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World Track Championships - CM
Stuttgart, Germany, July 30 - August 3, 2003
Event program and results Men's IP Women's IP
Men's Individual Pursuit
Qualifying - Wiggins scorches opposition
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Bradley Wiggins threw down the challenge to his world championship opponents when he posted a scorching time in qualifying for the men's 4,000m individual pursuit in Stuttgart. The Briton rode four minutes 17.342 seconds, miles ahead of his nearest rival, last year's silver medallist, Luke Roberts of Australia, who clocked 4:21.822. Wiggins will go up against Russian Alexey Markov in the first round.
While Australia's Mark Jamieson also made it through to the first round, he qualified seventh with a time of 4:26.121, meaning he will meet his compatriot next. Frenchman Philippe Gaumont, attempting to back up after riding for Cofidis in the Tour de France, bombed out, finishing 11th. German champion Daniel Becke was fifth fastest.
Robert Bartko was unable to contest the national titles due to commitments with his professional team, Rabobank, and secured Germany's second start after beating Jens Lehmann in a 2,000m time trial at the weekend. German cycling federation director Burckhard Bremer said, "Bartko's performance leads one to the conclusion that he is capable of winning a medal at the world championships, whilst Lehmann was not able to confirm his form."
Bartko went some way to justifying the decision when he finished sixth in qualifying.
Another Briton, Paul Manning, qualified fourth with a time of 4:22.491 behind Spain's Sergi Escobar Roure. Reigning champion Bradley McGee of Australia was ruled out of the championships last week after suffering hunger flats throughout the Tour de France. He is in Paris having tests in a bid to find the cause of the problem.
Round 1 - Wiggins to meet Roberts in final
After Thursday morning's first round of the men's 4000m individual pursuit, Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins, who set the fastest time in qualifying with four minutes, 17.342 seconds, will meet last year's silver medallist, Luke Roberts of Australia, in the ride off for gold. Roberts lapped teammate Mark Jamieson in the first round while Wiggins accounted for Russian Alexey Markov. Paul Manning of Great Britain will fight it out with Spain's Sergi Escobar Roure for the bronze medal.
Final - Wiggins at last
Britain's Brad Wiggins finally fulfilled the potential that he demonstrated with his junior world's win in 1998 by taking victory in the men's 4000m pursuit over Australia's Luke Roberts. Roberts personal-best time was not enough to answer the flying Wiggins, who credited his time with professional road team FdJeux.com this year as a factor in his improvement.
Spain's Sergi Escobar Roure beat Great Britain's Paul Manning in the ride-off for bronze.
See our Day 2 Wrap for more on the final.
Photos
Qualifying
Images by Hennes Roth/www.roth-foto.de
- Robert Bartko qualified but managed only sixth best time
- Daniel Becke (Germany) warms up on the rollers
- Daniel Becke shows a face concentration and nerves
- Daniel Becke rode to a fifth place qualifying time
- Sergi Escobar Roure (Spain) was third fastest in the qualifiers
- Jens Mouris (Netherlands) in full flight
- Jens Mouris (Netherlands) didn't make the qualification cut
- Luke Roberts (Australia) flew to the second fastest qualifier
- Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain) dominated the qualification in the individual pursuit
- Wiggins' average speed was nearly 56 km/h for the 4,000 metres
Images by AFP
- Bradley Wiggins rides in the men's individual pursuit qualifying heat
- Sergi Escobar Roure in the men's individual pursuit qualifying heat
- Mark Jamieson finished 7th and qualified for the final
- Luke Roberts finished second and also qualified
Round 1
Images by Hennes Roth/www.roth-foto.de
- Brad Wiggins (GBr) was again the fastest in the first round, beating Alexey Markov by 9 seconds
- Brad Wiggins (GBr) on fire again
- Luke Roberts (Aus) was again the second quickest rider in round 1
- Sergi Escobar (Spain) clocked 4.22.510 in round 1
- Sergi Escobar (Spain) beat Robert Bartko (Rabobank) in the first round
- Paul Manning (GBr) went under 4.24 to go into the bronze medal ride off
- Robert Bartko (Ger) very much warmed up
- Robert Bartko (Ger) starts his ride
- Robert Bartko (Ger) in full flight during the first round of the men's pursuit
- Daniel Becke (Ger) practices the Le Mans style start
- Daniel Becke (Ger) sets off in round 1
- Daniel Becke (Ger) was not fast enough to beat Paul Manning in round 1
Finals
Images by Hennes Roth/www.roth-foto.de
- Paul Manning races for the bronze, and misses
- Sergi Escobar Roure Starts off on his run
- Roure has his eyes set on the podium
- Brad Wiggins and Chris Boardman wait for the final run
- Wiggins stretches before his final run
- Wiggins is off, and he's feeling good
- He's tucked in and it's looking like a good run
- A grimace or a grin; we can't tell
- Roberts, Wiggins and Roure on the podium
- Brad Wiggins in the rainbow jersey
Images by Christine Grein/www.capture-the-peloton.com
- Hayden Roulston (NZl) enjoys watching the men's individual pursuit finals.
- Robert Bartko (Ger) just scraped into the finals, but was easily beaten by Spain's Sergi Escobar Roure.
- Bradley Wiggins (GBr) prepares himself before his gold medal-winning ride.
Results
Qualification 1 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) 4.17.342 (55.956 km/h) 2 Luke Roberts (Aus) 4.21.822 3 Sergi Escobar Roure (Spa) 4.21.941 4 Paul Manning (GBr) 4.22.491 5 Daniel Becke (Ger) 4.25.083 6 Robert Bartko (Ger) 4.25.981 7 Mark Jamieson (Aus) 4.26.121 8 Alexey Markov (Rus) 4.26.228 9 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) 4.26.850 10 Brett Lancaster (Aus) 4.27.315 11 Philippe Gaumont (Fra) 4.27.398 12 Jerome Neuville (Fra) 4.29.212 13 Jens Mouris (Ned) 4.30.129 14 Volodymyr Dyudya (Ukr) 4.30.962 15 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) 4.31.407 16 Hayden Godfrey (NZl) 4.32.423 17 Carlos Castano Panadero (Spa) 4.32.650 18 Jaroslaw Rebiewski (Pol) 4.34.059 19 Stefano Marenco (Ita) 4.37.312 20 Ioannis Tamouridis (Gre) 4.38.038 21 Yauheni Sobal (Blr) 4.40.267 22 Gregory Devaud (Swi) 4.40.557 Round 1 Heat 1 1 Paul Manning (GBr) 4.23.880 (54.57 km/h) 2 Daniel Becke (Ger) 4.27.379 Heat 2 1 Sergi Escobar Roure (Spa) 4.22.510 (54.855 km/h) 2 Robert Bartko (Ger) 4.26.522 Heat 3 1 Luke Roberts (Aus) 4.20.870 (55.198 km/h) 2 Mark Jamieson (Aus) Caught Heat 4 1 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) 4.20.240 (55.332 km/h) 2 Alexey Markov (Rus) 4.29.373 Finals For gold and silver 1 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) 4.18.570 (55.689 km/h) 2 Luke Roberts (Aus) 4.19.306 For the bronze 3 Sergi Escobar Roure (Spa) 4.21.210 (55.126 km/h) 4 Paul Manning (GBr) 4.22.461
