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2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships - CM
Los Angeles, CA, USA, March 24-27, 2005
Main Page Results Previous Stage Next Stage
Day 3 - March 26: Men's sprint qualifying through 5th to 8th final; Men's scratch 15 km final; Men's team pursuit; Women's individual pursuit; Women's sprint semi-final & finals
Evening session wrap
Record crowd sees women's sprint upset, long-awaited British team pursuit victory, Danish scratch win & all-Aussie women's pursuit final
By Eddie Monnier
In spite of the holiday weekend, a record crowd of 2,712 spectators gathered to see the best-of-the-best vie for the honor to wear the stripes of the world champion.
Women's sprint
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With several upsets and relegation affecting three of the top four seeds, only fourth seed Tamilia Abassova (Russia) advanced to the semis, where she faced Kerrie Meares (Australia), while sister Anna faced Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain), the spoiler of the event so far with her two wins over faster qualifying competitors. In what would be a first in women's cycling, the Meares sisters could face off in the ride for gold if they both won their semi's.
Kerrie Meares led from the front and kept Abassova mid-track well after the bell. The finish was too close to call and both women thought the other had won. Even upon replay, it was hard to tell who won but the ruling went to Abassova. In ride two, Meares again went from the front but earlier and this seemed to be a mistake as the Russian took it by almost a bike length to advance to the finals.
In heat 2 of the semi-finals, Anna Meares (Australian) kept Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) at the very top of the track through the bell and looked in total command. In a surprising display of speed, Pendleton powered by on the outside. The replay showed the Brit grabbing the win by almost half a wheel. In the second ride, the Australian gave Pendleton a little flick as she maneuvered her to the top of the track and again led from the front. This time Pendleton could not get around and the women would go to a tie-breaker ride to see who would advance to ride for gold.
This meant the Meares sisters would face each other for the bronze medal. The sisters maneuvered for position, neither one wanting to lead it out. Kerrie, the elder by one year, won the initial race. Again, in race two, neither wanted to take the lead but eventually Anna took the front from her sister as well as the win, forcing a third and deciding race. Unlike the first two heats, one of the two, Anna, actually wanted to be in front. Kerrie looked to give her too much rope as she circled higher up and well behind on the track, especially as the sprint was started very late. Anna took the final ride and the bronze medal.
Pendleton made the first heat win over world cup winner Abassova look easy with a 12.184 200-meter time. The second heat was much closer but the Brit claimed the world title. The British sprinter rode some endurance events in the early world cups as part of her training. Looks like the tactic paid off.
Men's scratch race
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Nineteen men, including defending world champion Greg Henderson (New Zealand) and world cup leader Alex Rasmussen (Denmark), to contest the 15K (60-laps) scratch race. The first 25 laps of the race looked like a very fast paceline as the riders were single file and taking half lap and full laps pulls. Miles Olman (Australia) put in a hard acceleration just before the midway point, but gave it up quickly and field went back to status quo.
With 24 laps to go, Daubniuk (Belarus) and Ciccone (Italy) finally put in the first serious attack of the race. They were quickly caught, spurring a counter from Olman and Tamouridis (Greece) that was covered by Shmidt (Russia). This move put some pressure on the field but it caught the trio with 18 laps remaining and the entire group slowed. Ciccone gave it another go but was given no rope. Jame Carney (USA) attacked as the pack rolled slowly with about 11 laps remaining and quickly established a third of a lap lead as the sell-out crowd loudly cheered him on. The field kept the American at his third of a lap advantage. He appeared to lose steam on lap six and was back in the fold with four laps remaining.
You could cut the tension in the air with a knife as utter chaos prevailed with two laps to go when the entire field was maneuvering for position. The fans screamed as the bell clanged. Cavendish (Great Britain) led Rasmussen, Henderson and Gilmore (Belgium). With less than 200 meters remaining, Rasmussen soared by the Brit with Henderson on his wheel, which appeared to leave the Kiwi in a perfect position to defend his world championship title. The Dane proved too powerful as he added the world championship title to his world cup title. Gilmore took the bronze.
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Women's individual pursuit final
Katie Mactier (Australia) opened about a 2.5 second advantage in the first kilometer versus her teammate Katherine Bates. She extended her advantage to claim the title with a 3:38.325, only a fraction of a second off her qualifying time. Bates took the silver with a 3:41.676.
Although Karin Thurig (Switzerland) opened with a first kilometer that was almost two seconds off the mark set by her competitor Elena Tchalykh (Russia), the Swiss rider fought back to reclaimed a third of that in the second kilometer. The Russian faded in the final kilometer and clipped a sponge badly, ultimately losing the bronze to Thurig.
Men's sprint rounds
The first upset in the 1/8 finals was when newly crowned keirin world champion Teun Mulder (Netherlands) edged out Stefan Nimke (Germany). The powerful German led out the Dutchman who accelerated to a half wheel advantage before turn 3. Nimke dug deep to draw even and the two riders were elbow-to-elbow all the way to the finish line, with Mulder winning by a matter of inches.
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Craig McLean (Great Britain) took faster qualifying Villanueva (Spain) by a wheel, in spite of the Spaniard displaying an excellent ability to keep the Brit in second position through the bell.
Jobie Dajke (Australia) and Tim Veldt (Netherlands) were shoulder-to-shoulder just after turn four as the Dutchman tried to keep the Aussie from passing over top. The photo replay looked dead even but the call went to Dajke.
The opening ride of the quarterfinals pitted defending sprint champion and new kilometer champion Theo Bos against Dajka, the world's sprint silver medalist in both 2003 and 2004. The Aussie came out on top. Circling the track as he thumped his chest, Dajka was clearly pumped to unseat the defending champion and send him to the 5-8 ride.
In another photo finish, Bauge (France) beat Ross (Great Britain).
The Dutch suffered another disappointment when new world keirin champion Teun Mulder suffered defeat by Rene Wolff. The German uncorked a 10.685 to eliminate the Dutchman.
Two Dutchman (Bos and Mulder) and two Brits (Ross and McLean) lined up to contest the 5-8 final. Mulder raced it like his Keirin efforts by attacking with 1.5 laps to go. Ross gave chase as McLean and Bos lagged behind and overtook the keirin world champion just before the line to take fifth spot.
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Team pursuit final
Great Britain finally got its world team pursuit title with a 4:05.619. The Dutch stayed within a half second for the first kilometer, but Britain pulled away in the remaining kilometers to seal the deal.
Australia was not about to make any mistakes in the evening session and immediately opened almost a two second advantage over the Kiwis. New Zealand clawed some of its disadvantage back but lost the bronze to the Aussies. A special "good on ya, mate" goes to Greg Henderson, who represented the Kiwis in the points race, scratch race (silver medal) and team pursuit and is slated to ride the Madison with team pursuit teammate Peter Latham.
Morning session wrap
Brits fastest while Netherlands shrugs off injury; Australia certain of women's pursuit gold; Theo still the sprint Bos
By Eddie Monnier
The joy of the Netherlands leading the medal count (two gold, one silver, two bronze) was tempered by a crash that injured Dutch team pursuit rider Peter Schep. He shook off the scraps, had his wrist taped, and helped his team ride a beautifully paced team pursuit to qualify second fastest.
Women's pursuit
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At the December world cup, Katie Mactier (Australia) said, "I've finished with silver three times now (2003 & 2004 World Championships and Athens) and I want to go one better," she said. "I was always aware that World Championships would come up very fast after the Olympics to bite us on the backside so I made sure I organised myself to race at Oceania to get back into the swing of it."
She made good on her promise by besting her nearest qualifying competitor by over three seconds with her time of 3:38.325. She faces teammate Katherine Bates in the gold medal ride, while Karin Thurig (Switzerland) will face Los Angeles World Cup bronze medalist Elena Tchalkyh (Russia).
Erin Mirabella (USA) rode a 3:49.157, almost a full second off the pace of her Los Angeles World Cup time of 3:48.066 in December.
Men's sprint qualifying
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In spite of the missed opportunity to witness a rematch between Theo Bos, last year's gold medalist, and Ryan Bayley, the Olympic champion since Bayley is out injured, the men's match sprint promised to deliver tough competition with five world championship medalists among the field.
Only the second competitor, Rene Wolff (Germany) set a very fast time of 10.404, beating the track record of 10.445 held by Arnaud Tournant. His time remained the time to beat until teammate Stefan Nimke delivered a 10.329. Nimke's time stood until the last five sprinters, when Gregory Bauge (France) ripped a 10.279. Only two riders later, his teammate Mickael Bourgain scorched a 10.257.
In spite of winning the kilometer world title less than 15 hours ago, the young Dutch rider blazed a flying 200-meter time of 10.192 to set a new track record, take the top seed, and further establish himself as a force among the sprint events. Bos, the defending world champion, told Cyclingnews, "Yesterday I had a very good kilometer. I knew my form was good. I hoped to do the fastest qualifier here, and luckily, it happened, so I'm very happy with the result." He's not counting a second medal yet, as he warned, "Anything can happen, especially with this sprint modus, [with] no repechage. You have to be very focused."
Team pursuit
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With only the Australians still to ride, Great Britain opened with a blistering first kilometer of 1:04.833 en route to a time of 4:08.569 to guarantee a ride in the gold medal ride.
The Netherlands rode a beautifully paced team pursuit, posting flying kilometer times of 1:00.828, 1:00.913, and 1:00.980. They then had to nervously wait to see whether they were riding for gold or bronze while defending world champions and current world record holders Australia finished their qualifying time. At the halfway point, Australia was 1.8 seconds off the mark of Great Britain but ahead of the Netherlands by 0.2 seconds. However, in a disastrous final two laps, third position rider Ashley Hutchinson blew and lost the wheel in front of him, gapping teammate Matthew Goss. Since the finishing time is taken from the third rider to cross the line, Goss had to go around and try to catch his two teammates.
New Zealand opened with a very slow first kilometer but set the best final kilometer time of 1:00.670 to advance to the finals.
Great Britain will face Netherlands in the ride for the gold medal, while New Zealand will face its Australian neighbors in the ride for the bronze medal.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Mike Gladu/www.velodrome.com
- Karin Thurig (Switzerland) put herself into the bronze medal pursuit final with a 3:42.452
- It must have been the cheese.
- Katherine Bates (Australia) took a second off Thurig to qualify for the gold medal final
- Katie Mactier made it an all-Australia final with a 3:38.325
- Elena Tchalykh (Russia) went head to head against Mactier in qualifying, and it pushed her into the bronze medal final
- Rene Wolff (Germany) squeezes out a 10.404 - a tie with Edgar of Great Britain - and a coin flip put the German in fifth seed
- Stefan Nimke (Germany) qualifies 4th for the men's sprint
- Gregory Bauge (France) qualifies third with a 10.279
- World Cup leader Mickael Bourgain (FRance) snaps up second seed with a 10.257
- Theo Bos (Netherlands) turns in a 10.192 to claim top seed
- Team New Zealand places fourth with a 4:10.698 (Jason Allen, Gregory Henderson, Peter Latham and Marc Ryan)
- Netherlands crash in warmup didn't seem to faze them - they qualified second with a 4:09.483 (Levi Heimans, Jens Mouris, Peter Schep, Niki Terpstra)
- World Cup team pursuit points leaders Great Britain set the standard with a 4:08.569 (Ed Clancy, Steven Cummings, Paul Manning, Christopher Newton)
- Australia closed out the qualifying session with a small bobble that took them out of the final for gold, and into the race for bronze (Matthew Goss, Ashley Hutchinson, Mark Jamieson, Stephen Wooldridge)
Images by Mitch Friedman/www.mitchophoto.com
- Olga Slyusareva (Russia) rode to a 5th spot in the pursuit qualifiers
- Katherine Bates (Australia) rode hard to a 2nd place
- Team Australia in the pursuit qualifiers
- Team Australia rotates the lead
- Teun Mulder (Netherlands) was 13th fast in the 200m
- Stefan Nimke (Germany) was fourth fast in sprint qualifying
- Jobie Dajka (Australia) rode to 9th despite - or perhaps because of - his fall last night
- Kazuya Narita (Japan) was 16th
- Gregory Bauge (France) powers to third
- Jamie Staff (Great Britain) got 14th
- Mickael Baurgain (France) was second fastest
- Theo Bos (Netherlands) was on fire, setting a new track record of 10.192
- Team France on the way to 7th spot
- Italy had a bad day - 11th out of 11
- Team New Zealand was 4th fastest, and none more black.
- Track racing is good family fun!
- Team Russia on the way to 8th place
- Team Germany had an off day in 6th spot
- Team Ukraine was 5th fastest today
- Team Netherlands power out of the blocks
- The Team Netherlands train going for second spot
- The Netherlands express
- Great Britain was fast today in 1st place - could the Brits finally land the team pursuit championship?
Images by Matthew Moses/www.moses-images.com
- Adrie Visser (Netherlands) finished 7th during pursuit qualifications
- Erin Mirabella (USA) finished 9th during pursuit qualifications
- Emma Davies (Great Britain) digs deep and finishes 6th in the pursuit
- Karin Thurig (Switzerland) had a strong ride and has a shot at bronze during the pursuit finals
- Katherine Bates (Australia) qualifies 2nd in the pursuit setting up an all Australia final
- Jobie Dajka (Australia) finished 9th in the 200m qualifying with a time of 10.509
- Jamie Staff (Great Britain) at the rail during the men's sprint qualifying
- Theo Bos (Netherlands) didn't disappoint his fans turning a 10.192 for the top seen in the men's sprint.
- New Zealand got off to a slow start but still qualified 4th and still has a chance for the bronze
- The Netherlands rode well setting up a showdown against the British for the World Championship title
- World Cup Champions Great Britian continued their winning ways but taking the top qualifying spot in 4:08.569
- Top seed Australia collapsed during the last kilometer to qualify to ride off against New Zealand for the bronze medal
Images by Dana Ross/www.danarossphoto.com
- A record crowd turned out for the third evening of racing
- Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) gets a pep talk from coach Shane Sutton.
- The Meares sisters doing a trackstand in competion for 3rd and 4th place.
- Victoria Pendleton defeats Tamilia Abassova (Russia) in the sprint finals
- Victoria Pendleton celebrates her women's sprint victory
- Victoria Pendleton wears the flag after winning the women's sprints
Images by Matthew Moses/www.moses-images.com
- James Carney (USA) put in a blistering attack with ten laps to ignite the scratch race
- The men's field fights for position on the final lap.
- Karin Thurig (Switzerland) took the bronze in the women's pursuit.
- Katie Mactier (Australia) - a happy new world champion
- Alex Rasmussen (Denmark) likes the taste of gold.
- Gregory Bauge (France) defeats Ross Edgar (Great Britain) to move into the semi-finals
- Tamilia Abassova (Russia) tries to hold Victoria Pendleton (Great britain) at the rail during the women's match sprint
- Australia rides to the bronze.
- Great Britain rode strongly to take the world championship title
- A Great Britain rider flies the British flag.
- Jobie Dajka (Australia) keeps an eye on Theo Bos (Netherlands) and pulled the surprise upset at the line
- Theo Bos watches Jobie Dajka over his shoulder
- Kerrie Meares (Australia) watches for her sister Anna
- Victoria Pendelton (Great Britain) shows off her new championship gold medal.
Images by Mitch Friedman/www.mitchophoto.com
- Italy's Angelo Ciccone tried to get away in the scratch race
- Jame Carney (USA) tried to go with 10 laps to go but came up short
- Alex Rasmussen (Denmark) wins the scratch race world championship
- Katherine Bates (Australia) on the way to a fine silver in the pursuit.
- Katie Mactier (Australia) gives the thumbs up after winning gold
- The scratch race podium - L-R Gregory Henderson (New Zealand) 2nd; Alex Rasmussen (Denmark) 1st; Matthew Gilmore (Belgium)
- Australia's Meares sisters play to the crowd in the bronze ride.
- Jobie Dajka (Australia) just gets Theo Bos (Netherlands) at the line to make the upset of the night
- Grégory Bauge (France) edges out Ross Edgar (Great Britain)
- Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) and Tamilia Abassova (Russia) in the sprint final
- Alex Baum - the man behind cycling in So Cal
- Aussie Hug - Bates and Mactier congratulate on the podium
- The women's sprint podium - L-R: Tamilia Abassova (Russia) 2nd; Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) 1st; Anna Meares (Australia) 3rd
- James Carney (USA) trying to get away in the final laps of the scratch race
- Alex Rasmussen (Denmark) leads Greg Henderson (New Zealand) and gets the win
- A very happy Alex Rasmussen
- Karin Thurig (Switzerland) rode to a bronze medal in the pursuit
- Katherine Bates (Australia) rides in the pursuit
- Alex Rasmussen bites the gold
- Abassova, Pendleton, Meares show their medals
- Katie Mactier shows the gold medal of pursuit world champion
- Great Britain won the team pursuit - at long last!
- Team Great Britain takes a lap of honour
- The Meares trackstanding - or grandstanding? The crowd loved it anyway.
Images by Mike Gladu/www.velodrome.com
- Marvulli and Neuville wait for an opportunity in the mens scratch final.
- Miles Olman (Australia) in the scratch race.
- Jame Carney (USA) launched an all-out solo attack with less than 2 kilometers remaining.
- Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) leads the pack out with one to go.
- Alex Rasmussen (Denmark) takes the scratch race win over Henderson of New Zealand
- Rasmussen (Denmark) celebrates the scratch race win.
- Elena Tchalykh (Russia) in the bronze medal pursuit final
- Karin Thurig (Switzerland) proves cheese is mightier than caviar
- Katie Mactier (Australia) concentrates on the countdown clock in the pursuit
- Katherine Bates (Australia) makes it an all-Aussie pursuit final
- Katie Mactier - identified by the gold of her shoe covers
- Katie Mactier celebrates the pursuit win
- Katie Mactier and teammate Katherine Bates - gold and silver
- Tuen Mulder and Stefan Nimke share the lane on the way to Mulder's win in the sprint 1/4 finals
- Jobie Dajka (Australia) sends Theo Bos (Netherlands) to the 5-8 final
- The Meares sisters put on a show for the SRO crowd.
- Team Australia claimed third place against New Zealand in the team pursuit finals
- Team New Zealand missed the podium in the team pursuit finals
- Team Great Britain claimed gold in the team pursuit finals
- Team Netherlands against Great Britain took silver.
- Great Britain celebrates the team pursuit win
- Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) takes Abassova in the final ride of the women's match sprint
- Victoria Pendleton celebrates the sprint win
- What I have to deal with to shoot a "lap of honor"!
- That's better! - Bates and Mactier a second later after they pass the photo phalanx
- Ross Edgar (Great Britain) wins the 5-8 minor sprint final over Teun Mulder of the Netherlands
- In the end, after three rides - it was ANNA meares over her sister Kerrie for the bronze.
Images by Russ and Nancy Wright/www.abbiorca.com
- Anna Meares (AUS) looks back at Victoria Pendleton (GBR) in Sprint Finals
- Gregory Henderson (New Zealand) - second in the scratch race
- Matthew Gilmore (Belgium) - third in the Scratch race
- Action from the scratch race
- Action from the scratch race
- Action from the scratch race
- Action from the scratch race
- France's Jerome Neuville in the scratch race
- Bikes all over the track in the scratch race
- USA's James Carney takes a flyer with 10 laps to go
- Franco Marvulli (Switzerland) in the scratch race
- A packed house enjoyed some fine track today
- Katherine Bates (Australia) on the way to silver in the women's pursuit
- Katie Mactier wins the individual pursuit
- The men's scratch race podium - Gregory Henderson (New Zealand) 2nd; Alex Rasmussen (Denmark), 1st; Matthew Gilmore (Belgium) 3rd
- Teun Mulder (Netherlands) comes around Germany's Stefan Nimke in the 1/8 finals in the men's sprint
- A very determined Craig Mclean (Great Britain) comes around Spain's Jose A Villanueva Trinidad in the 1/8 finals in the men's sprint
- Spain's Jose A Villanueva Trinidad gives it all he has but not enough as Craig Mclean (Great britain) takes the win in the 1/8 finals in the men's sprint
- Sisters Anna (in lead) and Kerrie Meares put on a great show as they battled for the bronze in the sprint
- Tamilia Abassova (Russia) looks back for eventual gold medal winner Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) in the sprint
- New Zealand in team pursuit
- Australia rides to 3rd in the team pursuit
- Love those aero helmets
- Netherlands team pursuit - good for the silver
- Great Britain fans yell and wave for their pursuit gold medal team
- That's right - I won. Jobie Dajka (Australia) in the sprint quarter finals
- Rene Wolff (Germany) powers to win over Teun Mulder (Netherlands) in sprint quarter finals
- World Cup leader Tamilia Abassova (Russia) on her way to a silver against Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain)
- A very happy women's individual pursuit podium. - Katherine Bates (Australia) 2nd; Katie Mactier (Australia) 1st; Karin Thurig (Switzeland) 3rd
- Katie Mactier (Australia) couldn't be happier without serious self-inflicted jaw damage.
- Individual pursuit winner Katie Mactier (Australia) and 2nd place Katherine Bates (Australia)
- Most of the fans shuffled out of the velodrome before Anna Meares took her lap around the track to celebrate her 3rd place in the Sprint. Here she high fives with fans at track side.
Results
Women's sprint Finals Gold 1 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) 12.184 12.284 2 Tamilia Abassova (Russia) Bronze 1 Anna Meares (Australia) 14.341 13.146 2 Kerrie Meares (Australia) 12.600 Full women's sprint results Men's scratch race 1 Alex Rasmussen (Denmark) 2 Gregory Henderson (New Zealand) 3 Matthew Gilmore (Belgium) 4 Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) 5 Franco Marvulli (Switzerland) Full men's scratch results Team pursuit finals Gold 1 Great Britain 4.05.619 (58.627km/h) 2 Netherlands 4.09.971 (57.606km/h) Bronze 1 Australia 4.07.717 (58.13km/h) 2 New Zealand 4.08.661 (57.91km/h) Team pursuit qualifying 1 Great Britain 4.08.569 (57.931km/h) 2 Netherlands 4.09.483 (57.719km/h) 3 Australia 4.10.072 (57.583km/h) 4 New Zealand 4.10.698 (57.439km/h) Full team pursuit results Women's individual pursuit finals Gold 1 Katie Mactier (Australia) 3.38.720 (49.378km/h) 2 Katherine Bates (Australia) 3.42.848 (48.463km/h) Bronze 1 Karin Thürig (Switzerland) 3.45.490 (47.895km/h) 2 Elena Tchalykh (Russia) 3.46.574 (47.666km/h) Women's individual pursuit qualifying 1 Katie Mactier (Australia) 3.38.325 (49.467km/h) 2 Katherine Bates (Australia) 3.41.676 (48.719km/h) 3 Karin Thürig (Switzerland) 3.42.452 (48.549km/h) 4 Elena Tchalykh (Russia) 3.43.058 (48.417km/h) Full women's IP results Men's sprint qualifying 1 Theo Bos (Netherlands) 10.192 (70.643km/h) 2 Mickaël Bourgain (France) 10.257 (70.195km/h) 3 Grégory Bauge (France) 10.279 (70.045km/h) 4 Stefan Nimke (Germany) 10.329 (69.706km/h) 5 René Wolff (Germany) 10.404 (69.204km/h) Full men's sprint results Back to top
