race entered the second last corner.
"It was crazy," he said. "I locked bars with somebody and got pulled up the track. This wasn't what I was looking for."
Chris Hoy (Great Britain) has switched over to the Keirin after his Athens gold medal event - the Kilo - was dropped. His transition seems to be going well, with the big Scot not challenged at all as he led his heat from the front.
Men's Individual Pursuit
There were no real surprises in the qualifying round of the men's pursuit, with Vitaliy Popkov (Ukraine) the only rider to go under four and a half minutes. He will be joined by Fabien Sanchez (France) for the gold medal final, while former Los Angeles winner Sergi Escobar (Spain) will go up against Valeriy Valynin (Russia) for the bronze. Third through sixth were all within a second of each other.
Canadian national time trial champion Svein Tuft (Symmetrics), riding his first pursuit at this level started out very strong, with a 1:10 for his first kilometre, but then faded to finish 13th.
"I was feeling good and got a little too excited," he admitted. "But this is hard; as hard as a 40 Kilometre time trial. This is just the start, I plan to stay with the track this year as much as possible."
Men's Scratch Race
The two 7.5 kilometre heats were both filled, with the top 12 moving on to tonight's final. In the first heat Ignatas Konovalovas stole a march on the field early on to take a lap, with the rest of the race coming down to a sprint finish. In the second heat, three riders managed to stay clear of the field and sprinted for the remaining spots in the final.
Women's Point Race
The first heat saw five riders take a lap on the field, with world pursuit
champion Sarah Hammer (USA) spending much of the race at the front of field
to keep up the tempo. Hammer, her team mate Rebecca Quinn and Worlds Scratch
Race silver medal Gina Grain (Canada) were among the qualifiers. The second
heat followed a similar pattern, with five riders also lapping the field. Rochelle
Gilmore (Australia) was also among the qualifiers.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Mitch Clinton/www.clintonphoto.com
- Rubbing elbows on day one of the LA Track World Cup
- Anna Meares (AUS) & Willy Hanis (NED) duke it out in the early sprint rounds
- Liz Carlson (USA) does her best to hold off Jane Gerish (GER)
- Rafat Ratajczyk (POL) attacked on the last lap and took second in an early Keirin heat
- Leire Olaberria Dorronsoro (DUR) Poors it on in the final lap inan early points race heat
Images by Mitch Friedman/www.mitchophoto.com
- Tamilia Abassova of Russia had a off day
- Shuang Guo gets up too speed
- Tamilia Abassova smiles even with a bad day at the track
- Anna Meares
- Liz Carlson and Yvonne Hijgenaar
- Sarah Hammer and Vera Carrara
- Daniela Larreal
- Gideon Massie leads the way in a Keirin heat
- Jane Gerisch and Liz Carlson go at it in a sprint race
- Willy Kanis and Anna Meares
- Liz Carlson and Jane Gerisch go for it
- Josiah Ng looks back to see where Gideon Massie is
- Jinjie Gong gets looked at after her crash
- Vitaliy Popkov will ride for the gold tonight
- Fabien Sanchez will ride for Gold tonight
- is it the BB or rear cog that wont work on Ingmar De Poortere’s bike
- Sarah Hammer
- Vera Carrara
- Sarah Hammer
- Italy’s Giorgia Bronzini is World Cup Leader in the Points race
Images by Rob Jones/www.canadiancyclist.com
- Round 1
- Travis Smith (Can) & Gregory Bauge (Fra)
- Travis Smith (Can) & Gregory Bauge (Fra)
- Chris Hoy (GBr), Kazuya Narita (Jpn), Lukasz
- Gideon Massie (USA) & Luis Toussaint (Mex)
- Fabien Sanchez (Fra)
- Svein Tuft (Symmetrics)
- Jenning Huizenga (Ned)
- Valeriy Valynin (Rus)
- Sam Bewley (NZl)
- Patrick Gretsch (Ger)
- Hayden Josefski (Aus)
- Vitaliy Popkov (Ukr)
- Tom Zirbel (USA)
- Fabien Sanchez (Fra)
- David O'Loughlin (Ire)
- Sergi Escobar Roure (Spa)
- Giairo Ermeti (Ita)
- Gong Jinjie (Chn)
- Yvonne Hijgenaar (Ned)
- Willy Kanis (Ned)
- Swetlana Grankowskaja (Mos)
- Guo Shuang (Chn)
- Jennie Reed wins ride for 5th place
- Daniela Larreal (Ven) & Anna Meares (Aus)
- Jennie Reed (USA) & Gong Jinjie (Chn)
- Guo Shuang (Chn)
- Anna Meares (Aus), Willy Kanis (Ned)
- Swetlana Grankowskaja (Mos) & Clara Sanchez (Fra)
- Gong Jinjie (Chn) & Oksana Grishina (Rus)
Results
Men's Individual Pursuit qualifying
1 Vitaliy Popkov (Ukr) 4.29.40
2 Fabien Sanchez (Fra) 4.30.44
3 Sergi Escobar Roure (Spa) 4.30.91
4 Valeriy Valynin (Rus) 4.31.40
5 David O'loughlin (Irl) 4.31.84
6 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) 4.31.93
7 Jenning Huizenga (Ned) 4.32.48
8 Tom Zirbel (USA) 4.34.27
9 Giairo Ermeti (Ita) 4.34.31
10 Sam Bewley (NZl) 4.36.37
11 Andrew Tennant (GBr) 4.38.37
12 Aliaksandr Lisouski (Blr) 4.39.46
13 Svein Tuft (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team 4.39.69
14 Hayden Josefski (Aus) 4.41.51
15 Sergiy Laghkuti (Ukr) Arda Natura Pinarello Ukraina 4.42.00
16 Sergejus Apionkinas (Ltu) 4.42.23
17 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team 100% Me 4.44.30
18 Martin Lollesgaard (Den) 4.51.21
19 Christian Valenzuela (Mex) 5.05.45
DNF Ingmar De Poortere (Bel)
Men's Keirin - round one
Heat 1
1 Gregory Bauge (Fra)
2 Roberto Chiappa (Ita)
3 Ricardo Lynch (Jam)
4 Travis Smith (Can)
5 Anton Rudoy (Rus)
Heat 2
1 Chris Hoy (GBr)
2 Kazuya Narita (Jpn)
3 Cédric Stoller (Swi)
4 Dan Wu (Chn)
5 Lukasz Kwiatkowski (Pol)
Heat 3
1 Ross Edgar (GBr) Scienceinsport.Com
2 Shane Perkins (Aus) South Australia.Com
3 Jaroslav Jerabek (Svk)
4 Adam Ptacnik (Cze)
5 Panagiotis Keloglou (Gre)
Heat 4
1 José Antonio Escuredo Raimondez (Spa)
2 Scott Sunderland (Aus)
3 Gideon Massie (USA)
4 Josiah Ng Onn Lam (Mas)
5 Luis Toussaint (Mex)
6 Haseem Mclean (Tri)
Repechage 1
Heat 1
1 Josiah Ng Onn Lam (Mas)
2 Gideon Massie (USA)
3 Ricardo Lynch (Jam)
5 Anton Rudoy (Rus)
6 Luis Toussaint (Mex)
REL Travis Smith (Can)
Heat 2
1 Lukasz Kwiatkowski (Pol)
2 Panagiotis Keloglou (Gre)
3 Adam Ptacnik (Cze)
4 Dan Wu (Chn)
5 Cédric Stoller (Swi)
6 Haseem Mclean (Tri)
7 Jaroslav Jerabek (Svk)
Men's scratch qualifying
Heat 1
1 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu)
One lap behind
2 Rafat Ratajczyk (Pol)
3 Jesse Sergent (NZl)
4 Steve Schets (Bel)
5 Fabio Masotti (Ita)
6 Martin Liska (Svk)
7 Jhon G. Durango (Col)
8 Marcel Kalz (Ger)
9 Ho Ting Kwok (HKg)
10 Russel Hampton (GBr) Team 100% Me
11 Charles Bradley Huff (USA) Team Tiaa Cref
12 Guillermo Ferrer Garcia (Spa)
13 Andrey Klyuev (Rus) Moscow
14 Hayden Josefski (Aus)
15 Martin Lollesgaard (Den)
16 Oleksandr Klymko (Ukr) Arda Natura Pinarello Ukraina
17 Austin Carroll (USA)
DNS Rodrigo Silva (Bra)
DNS James Carney (USA) Team Fuji
Heat 2
1 Volodymyry Rybin (Ukr)
2 Oleksandr Polivoda (Ukr) Isd Sport Donetsk
3 Bruno Mzi (Swi)
4 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)
5 Wim Stroetinga (Ned)
6 Walter Perez (Arg)
7 Aitor Alonso Granados (Spa) Cespa - Eustrak.Com
8 Siarhei Daubniuk (Blr)
9 Ryan Mckenzie (Can)
10 François Lamiraud (Fra)
11 Ben Swift (GBr)
12 Panagiotis Keloglou (Gre)
13 Mario Lexmüller (Aut)
14 Sergey Kolesnikov (Rus)
15 Carlos Manuel Hernandez Santana (Mex)
16 Marsh Cooper (Can) Symmetrics Cycling Team
17 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn)
DNF Roberto Alvarado Torres (PRc)
DNS Paul Che Altamirano (Per)
DNS Yriy Ivoljatov (Uzb)
Women's Sprint qualifying
1 Shuang Guo (Chn) 0.11.37
2 Willy Kanis (Ned) 0.11.45
3 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Ned) 0.11.50
4 Swetlana Grankowskaja (Rus) Moscow 0.11.55
5 Clara Sanchez (Fra) 0.11.56
6 Lisandra Guerra (Cub) 0.11.56
7 Daniela Larreal (Ven) 0.11.62
8 Jinjie Gong (Chn) 0.11.69
9 Jennie Reed (USA) 0.11.71
10 Anna Meares (Aus) 0.11.72
11 Jane Gerisch (Ger) 0.11.77
12 Oksana Grishina (Rus) 0.11.86
13 Magdalena Sara (Pol) 0.11.98
14 Liz Carlson (USA) 0.12.01
15 Sandie Clair (Fra) 0.12.09
16 Kaarle Mcculloch (Aus) 0.12.18
17 Tamilia Abassova (Rus) 0.12.18
18 Nancy Contreras Reyes (Mex) 0.12.26
19 Renata Dabrowska (Pol) 0.12.32
Women's Points Race qualifying
Heat 1
1 Gema Pascual Torrecilla (Spa) 25 pts
2 Charlotte Becker (Ger) 23
3 Marllijn Binnendijk (Ned) 21
4 Bettina Kuhn (Swi) 20
5 Jianling Wang (Chn) 20
One lap behind
6 Leire Olaberria Dorronsoro (Spa) Cespa - Eustrak.Com 7 pts
7 Gina Grain (Can) 5
8 Sarah Hammer (USA) 5
9 Gonzalez Valdinieso (Cub) 5
10 Olga Slyusareva (Rus) 3
11 Rebecca Quinn (USA) 3
12 Vera Carrara (Ita) 3
13 Jarmila Machacova (Cze) 2
14 Jessica Jurado (Mex) 1
15 Elodie Henriette (Fra) 1
16 Iona Wynter (Jam)
17 Graciela Martinez (Arg)
Heat 2
1 Guerrero Mdez Belem (Mex) 22 pts
2 Ruzickova Martina (Cze) 20
3 Antoshina Tatiana (Rus) 20
4 Moncassin Cathy (Fra) 20
5 Galvez Lopez Debora (Spa) 20
One lap behind
6 Visser Adrie (Ned) 10
7 Yulia Arustamova (Rus) Moscow 7
8 Gilmore Rochelle (Aus) 6
9 Li Yan (Chn) 5
10 Gonzalez Perez Yoanka (Cub) 5
11 Bronzini Giorgia (Ita) 5
12 Tess Downing (Aus) Drapac Porsche 4
13 Vypyraylo Lyudmyla (Ukr)
14 Kate Cullen (GBr) Recycling.Co.Uk
15 Schnider Pascale (Swi)
16 Tzoumanika Maria (Gre)
17 Joos Verena (Ger)
