Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Dauphiné Libéré Photo ©: Sirotti |
Introduction to Track Racing - What's a Wheelrace? - Introduction to Six Day racing - UCI codes
Australian Madison Championships - CN
Vodafone Arena, Melbourne, Australia, March 1, 2008
O'Shea sensational in Australian Madison defence
By Malcolm Sawford in Melbourne
|
Glenn O'Shea burst onto the senior scene as a 17 year old in 2007 with a win in the Madison championships, paired with South Australian youngster Jack Bobridge. Still just 18 years old and riding with Leigh Howard, he defended his title in emphatic style recording a comprehensive win over the number one ranked pair of Travis and Cameron Meyer, with the rest of the field finishing up to 11 laps in arrears.
O'Shea had earlier picked up a prestigious win in the Sid Patterson Grand Prix Handicap, riding from the scratch mark. "It's an unreal night!" O'Shea exclaimed. "I can't believe it. I'm actually a little surprised with my form - I was hoping to come up next week for the Bendigo Madison. Hopefully I'll continue to come up and I'll be going really, really well then!"
Australian Madison Championships
Sean Finning and James Langedyk were the first team to attack, but as the line neared for the first of the race's 10 sprints, O'Shea sprinted clear of the bunch to overhaul Finning and take the win. The Meyer brothers counter attacked straight after the sprint, however, and quickly opened a sizeable lead as the bunch began to splinter for the first time of many.
When Cameron Meyer took the second sprint, four teams were in pursuit: O'Shea and Howard, Miles Olman and Mitch Docker, Finning and Langedyk and the Dutch pair of Roy Peters and Geert-Jan Jonkman. The Meyers took the sprint and pressed on with their attack, and began to pass teams at the rear of the field, while the chasing pace set by Howard saw only the Olman/Docker pair able to hang on.
|
By the time the two chasing teams reached the back of the main bunch, the Meyers had jumped away again and had closed in on a trio of teams who were 50 metres ahead of the bunch. Olman and Docker were left stranded at the back of the bunch when Howard set off after the Meyers and eventually made contact immediately after the third sprint.
Confusion reigned however when judges awarded the sprint win to Howard, ruling that the Meyers had already taken their second lap on the bunch. The decision incurred the wrath of both Cameron Meyer, who politely suggested the officials "fix the scoreboard" as he rolled past the judges enclosure, and Matthew Gilmore, the 6 Day star now working for Cycling Australia who tried repeatedly but unsuccessfully to convince the commissaires they had erred.
The two leading pairs traded attacks approaching the fourth sprint, but once again O'Shea was untouchable, and the leaders went on to claim the following three sprints as well to build an unassailable lead. By the end of the race, the winners had collected six sprint wins, and were unplaced in only one sprint to finish on 36 points, well clear of the Meyers with 15. The 50 kilometres were covered in 56'57", a championship record.
|
Olman and Docker looked better and better as the race went on, but had no chance to erase their one lap deficit on the two leading pairs. Finning/Langedyk, David Pell and Brad Edmunds and Peters/Jonkman were the best of the rest a further two laps down.
Gilmore was effusive in his praise of the winners. "Leigh Howard and Glenn O'Shea were sensational and clear cut winners, but it should have been closer. There was a lot of confusion. They [the Meyers] hadn't lapped more than half the field but [the commissaires] had already given them the lap too early. It could have possibly changed the course of the race, but having said that they wouldn't have beaten the sensational Howard and O'Shea tonight."
Howard had been quietly confident of a good performance, not concerned about the favouritism bestowed on the Meyer brothers, or the rumour doing the rounds that the only way for Australia to secure a Madison berth at Beijing was for the Meyers to earn the UCI points that go with the national championships win. "Me and Glenn have trained together the past couple of weeks and I've been on good form. We know each other's riding style, and we rode together at the junior worlds. Unfortunately we didn't win there but we rode really well and I knew we would do well tonight."
|
Gilmore also shed some light on the Australia's Olympic qualification hopes in the Madison. "Leigh and Glenn have also got some points, so after this championships we've finished both the Meyer's and Howard/O'Shea in positions one and two which is a very positive outcome. It's a division 4 race which will mean 15 points and that will now put us in contention to go to the world championships."
Before tonight, Australia languished in 22nd place on the UCI's Madison rankings. Only the top 18 can contest the worlds, and only the top 13 after the world championships will earn a place in Beijing.
Cameron Meyer admitted to a tinge of disappointment at the result. "You always want to win the race, but it was a quality 18 team field and we ran second." He is looking forward to the rematch next weekend at the Bendigo Madison. "It suits us a bit more. It's a longer race and being outdoors it should suit us well."
Bendigo, in O'Shea's words, "is going to be big! It's my home town and I'm really amped to win. It can't get any better than riding it in the national champion's colours either!"
Sid Patterson Grand Prix
|
Glenn O'Shea took an impressive "Patto-like" win, coming from a seemingly hopeless position to bring the crowd to its feet as he swept past the tiring leaders in the final bend to take the biggest handicap win of his career. The 2000 metre group handicap saw four groups of riders qualify through mass start races earlier in the program. The outmarkers rode from 160 metres, with groups at 100 and 45 metres also trying to keep the Aces, riding from scratch, at bay.
The group off 45 metres started best and was quickly in contact with the outmarkers. The scratch group, lead by young Argentinean pair Juan Gaspari and Sebastian Donaido lost ground early, before the Meyer brothers made some ground in the middle stages.
At two to go Glenn O'Shea had yet to hit the wind, but was well off the back of the leading group led by Michael Downing. He powered off Cameron Meyer's wheel in the back straight, and stormed across the 30 metre chasm to the front group. At the bell, O'Shea's chances still looked slim as Downing, the winner of the inaugural Junior Austral a week earlier, started his sprint but O'Shea surprised even himself with a blinding finishing burst of his own.
"I thought I was in a bit of trouble there at two laps to go! I think the front markers popped at just the right time for me and I managed to catch them on the line."
Other racing
|
Tess Downing (Jayco VIS) claimed two of the three women's races, beaten only in the Keirin by Malaysian international and sometime training partner Fatehah Mustapa. Downing's first win came as the scratch marker in the 1500 metre handicap, with a last gasp throw to snatch the win from Livia Gluchowska, who had led the field for the final two laps.
Better known as a pursuit specialist, her second win came after she produced another impressive finishing burst in the scratch race to overhaul team mate Jessica Berry in the final bend.
The Aces Keirin final saw local youngster Ben Sanders, who will represent Australia at the junior world track championships in South Africa, take it right up to the trio of Malaysian sprinters who had shuffled themselves into the first three positions behind the derny.
Sanders almost surprised former world cup winner Josiah Ng with a strong move round the outside at the bell, but the vastly more experienced Malaysian star kept the youngster wide, and allowed plenty of room for Aziz Awang to dive underneath the pair to take a comfortable win.
The Aces Scratch race, the Lance De Luca Memorial, saw an impressive win to a patient Jackson-Leigh Rathbone. Leigh Howard opened the sprint a lap and a half from home, and opened a two length lead, but had no answer when Rathbone produced an impressive turn of pace around the final bend to finish well clear.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by www.fyxomatosis.com/www.fyxomatosis.com
- O'Shea makes winning look easy.
- One of the Japanese riders feels the pain.
- A minor fall on another clean night of racing.
- The fastest Australian Madison Championship ever - and it showed.
- The Meyer brothers were relentless.
- O'Shea and Howard's prayers were answered as they steamrolled the field.
- Not even a new bike could help Olman.
- O'Shea and Meyer going head to head.
- Mitch Docker about to get another Meyer bullet.
- Olman tires of chasing another Meyer brother.
- Meyer waits patiently as his wheel is changed.
- Is there a problem?
- Hamish Taylor right in the thick of it.
- Another sling at full tilt by O'Shea.
- Meyer shows some road pedigree as he takes a flyer.
- Where you from lads?
- Pretty in Pink.
- Double Campagnolo trouble.
- Eddie Wilson is no dope.
- The infield bar was the place to be.
- The Japanese duo warm their legs.
- O'Shea let his legs do the talking.
- Stuart Vaughan - twice the age and nearly the same speed as O'Shea!
- O'Shea scorched the field from scratch to win the Sid Patterson GP.
- Don't cry for us, Argentina!
- Darren Rogers put in a big turn in the final.
- The biggest push of the night?
- The racing pace had a dizzying effect.
- Drapac Porsche discusses pre-race strategies and hairstyles.
- A fine place to see the races.
- C'mon - One beer won't hurt.
- Best seats in the house.
- Howard teaches the kids a lesson in speed.
- Last minute changes in the Drapac Porsche corner.
- Adrian Hanson chases the wheel of O'Shea.
- Josiah Ng keeps the engine running.
- What an ace night of racing!
Results
Australian Madison Championship
1 Glenn O'Shea/Leigh Howard (Victorian Institute of Sport) 36 Points
2 Cameron Meyer/Travis Meyer (Baldwin Filters 15
One lap down
3 Miles Olman/Mitch Docker (Apex Steel) 14
Three laps down
4 Sean Finning/James Langedyk (Shimano) 1
5 David Pell/Brad Edmunds (Savings & Loans) 6
6 Roy Pieters/Geert-Jan Jonkman (The Locker Group) 3
Five laps down
7 Dale Scarf/Jackson-Leigh Rathbone (NSW Institute of Sport) 15
8 Zach Bell/Svein Tuft (Vero Insurance) 4
9 Sebastian Donadio/Juan Gaspari (Assos Cycling Apparel) 2
Six laps down
10 Hamish Taylor/Casey Munro (De Grandi Cycle & Sport) 1
The Locker Group C Grade Motor Paced Scratch Race
1 Stuart Vaughan (Hawthorn)
2 Brett Rollinson (Warragul)
3 Toby Glennon (Northcote)
4 Matthew Smith (Ballarat-Sebastapol)
5 Chris Jehu (Colac)
Recall ShimanoSecurity B Grade Scratch race
1 Kyle Marwood (Bendigo)
2 Darren Rodgers (Northcote)
3 Michael Downing (Carnegie Caulfield)
4 Sean Ponteladolfo (Bendigo)
5 Damien Semmler (Wangaratta)
Recall Security Invitation M17 Motor Pace
1 Madison Hammond (Northcote)
2 Gavin Sittampalan (Blackburn)
3 Aaron Cooper (Albury-Wodonga)
Assos Cycling Apparel Aces Elimination
1 Glenn O'Shea (Bendigo)
2 Juan Gaspari (Argentina)
3 Cameron Meyer (Western Australia)
4 Travis Meyer (Western Australia)
5 Sebastian Donadio (Argentina)
The Locker Group A Grade Scratch race
1 Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia)
2 Adrian Sansonetti (Northcote)
3 Brendan Schultz (Hamilton)
4 Peter Johnstone (Chelsea & Peninsula)
5 Jarrod Moroni (Bendigo)
Baldwin Filters Women's Handicap
1 Tess Downing (Carnegie Caulfield)
2 Livia Gluchowska (Carnegie Caulfield)
3 Jessica Berry (Bendigo)
Apex Steel Invitation M17 Scratch Race
1 Madison Hammond (Northcote)
2 Aaron Cooper (Albury-Wodonga)
3 Nichiolas Rix (Bendigo)
Abalone King Restaurant Aces Keirin Heats
Heat 1
1 Josiah Ng (Malaysia)
2 Steven Sansonetti (Northcote)
3 Cameron Meyer (Western Australia)
Heat 2
1 Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia)
2 Adrian Hanson (Tasmania)
3 Hamish Taylor (Northcote)
Heat 3
1 Ben Sanders (Carnegie Caulfield)
2 Rizal Tisin (Malaysia)
3 Eddie Wilson (Brunswick)
De Grando Cycle & Sport C Grade Scratch Race
1 Toby Glennon (Northcote)
2 Brett Rollinson (Warragul)
3 Stuart Vaughan (Hawthorn)
Apex Steel B Grade Motor Elimination
1 Brad Edmunds (Echuca Moama)
2 Michael Downing (Carnegie Caulfield)
3 Scott Townsend (Ballarat-Sebastapol)
Vero - global and risk managed A Grade Motor Paced Scratch Race
1 Trevor Griffiths (Shepparton)
2 Tim Decker (Bendigo)
3 Dale Scarfe (New South Wales)
Abalone King Restaurant Aces Keirin Final
1 Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia)
2 Josiah Ng (Malaysia)
3 Steven Sansonetti (Northcote)
Baldwin Filters Women's Invitation Keirin
1 Fatehah Mustapa (Malaysia)
2 Laine Hammond (Northcote)
3 Jessica Berry (Bendigo)
The Patterson Family Sid Patterson Grand Prix
1 Glenn O'Shea (Bendigo)
2 Michael Downing (Carnegie Caulfield)
3 Stuart Vaughan (Hawthorn)
Baldwin Filters Women's Scratch Race
1 Tess Downing (Carnegie Caulfield)
2 Fatehah Mustapa (Malaysia)
3 Jessica Berry (Bendigo)
The De Luca family The Lance De Luca Memorial Scratch Race
1 Jackson-Leigh Rathbone (New South Wales)
2 Mitchell Docker (Brunswick)
3 Leigh Howard (Geelong)
Past winners
2007 Jack Bobridge/Glenn O'Shea (Victorian Institute of Sport)
