World Track Championships - CM

Copenhagen, Denmark, September 25 - 29, 2002

Event program and results    Men    Women

Points race

Newton and Slioussareva win Men's and Women's points races

29 year old Briton Chris Newton won the 30 km Men's Points Race in very impressive display of attacking riding. Newton lapped the field three times, gaining 20 points per lap, to finish with 76 points. In second place was Austrian Franz Stocher (50 points), just ahead of Argentinean Juan Curuchet on 49 points.

In the women's 25 km points race, Russian Olga Slioussareva dominated the event, taking 35 points to win the gold medal in front of Lada Kozlikova (Cze) and Vera Carrara (Ita), both on 20 points. Both Slioussareva and Kozlikova lapped the field to take a 20 point bonus, which secured the medals.

US Team Report

By Kelly Walker, USA Cycling

Pearce finishes 14th in points race

Colby Pearce (Boulder, Colo. - Team OFOTO Lombardi) rode to 14th place in the men's points race Saturday, replacing teammate Jame Carney (Durango, Colo. - Team Prime Alliance ) who withdrew from competition at these World Championships due to a shoulder and hand injury he sustained on Monday.

The points race was won by Chris Newton of Great Britain, with Austria's Franz Stocher winning silver and Juan Curuchet of Argentina taking bronze. Although Pearce did not anticipate riding in the points race coming into these World Championships, he was thrilled with the opportunity, after winning a World Cup points race in Colombia earlier this season. He was not pleased with his performance.

"I'm not happy at all," said Pearce. "Ever since I won the World Cup in Colombia, I was hoping to get the chance to ride in the Worlds. And it was the same situation as in Colombia - I didn't know that I was going to ride in the points race before I got there, but then I got the chance and I won. It didn't work out that way here."

Pearce will ride the men's madison on Sunday with teammate Mike Tillman (Santa Monica, Calif. - Team Schroeder Iron); Tillman is replacing the injured Carney.

"After the madison, I'm going to go home and spend some time with my family - go horseback riding with my wife," said Pearce of his post-competition season plans.

Uhl finishes 13th in First World Championships

Sarah Uhl (Perkasie, Pa. - Team Tri State Velo), competing in her first World Championships, finished the women's points race in 13th place. Russia's Olga Slusareva won the gold medal, with Lada Kozlikova of the Czech Republic winning silver and Italy's Vera Carrara taking bronze.

Uhl, the 2000 World Junior champion in the match sprint, is competing against a major international elite field for the first time in her young career. The experience has been one she plans to build on.

"Well, this was a whole different level," said Uhl of the competition. "It was a great experience for me to race on a 250m track - it was definitely a pace that I'm not used to racing with. I felt a little timid with the different type of racing on a 250m track. I was really just trying to get some good experience and get a gauge of what I want to train for. It's really special to be here at the World Championships at 19 [years of age].

"I was also switching events here," said Uhl, who is typically a sprinter. "Last year I sprinted and this year I did points races, too. I raced everything this year, and it's kind of hard to specialize in one event at the last minute, especially after being at school. But I did my best, and that's all that matters, I guess."

Uhl is a sophomore at the University of Vermont. She is taking time off from her classes (she majors in biology) to compete in the World Championships.

Photos

Images by AFP

• Competitors ride in the women's point race
• The women's point race podium

Images by Mike Gladu/www.velodrome.com

• Kathy Bates (AUS) and Olga Slioussareva (RUS) pace the field in the 100 lap Women's Points Race. Imagine this photo 80 more times.
• Olga Slioussareva placed 1st or 2nd in 8 out of 10 sprints, and Australia's Kathy Bates looked podium-bound until...
• Lada Kozlikova (Cze) initiated a solo break, Vera Carrara (Ita) bridged, and when no one would help Slioussareva chase, they gained a lap, both were awarded 20 points (new rules), not the race win (under the old rules)

Men

1 Chris Newton (GBr)                        76 pts
2 Franz Stocher (Aut)                       50
3 Juan Curuchet (Arg)                       49
4 Bruno Risi (Swi)                          39
5 Serguei Kudentsov (Rus)                   31
6 Leonardo Duque (Col)                      31
7 Makoto Iijima (Jpn)                       26
8 Volodymyr Rybin (Ukr)                     25
9 Milton Wynants (Uru)                      24
10 Juan Llaneras Rossello (Spa)             24
11 Matthew Gilmore (Bel)                    23
12 Milan Kadlec (Cze)                       23
13 Franck Perque (Fra)                      23
14 Colby Pearce (USA)                        3
15 Jukka Heinikainen (Fin)                   1
16 Wilco Zuijderwijk (Ned)                   1
17 Marco Villa (Ita)                         1

1 lap behind

18 Jure Zrimsek (Slo)                        3
19 Juan De La Rosa (Mex)                     3
20 Andreas Muller (Ger)                      0
21 Remigijus Lupeikis (Ltu)                  0
22 Lars Thomsen (Den)                        0
DNF Jean-Pierre Van Zyl (RSA)
DNF Graeme Brown (Aus)

Women

1 Olga Slioussareva (Rus)                   35 pts
2 Lada Kozlikova (Cze)                      20
3 Vera Carrara (Ita)                        20
4 Lyudmyla Vypyraylo (Ukr)                  15
5 Katherine Bates (Aus)                     12
6 Gema Pascual Torrecilla (Spa)             11
7 Maria Luisa Calle Williams (Col)           7
8 Anke Wichmann (Ger)                        6
9 Belem Guerrero Mendez (Mex)                5
10 Cathy Moncassin (Fra)                     4
11 Mette Andreasen (Den)                     4
12 Joanne Marie Kiesanowski (NZl)            3
13 Sarah Uhl (USA)                           3
14 Mandy Poitras (Can)                       2
15 Edita Kubelskiene (Ltu)                   0
16 Eleftheria Ellinikaki (Gre)               0
17 Adrie Visser (Ned)                        0
18 Evelyn Garcia (Sal)                       0
19 Maaria Siren (Fin)                        0
DNF Sara Symington (GBr)