Australian/Oceania Track Titles - CN

Sydney, Australia, April 30 - May 4, 2003

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Day 5 - May 4

• Men Keirin
• Men 40K Points Race
• Women Keirin
• Men U/19 Keirin
• Men U/19 30K Madison
• Multi Disability Teams Sprint

Reporting by Gerard Knapp

Tassie teamwork secures points for Dasher

Tasmanian rider Darren Young continued his excellent run of form with the gold medal in the men's 40km point score on the final session of competition at the Australian track cycling championships. Young followed on from wins in major wheelraces held in Melbourne last month to secure the national points title by five points from the rapidly improving Brad Norton (Victoria) and Christopher Sutton (NSW) in third, another five points behind.

Young was one of three Tasmanian riders entered in the 40km event, with Stephen Rossendell and champion pursuit rider Mark Jamieson providing excellent support throughout. While Rossendell was present in some attempted attacks from the main field, Jamieson provided breathtaking four-lap leadouts for Young to assist his senior rider collect the maximum points on offer every 10 laps. "The guy's a freak," Young said of his teenage teammate. "He hits out at four (laps) to go and I can only just get him at the line. There aren't many guys that can do that. But as long as he does it when he's on my team it's alright."

Young said he "expected NSW would be hard to beat" and the riders in blue did provide stiff opposition. Sutton secured the bronze medal while his teammate, the experienced former world champion Rod McGee, came fourth. After the race, McGee congratulated Young and told him it was one of the harder points races he'd entered. Although it didn't feature champion points riders Mark Renshaw and Graeme Brown, who are both in Europe racing professionally, "everyone felt they had a good chance and kept attacking, which made it hard", Young said.

The pace was so high that after mid-race distance, the field broke in two with a majority of riders lapping what remained of the field. In fact, the surge of the leaders was so strong that Jamieson drifted off the back and eventually became a lapped rider, but he quickly recovered and still provided support for Young when the field came back together with 40 laps to go.

The leaders all earned a 20 point bonus for taking the lap so consequently it was a high-scoring race, with Young on 58 points, Norton on 53, Sutton on 48 and McGee on 34. NSW were active in the breaks and contested the sprints, but Young was one fire and took the majority of the intermediate sprints on offer. For several of those sprints, he came off Jamieson's wheel in an excellent display of team riding.

"I was expecting NSW would be hard to beat and Norton surprised me quite a bit," Young said of the young Victorian rider who took silver. "But Jamo did more than I expected." For his part, Jamieson said the "plan was just to try and string it out for Darren, he's so good in the sprints. It's good to know you can rely on a rider who can finish it off," he said. He was also aware of the challenge from the NSW team. "They had good strong group of guys. Sutto was always going to be key player."

Earlier in the meeting, Jamieson told Cyclingnews how the new rules for points races now favoured the sprinters. When riders lapped the field they now earn a 20-point bonus, whereas previously they were rewarded with a one-lap lead on the whole field, regardless of points already scored in the race. As the rule change no longer favoured the pure endurance riders, Tasmania's plan would be to set it up for their fastest sprinter in the endurance squad.

While Jamieson did provide stellar lead-outs, Young was always in position and had the turn of speed to keep challengers at bay. After breaking his collarbone in a training accident last November, Young started racing again at the Christmas Carnivals in Tasmania and followed up with consistent racing during the summer.

In March he became the first Australian rider to take back-to-back wins in the prestigious Austral Wheelrace, and then took out the Sid Patterson Grand Prix two weeks later. He is now scheduled to ride in the upcoming Sydney round of the UCI's track world cup and hopes to ride the scratch race and Madison in the upcoming world track championships*, and then possibly go on to ride the Six Day races in Europe later in the year. (*The track worlds was to be held in China, but on Friday the UCI announced it would move the event due to the outbreak of the SARS virus. An announcement on the new location is expected this week.)

Sister act in the keirin

Queensland sisters Anna and Kerrie Meares combined to dominate the final of the women's keirin, with Anna (the younger) leading from the front and riding a smart race to take the win ahead of Rochelle Gilmore (NSW) with Kerrie taking the bronze.

"It's rough being in second or third wheel and I wanted to take the lead position," Anna said of her positioning. She took first wheel behind the derny as the rest of the field, including South Australia's Rosealee Hubbard, continually jostled to move up. However, Kerrie Meares was a constant presence and once the derny pulled off the track, she rode up alongside Gilmore and prevented the NSW speedster from coming around until the final straight.

"She really did shadow me," Anna said of her older sister. "If you lose the (derny's) wheel with two laps to go then it's too hard to get back in front," Meares said. "I thought I'd get swamped in the last lap," she said. "I had the mask on and the teeth bared and told myself 'the finish line's just there' ... and I'm so happy I got there."

"We were looking for a Queensland 1-2." However, they were aware of Gilmore's potential to spoil this plan. "Rochelle is top class in anything she rides and has great skills and talent so I'm just pleased I could hold her off," Anna said of Gilmore, who had only recently returned to Australia from her professional road team in Italy to contest the nationals.

Despite the potential for crashes in the keirin, Anna Meares said she always enjoys the contest. "It's the last race of the championship. I usually find it a really fun event."

Women Keirin Final

• Anna Meares (Qld, L), Rochelle Gilmore (NSW, M) and Rosealee Hubbard (SA, R) took the podium positions in exactly that order.
• The derny bike takes the keirin women's finalists through the required number of laps before peeling off for the sprint finale.

French hits the afterburner

In the final of the men's keirin, Victorian Mark French showed his pure speed in a race to the line with NSW rider Ben Kersten, coming around the outside of the NSW rider and then kicking away on the back straight to go clear for the run at the line.

Kersten animated the race with a jump from last wheel at three laps to go and as he overtook the field, French reacted and the duo went pedal stroke for pedal stroke, with French coming around the outside of the NSW rider and winning their drag race to the line.

French's team-mate Damien Keirl came in third and 2001 world keirin champion Ryan Bayley was in fourth. "It was like a big drag race to the line," French said of his duel with Kersten. It made for exciting racing as two of the fastest young riders in Australia pushed each other all the way.

"I wanted his wheel so I thought I'd give it a few laps of mixing it up with Damien (Keirl) to see if I could get it but then I worried that I might get boxed in so I dropped back to give myself room," French said. Then as Kersten overtook the field, French reacted and worked his way around the outside of the NSW rider, before getting out of the saddle to kick again on the back straight of the final lap. "I was riding a smaller gear and sometimes it unsettles them," the teenage Victorian said of his final out-of-the-saddle burst.

Kersten proves he's back, again

It was also a strong ride by the NSW rider, Kersten, who won the kilo on the first night of competition. "I wanted to be at the front," Kersten said of his move three laps from the end, "so there's nobody I have to get around." Kersten said he "didn't want to waste any energy fighting for wheels", so he sat at the back of the field until the derny left the track.

Due to his training for the kilo time trial, Kersten rides a slightly bigger gear than the pure sprinters such as French and said he needs to get up to speed early, which tends to let the other riders know he is making a move. He initially wanted to sit behind teammate Gavin White, but the race didn't pan out that way so had to make the solo move. "He (French) found second legs," Kersten said of the Victorian's kick in the final lap. Kersten made another attempt to pull back French as they came on to the finishing straight, but French had gone clear and taken the inside line, forcing Kersten to come around the outside.

Kersten had a strong all-round performance at the championships, where it was crucial for him to win the event. "The kilo had a lot of importance as it was my last chance to get into the team for the worlds," he said. "I'm here, I'm not scraping through and I'm justifiably part of the team," he said in response to his short absence due to disciplinary action that was later suspended on appeal by the rider (see March 21 News).

The talented rider has the kilo as his main focus, but can also ride third wheel in the Australian team sprint. "There's such great depth in the team now that it (riding in the team sprint) is almost a specialty." Kersten will go into the mix of riders up for selection in this event, including Ryan Bayley, Sean Eadie and shane Kelly, who is expected to be fit for the Sydney round of the track world cup. (Kelly did not compete at the nationmals due to illness.)

Earlier in the heats of the keirin, Wade Bootes crashed heavily in his debut in the event and has a suspected broken collarbone. It was an eventful debut national track titles for one of the world's leading BMX and MTB rider, who had won a gold medal the previous evening in the team sprint - see full report.

Men Keirin Final

• Mark French's finishing speed carried him to his fourth gold medal in the men's keirin final.

Men U19 30km Madison Championship

• The Victorian pair of Mitchell Docker and Simon Clark about to do the handsling thang.
• It was neck and neck between Victoria and NSW, with Warren Scott (NSW) sitting right behind the wheel of Michael Ford (Vic)
• Sean Finning (Vic) exchanges plesantries with Chris Pascoe (NSW).
• All smiles - at least for the Victorians Michael Ford (L) and Sean Finning, anyway.

Men U19 Keirin Final

• On the bell lap of the men's U19 keirin final, Andrew Taylor (NSW) gets set to pounce.

Men Points Race

• Bradley Norton (Vic, 3rd wheel) came home strong, coming within 5 points of winner Darren Young (Tas) after taking out the final sprint.
• The view from the stands at the Dunc Gray Velodrome.
• Darren Young (Tas, 2nd wheel) and his Tassie teammates simply outplayed their opponents in a extremely tactical Points Race .
• The Chris Sutton (NSW) fanclub - every time Sutton rode past, a massive yell of "go CJ!" was heard throughout. Sutton finished 3rd behind Young and Norton.

Images by Mark Gunter/www.gunterphotography.com

• Chris Sutton (NSW) in action during the points race
• Rodney McGee (NSW) concentrates during the points race
• Victorian Brad Norton sandwiched between Tasmanians Mark Jamieson (bottom) and Darren Young (top)
• Richard England (Vic) took ninth in the points race
• Darren Young (Tas) cools down after winning

Medal presentation

• To say Mark French (Vic) had a successful national titles would be a bit of an understatement.
• The legs behind the man behind the medals - one of "Frenchie's" pistons.

Results

Event 101: Men Keirin Heats
 
1st & 2nd to Semi Final, remainder to repecharge
 
Heat 1
 
1 Mark French (Vic)              11.173
2 Shaun Hopkins (NSW)
 
Heat 2
 
1 Ryan Bayley (WA)               11.642
2 Damien Keirl (Vic)
 
Heat 3
 
1 Ben Kersten (NSW)              11.289
2 Grant Irwin (Qld)
 
Event 102: Men U19 Keirin Repecharge
 
Heat 1
 
1 P Stokes (NSW)                 11.859
2 C Heath (NT)
 
Heat 2
 
1 M Lewis (NSW)                  12.702
2 N Scaife (SA)
 
Event 103: Women Keirin Repecharge
 
Heat 1
 
1 R Ellis (WA)                   12.982
2 L Manderson (NSW)
 
Heat 2
 
1 C Allen (Vic)                  12.992
2 K Cohen (WA)
 
Event 104: Men Keirin Repecharge
 
Heat 1
 
1 G White (SA)                   12.018
2 W Cosgrove (Qld)
 
Event 106: Men U19 Keirin Semi Final
 
Heat 1
 
1 S Perkins (Vic)                11.322
2 P Stokes (NSW)
3 L Sunderland (WA)
 
Heat 2
 
1 A Taylor (NSW)                 11.664
2 C Johnson (Qld) 
3 B Rix (Vic)
 
Event 107: Women Keirin Semi Final
 
Heat 1
 
1 R Hubbard (SA)                    TBC
2 K Meares (Qld)
 
Heat 2
 
1 E Williams (NZl)
2 R Gilmore (NSW)
3 A Meares (Qld)
 
Event 108: Men Keirin Semi Final
 
Heat 1
 
1 Mark French (Vic)
2 Gavin White (SA)
 
Heat 2
 
1 Ryan Bayley (WA)                  11.706
2 Damien Keirl (Vic)
3 Grant Irwin (Qld)
 
Event 109: Men U19 Keirin Final
 
1 Andrew Taylor (NSW)            11.462
2 Leigh Sunderland (WA)
3 Clint Johnson (Qld)
 
Event 110: Women Keirin Final
 
1 Anna Meares (Qld)
2 Rochelle Gilmore (NSW)
3 Kerrie Keares (Qld)
 
Event 111: Men Keirin Final
 
1 M French (Vic)                 10.991
2 B Kersten (NSW)
3 D Keirl (Vic)
 
Event 112: Men 40km Points Race
 
1 D Young (Tas)                      58
2 B Norton (Vic)                     53
3 C Sutton (NSW)                     48
4 R McGee (NSW)                      34
5 M Ryan (NZl)                       31
6 J Jason Allen (NZl)                29
7 W Starr (NZl)                      28
8 M Chadwick (Qld)                   23
9 R England (Vic)                    10
 
Event 113: Men U19 30km Madison Championship
 
1 Vic Michael Ford                   23
      Sean Finning
 
2 NSW Chris Pascoe                   19
      Warren Scott
 
3 Vic Mitchell Docker                14
      Simon Clark
 
4 Qld Miles Olman                     5
      Bradley Payne
 
5 NSW Andrew Wyper                    2
      Dean Windsor
 
6 Tas Matthew Goss                    2
      David Klyne
 
2 laps behind
 
5 NZl Matthew Haydock                 1
      Adam Coker 

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