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Australian National Track Cycling Championships - CN
Sydney, Australia, April 27 - May 2, 2004
Main Page Results Previous Day Next Day
Day 4 - April 30: Men's 4000m team pursuit, Men's sprint, Women's sprint qualification, U19 Women's sprint, Multi Disability Men/Women Tandem Sprint, U19 Women's Scratch, U19 Men's Points Race
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Eadie wins sprinter's crown
By Karen Forman in Sydney
Sean Eadie collected his second gold medal and the men's sprint crown after a tough and tactical tussle with Ben Kersten at the Australian track championships in Sydney tonight. But the precious qualifying time he so badly needs to represent Australia at the Athens Olympics (10.45) still eludes him.
Still, Eadie, who won the kilo time trial earlier in the week, is confident that he still has time. "I am probably more happy with the execution of my race program rather than my form, per se," he said. "That is still a bit off. I had a few butterflies with Benny, after all he is the form rider of the championships."
Eadie said he had expected a tough day today, first facing Greg McFarlane "with whom I have had a few tussles in the past" but had undertaken his usual religious preparation of being on the track an hour early to warm up and mentally prepare himself.
"It's part of the process of getting to the World Cup and the Worlds so I could qualify (for the Olympics)," he said. "And I have exceeded my expectations, really. Like I got an 18 - where I was looking at an 18.2. Then I plotted for a 10.5 and I got 10.9 tonight, at the end of the series. That gives me confidence in the depth of my workload. Now we can sharpen it up in the next two weeks. I'll start some speed work now and I'll smash those damn times. I am aiming at top four in the individual sprint at the worlds." Despite his comments, Eadie showed a stunning return to form after a year off with a knee injury. Kersten was working very hard but Eadie was the better man on the day. The first round saw Eadie on the front wearing his distinctive long black goatee like a badge of honour, his dark eyes darting in all directions as he kept Kersten well within his sights.
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Close on his opponent's wheel, Kersten dutifully tried to get some distance by moving up the track and then accelerating hard into the bell. Kersten remained adhered to Eadie's wheel in the back straight and despite a good effort in the finishing straight didn't manage to edge past a very determined Eadie, who crossed the line first in 10.973.
In the second round, Eadie came from behind Kersten to cross the line first in 11.259.
Cooling down on the rollers afterwards, Kersten looked tired, but said he wasn't too disappointed at the result. "There's no shame to losing to Sean, he's the best in Australia at this," he said. "I was a bit upset in the kilo, what with the mechanical problem. I used everything I had mentally in that and something has been missing ever since. I am feeling flat; my nerves have run out of spark. I have been training right through the championships and I think my fitness is the only thing getting me through."
The Sydney rider, who told Cyclingnews earlier this month he hoped to be able to earn a second kilo spot for Australia at the Olympics next to Shane Kelly, said sprinting was "just a hobby" for him compared to the kilo, his main event.
"I came to do well in the kilo. I didn't, but now I have to focus on the world championships. It depends on my results there as to what happens for me after that. I went to Mexico (World Cup) specifically to qualify for the World's and I got through then, so pulled out of everything else, like Manchester and declined to ride the Sydney World Cup, so I can concentrate on the World's."
Kersten said he wasn't too concerned about feeling flat now. "If I was flying now I would be a bit scared, probably. After a couple more weeks of preparation I should come up nicely for Melbourne."
He said he was "looking at the big picture". As to what happens next, he will remain for a week in Sydney to do some strength work with coach Gary Sutton, then go to join the national team in Adelaide for some speed work with head coach Martin Barras.
Big gears and teamsmanship win team pursuit for NSW
By Karen Forman in Sydney
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A finely tuned NSW team "on huge gears" won the Open 4km Teams Pursuit Southcott Cup at the Australian national track championships in Sydney tonight, providing a good hit out for the two riders who will form part of Australia's Track World Cup team.
Sydneysiders Christopher Pascoe, Christopher Sutton and brothers Steve and Peter Fitzpatrick showed the benefit of twice-weekly pursuit training on Dunc Gray Velodrome as they overtook the Victorian team of Richard England, David Pell, Bradley Norton and Steven Sansonetti in the second minute of the race to cross the line first in 4.16.687 (to Victoria's 4.18.238).
While NSWIS coach Gary Sutton said afterwards he thought they might have gone quicker - a 4.14 or close - he was happy with the win.
"They followed the plan which was to get to the scheduled 2km mark, to get themselves going early and then for me to let them know where they were after that," he said. "To be honest I thought they might have gone quicker, based on their training times, but it's the way the conditions are tonight. I am happy for them all. They are all four working full time and have been well supported by NSWIS. They are all great mates, too."
Sutton said the gold medal-winning ride was a good lead up to the World Cup for Pascoe and Sutton, both selected to the Australian team.
While the Victorian team which had a slight margin early in the event, NSW started to gain in the second minute. At 2.49 minutes the Chrises and the Fitzpatricks had a 0.469 lead.
Pell was in trouble and then off the back of the Victorian team at 3.24 when NSW really started to apply some pressure. At the bell NSW was 1.426 up and continued to hold the lead to cross the line first. But it wasn't all that easy.
"The Victorians went out hard and we had really big gears on (two were on 98, two on 96) so we had to wind them up," Chris Sutton said. "But we just listened to our coach, we didn't worry about the other team. We knew he would get us through."
Pascoe said the fact all team members lived locally and trained both on the road and track together a lot had helped their gold medal ride tonight. "It was good to open the lungs up in the last kilometre," he said.
Both Sutton and Pascoe are now looking forward to the World Cup. "They say it's going to be the biggest one yet, with over 260 athletes, so it should be good," Sutton said. Pascoe, meanwhile, said he thought he was in good form and hoped to go better than last year.
The bronze medal went to the Under 19 Victorian team comprising Michael Ford, Mitchell Docker, Zachary Dempster and Simon Clarke, beating the Under 19 NSW team of Jackson-Leigh Rathbone, Robert Cater, Dean Windsor and Phillip Stokes in 4.19.34. The young Victorians also collected the gold in the junior team pursuit competition, the WJ Bill Young Trophy.
Both under 19 teams appeared equally matched for the first two minutes of their ride. Then the Victorians lost .77 at the three-minute mark. But with individual pursuit gold medallist and world record holder Michael Ford on the front for three laps, they sped up to secure a 3.5 second lead.
In fact, for a time it looked as though Ford thought he was back in the IP in which he shattered Brad McGee's longstanding world record earlier these championships. While Ford said he did it because "I felt good on the front, so I helped the boys out", coach Mark Heinz told Cyclingnews later that it was "the plan".
"It's always nice when you ask a bloke to do four laps at the front for you - and he does it!" he said with a smile.
He said bronze for the junior team and silver for the senior team in the teams' competition was "a good effort for Victoria". He said the last minute substitution of Patrick Shaw with Zachary Dempster in the senior team after Shaw announced he was ill with flu, had not changed the result.
Third medal puts Wright on track for Junior World's
By Karen Forman in Sydney
Brisbane student Hayley Wright tonight collected her third national title this week when she beat New Zealander Brigette Broad in the under 19 women's sprint competition at the Australian track titles in Sydney. The gold medal puts her on track for consideration for membership of the Australian junior world championship team and she couldn't be happier.
Her win also proves the success of Australian Cycling's talent identification program. She was "discovered" four years ago and has ridden successfully ever since as a member of the Balmoral Cycling Club, including two gold medals at last year's national championships.
After clinching the 500-metre time trial and women's teams sprint with Anna Meares earlier in the week, Wright was hoping for another golden end to her day today. "I qualified fastest, so I was hoping that I might get the gold medal," she said. "I had a hiccup in the semi final, however, because I was a bit far down in the last bend and lost my momentum and had to get through another couple of rounds, but I went through ok."
She said she had her heart set on selection in the team to contest the Junior World Championships in LA, where she would "just be there, learning, because it would be my first year" and then hopefully next year would be back to "be really competitive".
Currently studying for her Higher School Certificate, she plans to take a year off next year to work part time and train. Then, depending on her results, she will look at completing a TAFE or university course to set herself up for the future, probably "something in sports management or something".
Wright has trained with the Queensland Academy of Sport since June last year and her pet event is the time trial, although she says the sprint is her "main" event. She doesn't nurture too many dreams of hitting the road, saying she prefers the track.
Rainbow jersey shines in national points race
By Karen Forman in Sydney
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Reigning junior world points race champion Miles Olman not only survived being a "marked man" in his rainbow jersey, but excelled to win the gold medal in a keenly contested 25km points race at the Australian national track championships at Dunc Gray velodrome tonight ahead of a fast finishing Michael Ford from Victorian and Tasmanian Matthew Goss.
The 18 year-old Queenslander also managed to avoid a crash that saw four riders - Jackson Leigh Rathbone, Nathan Silleto and Benjamin Simonelli plus Victorian Simon Clarke - hit the boards in early laps. Clarke, who appeared to suffer lacerations and bruising, rejoined the race within the mandatory five laps but was later taken to hospital in an ambulance for treatment.
"I was a marked man, of course," Olman said. "Everybody was after my wheel."
He said he had employed his usual points race tactics - to ride hard to pick up points early - and had had a lucky break in getting away from his main opponents mid-race to collect some more. "It was in the back of my mind before the start that I might be able to win the gold medal; I had been training hard for it," he said. "I have been training well and haven't had any illnesses or injuries so I knew I was in with a chance."
He now focuses on the Junior World Championships in Los Angeles in August. As to how confident he's feeling about retaining his jersey, he's unsure. "I dunno," he said. "I have had a good preparation and I haven't been getting sick."
Third consecutive sprint title for Modra
By Karen Forman in Sydney
Riding against his former pilot - particularly one with whom he had had a very successful racing career - gave Adelaide rider Kieran Modra all the incentive he needed to win the multi disability men's tandem sprint event at the Australian track championships in Sydney tonight.
Modra and his new pilot David Short of NSW proved too strong for West Australian Leon Larkins and pilot Darren Harry (with whom Modra won the national sprint title in 2002 and 2003) in a toughly fought and at times aggressive battle which delighted an enthusiastic crowd braving a cool winter night to be trackside.
Modra and Short rode a tactical race, sometimes coming into very close contact with both their opponents and the fence, to win the first round in 11.258 and the second in 11.328. The win proved to be some retribution after Modra lost his world record earlier in the day to Harry in qualifying rounds.
"I was disappointed, yes, but I think that spurred me on more to go hard in the final," Modra said. "It's unusual to be riding against someone you used to ride with then the team was broken up. At the time we were trying to make up more tandems and I was beginning to focus more on the pursuit, so we went our separate ways."
While he said there was no animosity between the pair, there was certainly plenty of rivalry on the track tonight. "I had a good idea of how he operates and he knows my power and strengths," Modra said. "That's why it was a very tactical race."
He said at once stage they had hit the fence, but had "just kept driving".
The women's tandem sprint was won, with little surprise, by West Australians Janet Shaw and pilot Kelly McCombie, who beat Victorian partnership of Christine Fisher and pilot Tabatha Cole in 12.956 and 13.400 in the finals after taking 0.097 off the world record for the Women's Tandem Flying 200m in the sprint qualifying round this morning.
Shaw, who is visually impaired and McCombie rode 12.029 seconds to beat the previous record of 12.129 seconds set by Shaw and previous pilot Leanne Manderson in Sydney last year. The bronze medal tonight went to Lindy Hou and pilot Janelle Lindsay, of NSW, in 12.945 and 13.743.
Shaw and McCombie smash World Record to book berth to Athens
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West Australians Janet Shaw, 37, and pilot Kelly McCombie, 25, have taken 0.097 off the world record for the Women's Tandem Flying 200m in the sprint qualifying round at the Track Cycling Australian Championships at Sydney's Dunc Gray Velodrome to reinforce their claim for gold at the Athens Paralympics.
Shaw, who is visually impaired, and McCombie rode 12.029 seconds to beat the previous record of 12.129 seconds set by Shaw and previous pilot Leanne Manderson in Sydney last year. "I knew I had to break my record," said Shaw.
The pair had not been focussed on the sprint instead concentrating on the tandem pursuit. "We're chuffed because we're more endurance than pursuit," said McCombie. "We're chuffed."
It's the pair's second world record as in many days coming 24 hours after they smashed the Tandem Pursuit record.
In the men's tandem sprint qualifying Leon Larkins, 37, and pilot Darren Harry, added to the West Australian celebration when they shaved 18 thousandths of a second off the flying 200m world records. Their time of 10.731 seconds broke the previous mark set in Sydney last year by Harry'S former partner, Kieran Modra and himself of 10.749 seconds.
Larkins, originally from the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, emigrated ten years ago. "It was awesome," he said. "We've had had difficulties with the tandem bike but then in training rode 10.8 seconds. We've really only been paired for a short time and I'm lucky to have the most experienced pilot in Darren. This is a step in the right direction for Athens."
Also in qualifying Queensland's Anna Meares,20, secured the top seeding when she rode 11.617sec for the flying 200m ahead of South Australian Rosealee Hubbard, 24. Both have won through the quarter finals although Hubbard did it the hard way, crashing in the first round before winning the restarted heat.
New South Wales will face Victoria in the gold medal ride of the 4km Teams Pursuit in both the senior and Men's U19 divisions.
Photography
Images by John Veage
- Sean Eadie gives it plenty to beat Ben Kersten in the sprint
- Eadie & Kersten shake hands after their sprint showdown
- Sean Eadie & Ben Kersten show off their medals from the sprint championships
- Ouch - a rider is stretchered off the track after a crash
- The NSW pursuit team in full flight
- The NSW pursuit team show off their medals and trophy
- Miles Olman (far left) leads in the under-19 points race
- Miles Olman beat the rainbow curse to win the under-19 points race
- Janet Shaw & Kelly McCombie (WA) beat Christine Fisher & Tabatha Cole (Vic) in both rounds of the MD tandem sprint final
- Anna Meares (Qld) beats Katri Laike (NZl) in the sprint quarter-finals
- Amanda Spratt (NSW) edges out Bianca Rogers (SA)and Skye-Lee Armstrong (NSW) in the under-19 scratch race
- The under-19 scratch podium - Bianca Rogers (SA), Amanda Spratt (NSW) and Skye-Lee Armstrong (NSW)
Results
Afternoon Session
Multi Disability Women Tandem Sprint Qualification 1 Janet Shaw/Kelly Mccombie (WA) 12.029 (59.86 km/h) 2 Christine Fisher/Tabatha Cole (Vic) 12.238 3 Lindy Hou/Janelle Lindsay (NSW) 12.458 4 Lyn Lepore/Jenny Macpherson (Vic) 12.553 5 Kellie Hards/Felicity Johnson (SA) 13.217 Multi Disability Women 3000m Tandem Pursuit Final Bronze Medal final 3 Lyn Lepore/Jenny Macpherson (Vic) 3.52.439 4 Kellie Hards/Felicity Johnson (SA) 4.07.943 Gold/Silver Medal final 1 Janet Shaw/Kelly Mccombie (WA) 3.41.177 2 Lindy Hou/Toireasa Ryan (NSW) 3.45.774 Multi Disability Men 4000m Tandem Pursuit Final Gold/Silver Medal final 1 Kieran Modra /Matt Miller (SA) 4.39.563 2 Warren Mckennarley/Sean Hennessy (SA) 4.48.765 U19 Women Sprint Qualification 1 Hayley Wright (Qld) 12.059 (59.71 km/h) 2 Brigette Broad (NZl) 12.331 3 Michelle Crisp (Qld) 12.444 4 Jennifer Loutit (ACT) 12.635 5 Skye-Lee Armstrong (NSW) 12.691 6 Lauren Carroll (ACT) 12.960 7 Elizabeth Wishart (SA) 13.036 8 Hannah Bush (Vic) 13.165 9 Jackie Kejda (NSW) 13.187 Quarter Finals Heat 1 1 Hayley Wright (Qld) 13.389 13.247 2 Hannah Bush (Vic) Heat 2 1 Brigette Broad (NZl) 13.038 13.174 2 Elizabeth Wishart (SA) Heat 3 1 Michelle Crisp (Qld) 13.918 13.744 2 Lauren Carroll (ACT) 13.307 Heat 4 1 Jennifer Loutit (ACT) 13.551 13.322 2 Skye-Lee Armstrong (NSW) For 5th-8th 5 Elizabeth Wishart (SA) 13.727 6 Skye-Lee Armstrong (NSW) 7 Hannah Bush (Vic) DNS Lauren Carroll (ACT) Women Sprint Qualification 1 Anna Meares (Qld) 11.617 (61.98 km/h) 2 Rosealee Hubbard (SA) 11.759 3 Rebecca Ellis (NSW) 11.880 4 Elisabeth Williams (NZl) 11.976 5 Rebecca Borgo (NSW) 12.046 6 Alexandra Bright (Qld) 12.063 7 Kristine Bayley (WA) 12.077 8 Catherine Allen (Vic) 12.101 9 Elizabeth Georgouras (NSW) 12.349 10 Katri Laike (NZl) 12.410 11 Lucy Stewart (ACT) 12.630 12 Michelle Simpson (Qld) 12.868 13 Sophie Cape (WA) 12.950 14 Tara Fryc (NT) 13.030 15 Apryl Eppinger (Vic) 13.038 16 Rikki Johnson (SA) 13.066 17 Sue Ann Woodwiss (SA) 13.108 Round 1 Heat 1 1 Anna Meares (Qld) 13.098 2 Michelle Simpson (Qld) Heat 2 1 Rosealee Hubbard (SA) 12.590 2 Lucy Stewart (ACT) Heat 3 1 Rebecca Ellis (NSW) 12.806 2 Katri Laike (NZl) Heat 4 1 Elisabeth Williams (NZl) 12.590 2 Elizabeth Georgouras (NSW) Heat 5 1 Catherine Allen (Vic) 12.710 2 Rebecca Borgo (NSW) Heat 6 1 Kristine Bayley (WA) 12.595 2 Alexandra Bright (Qld) Men/M19 4000m Team Pursuit Qualification 1 NSW 4.17.708 (56.01 km/h) Christopher Pascoe Christopher Sutton Steve Fitzpatrick Peter Fitzpatrick 2 Vic 4.19.613 Richard England David Pell Bradley Norton Steven Sansonetti 3 Vic U19 4.22.610 Michael Ford Mitchell Docker Patrick Shaw Simon Clarke 4 NSW U19 4.26.025 Jackson-Leigh Rathbone Robert Cater Dean Windsor Phillip Stokes 5 WA 4.32.155 Keith Evans Steven Evans Daniel Vogels Adam O'connor 6 SA U19 4.41.512 Mark Bergamin Joseph Depasquale Russell Gill Ben Heylen
Evening Session
Women's Sprint Quarter Finals Heat 1 1 Anna Meares (Qld) 12.593 13.161 2 Katri Laike (NZl) Heat 2 1 Rosealee Hubbard (SA) 12.723 13.575 2 Alexandra Bright (Qld) Heat 3 1 Rebecca Ellis (NSW) 12.907 13.104 2 Kristine Bayley (WA) Heat 4 1 Elisabeth Williams (NZl) 12.333 12.645 2 Catherine Allen (Vic) U19 Women's Sprint Semi Finals Heat 1 1 Hayley Wright (Qld) 13.306 13.425 2 Jennifer Loutit (ACT) 14.339 Heat 2 1 Brigette Broad (NZl) 13.322 13.373 2 Michelle Crisp (Qld) Finals Bronze Medal Race 3 Jennifer Loutit (ACT) 13.439 13.858 4 Michelle Crisp (Qld) Gold Medal Race 1 Hayley Wright (Qld) 12.989 12.794 2 Brigette Broad (NZl) Men's Sprint Semi-Finals Heat 1 1 Sean Eadie (NSW) 11.398 11.436 2 Greg Mcfarlane (NSW) Heat 2 1 Ben Kersten (NSW) 11.522 11.143 2 Damien Keirl (Vic) Finals Bronze Medal Race 1 Damien Keirl (Vic) 11.453 11.390 Greg Mcfarlane (NSW) Gold Medal Race 2 Sean Eadie (NSW) 10.973 11.259 Ben Kersten (NSW) Men's 4000m Team Pursuit Finals Race for Bronze 3 VIC (U19) 4.19.343 (55.51 km/h) Michael Ford Mitchell Docker Simon Clarke Zakkari Dempster 4 NSW (U19) 4.26.948 Jackson-Leigh Rathbone Robert Cater Dean Windsor Phillip Stokes Race for Gold 1 NSW 4.16.687 (56.06 km/h) Christopher Pascoe Christopher Sutton Steve Fitzpatrick Peter Fitzpatrick 2 VIC 4.18.238 Richard England David Pell Bradley Norton Steven Sansonetti Multi Disability Women Tandem Sprint Finals Bronze Medal Race 3 Lindy Hou (NSW)/Janelle Lindsay (NSW) 13.945 13.743 4 Lyn Lepore (WA)/Jenny Macpherson (Vic) Gold Medal Race 1 Janet Shaw (WA)/Kelly Mccombie (WA) 12.956 13.400 2 Christine Fisher (Vic)/Tabatha Cole (Vic) Multi Disability Men Tandem Sprint Finals Gold Medal Race 1 Kieran Modra (SA)/David Short (NSW) 11.258 11.328 2 Leon Larkins (WA)/Darren Harry (WA) Bronze medal won by 3 Anthony Biddle (ACT)/Kial Stewart (ACT) U19 Women's 7.5km Scratch Race 1 Amanda Spratt (NSW) 13.12 2 Bianca Rogers (SA) 3 Skye-Lee Armstrong (NSW) 4 Elizabeth Wishart (SA) 5 Jessica Tanner (Vic) 6 Natasha Mapley (Tas) 7 Paddy Walker (NZl) 8 Victoria Freeland (Vic) 9 Eve Hood (NSW) 10 Jessica Mccallum (WA) 11 Michelle Crisp (Qld) 12 Amy Phillips (Vic) 13 Genna Crean (SA) DNS Jennifer Loutit (ACT) DNS Brigette Broad (NZl) DNS Hayley Wright (Qld) M19 25km Points Race 1 Miles Olman (Qld) 30 pts 2 Michael Ford (Vic) 21 3 Matthew Goss (Tas) 18 4 Dean Windsor (NSW) 10 5 Daniel Thorsen (Vic) 7 6 Mark Bergamin (SA) 6 7 Matthew Haydock (NZl) 5 8 Josh England (NZl) 3 9 Adam Coker (NZl) 3 10 Simon Clarke (Vic) 0 11 Adam O'connor (WA) -40 DNF Phillip Stokes (NSW) DNF Joel Davis (Qld) DNF Benjamin Simonelli (Qld) DNF Russell Gill (SA) DNF Jarrod Harman (Tas) DNF Ben Price (Tas) Fell Nathan Silleto (ACT) Fell Jackson-Leigh Rathbone (NSW) Fell Joseph Depasquale (SA)
