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Track World Cup 05-06 Round 4 - CDMSydney, Australia, March 3-5, 2006Day 1 - March 3 - Women: Sprint; Points race 20km. Men: Scratch 7.5km qualifying; Keirin; Individual pursuit; Scratch 15 km; Kilometer t.t.Speed, crashes and plenty of quality racing in SydneyBy Les Clarke in Sydney Women's sprintAnna Meares beat Abassova in race 1 of the semi finals, with Jennie Reed taking her opening race against Italian Elisa Frisoni. In race two of the Meares/Abassova duel the Australian rode an extremely smart race to head into the decider against either the American or Italian. It was the American who would ride against Meares for the gold medal with a dominant win over Elisa Frisoni where she led from start to finish to prove she was a worthy adversary for Meares, who has been recovering from a back injury for several months. Meares only required two races to defeat Jennie Reed in the final for first and second, the American having shown great form of her own to reach the final. But in the final she was up against a very lean and fast Meares who accounted for her in two near-perfect performances. The experienced American tried going out hard and fast in both races, because according to Meares she knew that the Queenslander "has a faster jump" than Reed and hitting the front early would nullify Meare's ability to use this to her advantage. But it didn't matter as the younger of the speed sisters won both races in similar fashion, the latter victory bringing a huge smile to her face. "Tonight's ride was all about timing," said Meares after her win. "Marv's been encouraging me to time it [the sprint] from the back. He's been saying 'whatever you do have one good go,' and I saved that one for last." And indeed it was a perfectly-timed run, accelerating hard past Reed down the back straight and showing three fingers for the win. Meares enjoys racing in Sydney, and it shows. "I'm really stoked to get a win in Sydney - it's my third win in this event here and it means a lot to me," said Meares before adding, "It's always great to get a win in a home event and the crowd's been really good tonight." Meares says she is approaching the kind of form she enjoyed at the Athens Olympics in 2004, saying after the race, "I picked up a lot of confidence after nationals; I went into them second guessing my form and ability because I hadn't raced before then. I had the back injury and I just wasn't sure of where I was at - but now I'm flying and it feels great." In the ride off for the bronze medal, Russia's Tamilia Abassova won the first race in commanding fashion against Italian Elisa Frisoni, showing good speed and tactical awareness to go one up in the best of three. In the second race however, Frisoni led from the start to hold on and take an excellent win. The third race looked as though Abassova had done enough to come from behind and snatch the win, but Frisoni proevd she had the legs to once again lead the way and take a very narrow win ahead of the Russian. In the final for 5th-8th, Ukraine's Lubov Shulyka proved to be the dominant rider, taking the win ahead of Poland's Magdalena Sara and Chinese rider Jinjie Gong. Dutch rider Yvonne Hijgenaar led the race early, lifting the pace and providing a target for the other three riders to aim for. But it was Shulyka who shot off the Dutchwoman's wheel and was never headed to record the win. Men's scratchFeaturing Denmark's scratch race world champion Alex Rasmussen, the men's 15km scratch race was essentially decided when a break of five riders lapped the main field with 26 laps remaining. An attacking race from the early stages, it was a group of three riders - Sue Jae Jang, Kazuhiro Mori and Alexandr Khatuntsev - that went out early to lead with 46 laps remaining. With 42 laps remaining Irishman Paul Helion and American Bobby Lea made their way to the break to make it a group of five. These three riders were soon joined by Spaniard Miguel Alzamora Riera and Germany's Christian Lademann with 38 laps remaining, prompting the main field into action and causing the bunch to splinter. The pace lifted as riders tried to make their way over to the break, but with a seven-strong group out front it wasn't going to be easy. They did it, however, but as soon as parity was restored a group of five went away with 33 to go, and unbeknownst to the riders behind the winner would come from this break. Lea, Lademann, Jang, Polish rider Rafal Ratajczyk and Khatuntsev were the quintet that found themselves working towards taking a lap out of the main field, and with 26 laps to go they got their lap. They were then content to sit in the field and watch each other until the closing stages. With three laps to go it was Lademann who made the big move, looking strong until he blew with just 1.5 laps remaining. That was the cue for eventual winner Ratajczyk to power to the front, holding off Jang and Khatuntsev over the final lap to take the win. Bobby Lea finished in fourth with a disappointed Lademann in fifth. Men's keirinWith the first three riders going into the final, the second round of the men's keirin saw Theo Bos and Ben Kersten making a bid for places in the decider. In race 1 Theo Bos put himself at the front of the field going into the bell lap and was never headed, showing his strong form in what would be a pulsating final, taking the win in a time of 11.057 seconds. In the second race Ben Kersten showed he's also in great form with a commanding display very much in the mould of Bos in the race before. Moving around the outside going into the final lap, Kersten was far too fast for Josiah Ng, although the Malaysian rider put up a good fight. Kersten won in a time of 11.103 seconds despite taking his foot off the gas a little in the closing stages. It was the Theo Bos show in the gold medal race, with the Dutchman displaying plenty of speed and class to beat ben Kersten and Malaysian Josiah Ng, although the Australian was relegated for irregularities in the final sprint after the race, meaning Dutch rider Jan Van Eijden took home third behind Ng. But it was purely academic as Bos stayed with Kersten when he went with 1.5 laps remaining and powered past the Sydney rider going into the second last bend. From there he was simply unstoppable, afforded the luxury of taking his foot off the gas in the home straight to take a comfortable win. Following his win, a satisfied Bos praised Kersten's ride, but knew he had the goods to come up with the win. "I just stuck to the plan I made before the race, which was to attack with about 1.5 laps to go," Bos said after the race. "Ben decided to go too, but I had more power and was able to come around him in the back straight." With the world championships in Bordeaux looming next month, Bos is happy with his form, adding, "It's the same as last year - I got a win in the keirin and the sprint here in Sydney, and although the form is down a little from this time last year it's planned; I'm still right on track for world's." He believes there's some fine tuning to come, which will lead to improvement, saying, "I've changed my training but I'm still sticking to the main programme." Kersten was baffled at his relegation after the finish, telling Cyclingnews "God knows why they relegated me - I don't know what I did!" With minor placings up for grabs, Polish rider Damian Zielinski proved the classiest rider in the field for 7th-12th place when he went for home with two laps remaining. Although it seemed an audacious move, Zielinski made it stick despite pressure from Kazunari Watanabe, who finished second ahead of Mexico's Mario Contreras. Women's pointsThe women's points race was marred by a nasty fall involving two Chinese riders, Jianling Wang and Yan Li, with the race neutralised after 34 laps. Before the big spill, however, the first two sprints were decided by lone riders taking their chances and chasing the early points on offer. Jamaica's Iona Wynter Parks took the points in the first sprint after a solo effort, followed by American Kori Seehafer, who went out by herself two laps before the second sprint and took the five points on offer. It came together for the third points harvest, with Chinese rider Jianling Wang securing five points and the overall lead. It was then time for points race world champion Vera Carrara to step up to the mark and make her presence felt, staying near the front of the field for the attack that was about to come. Swiss rider Pascale Schnider took the fourth load of points on offer before four riders went clear with 36 aps remaining. Leire Olaberria Dorronsoro (Spa), Adrie Visser (Ned), Carrara and Nikki Harris (GBr) worked together to quickly put half a lap into the field. Four laps later the four-rider break caught the field, with the classy Italian rider taking maximum advantage of the 20-point boost to go to the top of the standings. Another five points on the fifth sprint secured her lead further, and four laps passed before the crash involving Wang and Li put the race on hold for almost half an hour. American Lauren Franges gained a lap on the field soon after the resumption of the race before Wang, who had recovered from her crash, took the sixth sprint ahead of Carrara's win in the seventh sprint. A perfectly-timed sprint from the pack sealed the win for the world champion and showed her class in the event, with tactical sensibilities and an engine to match. Li was treated at the velodrome before being taken to hospital where she'll be kept overnight and an examination of her injuries conducted. She won't be taking any further part in this world cup round. Men's IP finalsAustralian Michael Ford showed maturity and class to take the spoils against Vitaliy Schedov in their ride-off for third and fourth. The young Victorian was able to build an early lead and hold on over the four kilometres. Although it appeared the Ukrainian was pegging back the former team pursuit junior world champion, Ford came home strongly to win in a time of 4:33.169 and the bronze medal. It was Brit Rob Hayles all the way in the race for gold, but although he was happy to get the win he was focussing on posting times ahead of the Commonwealth Games. Clearly a class above Russian opponent Alexander Khatuntsev, who had also ridden the scratch race earlier in the evening's programme, Hayles caught the Russian well ahead of the finish and went on to record a time of 4:24.805. The Englishman, who recently became a father, said after the race, "I'm really pleased with both times today - really consistent." He explained that it's all about getting racing under the belt as he's also suffered from illness recently. "It's all about exercise and effort, and I'm glad to get the win here," he continued. "This morning I cruised a little bit and it seemed harder this evening. I haven't missed much [through illness]; just a few key sessions - nothing too much. I'm in the right place heading into Melbourne and world's and there's plenty of training to come," he added. Men's 1km TT finalAustralia's Joel Leonard was looking for qualification into the world's squad with a top-five finish in the kilo and he got it, taking bronze behind China's Yong Feng and Frenchman Francois Pervis. Pervis set the early time to beat, recording 1:03.148 which wasn't to be beaten until Feng came out with a smooth consistent ride which earned him gold in a time of 1:03.016. Leonard looked fast in his run but slowed a little in the latter stages and finished third - disappointment on the night perhaps, but he was able to achieve a spot for Bordeaux next month, something the Victorian will be happy with. PhotographyFor a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by Mark Gunter/www.pbase.com/gunterphotograph
ResultsMen keirin First round Heat 1 1 José Antonio Villanueva Trinidad (Spain) 2 Kazunari Watanabe (Japan) 3 Ricardo Lynch (Jamaica) 4 Kasper Jessen (Denmark) 5 Mario Contreras (Mexico) 6 Kin Chung Wong (Hong-Kong) Heat 2 1 Ben Kersten (Australia) 2 Cédric Stoller (Switzerland) 3 Josiah Ng On Lam (Malaysia) 4 Hee Chun Yang (Korea) 5 Damian Zielinski (Poland) 6 Nathan Seddon (New Zealand) Heat 3 1 Theo Bos (Netherlands) 2 Jan Van Eijden (Germany) 3 Benjamin Barczewski (USA) 4 Didier Henriette (France) 5 Qiming Wang (China) 6 Kostantinos Pentarakis (Greece) Repechage Heat 1 1 Ricardo Lynch (Jamaica) 2 Damian Zielinski (Poland) 3 Benjamin Barczewski (USA) 4 Nathan Seddon (New Zealand) 5 Kostantinos Pentarakis (Greece) 6 Hee Chun Yang (Korea) Heat 2 1 Josiah Ng On Lam (Malaysia) 2 Didier Henriette (France) 3 Mario Contreras (Mexico) 4 Kasper Jessen (Denmark) 5 Qiming Wang (China) 6 Kin Chung Wong (Hong-Kong) Second round Heat 1 1 Theo Bos (Netherlands) 2 José Antonio Villanueva Trinidad (Spain) 3 Didier Henriette (France) 4 Cédric Stoller (Switzerland) 5 Ricardo Lynch (Jamaica) 6 Benjamin Barczewski (USA) Heat 2 1 Ben Kersten (Australia) 2 Josiah Ng On Lam (Malaysia) 3 Jan Van Eijden (Germany) 4 Damian Zielinski (Poland) 5 Mario Contreras (Mexico) 6 Kazunari Watanabe (Japan) Final 1-6 1 Theo Bos (Netherlands) 2 Josiah Ng On Lam (Malaysia) 3 Jan Van Eijden (Germany) 4 Didier Henriette (France) 5 José Antonio Villanueva Trinidad (Spain) REL Ben Kersten (Australia) Final 7-12 7 Damian Zielinski (Poland) 8 Kazunari Watanabe (Japan) 9 Mario Contreras (Mexico) 10 Cédric Stoller (Switzerland) 11 Ricardo Lynch (Jamaica) 12 Benjamin Barczewski (USA) Women sprint Qualifying 1 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands) 11.463 (62.810km/h) 2 Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 11.528 (62.456km/h) 3 Lubov Shulyka (Ukraine) 11.603 (62.052km/h) 4 Anna Meares (Australia) 11.624 (61.940km/h) 5 Magdalena Sara (Poland) 11.659 (61.754km/h) 6 Jennie Reed (USA) 11.680 (61.643km/h) 7 Jinjie Gong (China) 11.692 (61.580km/h) 8 Tamilia Abassova (Russia) 11.833 (60.846km/h) 9 Mu Di (China) 11.884 (60.585km/h) 10 Elisabeth Williams (New Zealand) 11.977 (60.115km/h) 11 Fiona Carswell (New Zealand) 11.998 (60.010km/h) 12 Annalisa Cucinotta (Italy) 12.043 (59.785km/h) 13 Kristine Bayley (Australia) 12.113 (59.440km/h) 14 Jin A You (Korea) 12.145 (59.283km/h) 15 Viktorija Lomsargyte (Lithuania) 12.293 (58.569km/h) 16 Nancy Contreras (Mexico) 12.338 (58.356km/h) 1/8 finals Heat 1 1 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands) 12.466 (57.757km/h) 2 Nancy Contreras (Mexico) Heat 2 1 Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 12.635 (56.984km/h) 2 Viktorija Lomsargyte (Lithuania) Heat 3 1 Lubov Shulyka (Ukraine) 12.444 (57.859km/h) 2 Jin A You (Korea) Heat 4 1 Anna Meares (Australia) 12.814 (56.188km/h) 2 Kristine Bayley (Australia) Heat 5 1 Magdalena Sara (Poland) 12.119 (59.410km/h) 2 Annalisa Cucinotta (Italy) Heat 6 1 Jennie Reed (USA) 12.339 (58.351km/h) 2 Fiona Carswell (New Zealand) Heat 7 1 Jinjie Gong (China) 12.446 (57.849km/h) 2 Elisabeth Williams (New Zealand) Heat 8 1 Tamilia Abassova (Russia) 12.311 (58.484km/h) 2 Mu Di (China) A quarter-finals Heat 1 1 Tamilia Abassova (Russia) 12.419 12.967 2 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands) 11.982 Heat 2 1 Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 12.340 12.241 2 Jinjie Gong (China) 12.717 Heat 3 1 Jennie Reed (USA) 12.214 12.085 2 Lubov Shulyka (Ukraine) Heat 4 1 Anna Meares (Australia) 12.451 12.588 2 Magdalena Sara (Poland) B quarter-finals Heat 1 1 Nancy Contreras (Mexico) 12.570 (57.279km/h) 2 Mu Di (China) Heat 2 1 Elisabeth Williams (New Zealand) 12.438 (57.887km/h) 2 Viktorija Lomsargyte (Lithuania) Heat 3 1 Fiona Carswell (New Zealand) 13.060 (55.130km/h) 2 Jin A You (Korea) Heat 4 1 Kristine Bayley (Australia) 12.757 (56.439km/h) 2 Annalisa Cucinotta (Italy) B Semi-finals Heat 1 1 Kristine Bayley (Australia) 12.562 (57.315km/h) 2 Nancy Contreras (Mexico) Heat 2 1 Elisabeth Williams (New Zealand) 12.797 (56.263km/h) 2 Fiona Carswell (New Zealand) B finals Heat 1 9 Kristine Bayley (Australia) 12.733 (56.545km/h) 10 Elisabeth Williams (New Zealand) Heat 2 11 Nancy Contreras (Mexico) 12.326 (58.413km/h) 12 Fiona Carswell (New Zealand) Semi-finals Heat 1 1 Anna Meares (Australia) 12.311 12.271 2 Tamilia Abassova (Russia) Heat 2 1 Jennie Reed (USA) 12.298 12.027 2 Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 5-8 final 5 Lubov Shulyka (Ukraine) 12.464 (57.766km/h) 6 Magdalena Sara (Poland) 7 Jinjie Gong (China) 8 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands) Bronze final 1 Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 12.412 12.047 2 Tamilia Abassova (Russia) 12.219 Gold final 1 Anna Meares (Australia) 12.276 12.326 2 Jennie Reed (USA) Men individual pursuit Qualifying 1 Rob Hayles (GBr) Science in Sport 4.25.565 (54.224km/h) 2 Alexander Khatuntsev (Russia) 4.30.821 (53.171km/h) 3 Vitaliy Shchedov (Ukraine) 4.31.828 (52.974km/h) 4 Michael Ford (Australia) 4.32.728 (52.799km/h) 5 Levi Heimans (Netherlands) 4.33.160 (52.716km/h) 6 Sun Jae Jang (Korea) 4.33.175 (52.713km/h) 7 Sebastian David Muntaner Juaneda (Spain) 4.35.595 (52.250km/h) 8 Jorge Soto (Uruguay) 4.36.502 (52.079km/h) 9 Jakub Sredzinki (Poland) 4.36.651 (52.051km/h) 10 Zach Bell (Canada) 4.37.668 (51.860km/h) 11 Paul Healion (Ireland) 4.38.909 (51.629km/h) 12 Grégory Devaud (Switzerland) 4.40.540 (51.329km/h) 13 Aliaksandr Lisovski (Belarus) 4.43.507 (50.792km/h) 14 Claudio Masnata (Italy) 4.43.824 (50.735km/h) 15 Michael Christensen (Denmark) 4.49.107 (49.808km/h) 16 Amiruddin Jamaluddin (Malaysia) 4.51.763 (49.355km/h) Gold 1 Rob Hayles (GBr) Science in Sport 4.24.805 (54.379km/h) 2 Alexander Khatuntsev (Russia) OVL Bronze 1 Michael Ford (Australia) 4.33.169 (52.714km/h) 2 Vitaliy Shchedov (Ukraine) 4.34.500 (52.459km/h) Women's points race Qualifying heat 1 1 Adrie Visser (Netherlands) 6 pts 2 Vera Carrara (Italy) 6 3 Gina Grain (Canada) 5 4 Yan Li (China) 5 5 Belinda Goss (Australia) 5 6 Lyudmyla Vypyraylo (Ukraine) 5 7 Kori Seehafer (USA) 3 8 Alena Prudnikova (Russia) 3 9 Iona Wynter Parks (Jamaica) 2 10 Pascale Schnider (Switzerland) 2 11 Uracca Leow Hoay Sim (Malaysia) 1 12 Sung Eun Gu (Korea) 1 13 Karolina Janik (Poland) 0 Qualifying heat 2 1 Olaberria Dorronsoro L. (Spain) 8 pts 2 Songee Han (Korea) 5 3 Catherine Sell (New Zealand) 5 4 Yumari Gonzalez (Cuba) 5 5 Jianling Wang (China) 5 6 Monia Baccaille (Italy) 4 7 Jarmila Machacova (Czech Republic) 3 8 Lauren Franges (USA) 3 9 Mandy Poitras (Canada) 2 10 Nikki Harris (Great Britain) 2 11 Noor Azian Alias (Malaysia) 2 12 Tess Downing (Australia) 0 13 Katarzyna Jagusiak (Poland) 0 14 Maria Tzoumanika (Greece) 0 Men's scratch race 1 Rafal Ratajczyk (Poland) 2 Sun Jae Jang (Korea) 3 Alexander Khatuntsev (Russia) 4 Robert Lea (USA) 5 Christian Lademann (Germany) 6 Wim Stroetinga (Netherlands) 7 Grant Irwin (Australia) 8 Martin Gilbert (Canada) 9 Juan Gaspari (Argentina) 10 Miguel Alzamora Riera (Spain) 11 Kazuhiro Mori (Japan) 12 Carlos Manuel Hernandez (Mexico) 13 Ross Sander (Great Britain) 14 Paul Healion (Ireland) 15 Muhammad Fauzan Ahmad Lufti (Malaysia) 16 Nicky Cocquyt (Belgium) 17 King Wai Cheung (Hong-Kong) 18 Volodymyr Rybin (Ukraine) REL Saveriano Sangion (Italy) DNF Dzmitry Smirnou (Belarus) DNF Alex Rasmussen (Denmark) DNF Tristan Marguet (Switzerland) DNF Jorge Soto (Uruguay) Women's points race 1 Vera Carrara (Italy) 33 pts 2 Olaberria Dorronsoro L. (Spain) 25 3 Nikki Harris (Great Britain) 24 4 Adrie Visser (Netherlands) 21 5 Lauren Franges (USA) 20 6 Jianling Wang (China) 15 7 Belinda Goss (Australia) 10 8 Alena Prudnikova (Russia) 9 9 Kori Seehafer (USA) 7 10 Pascale Schnider (Switzerland) 5 11 Iona Wynter Parks (Jamaica) 5 12 Monia Baccaille (Italy) 3 13 Gina Grain (Canada) 3 14 Lyudmyla Vypyraylo (Ukraine) 3 15 Jarmila Machacova (Czech Republic) 3 16 Catherine Sell (New Zealand) 2 17 Songee Han (Korea) 0 18 Mandy Poitras (Canada) 0 19 Yumari Gonzalez (Cuba) 0 DNF Yan Li (China) 0 Men's kilo time trial 1 Yong Feng (China) 1.03.016 (57.128km/h) 2 François Pervis (France) 1.03.143 (57.013km/h) 3 Joel Leonard (Australia) 1.03.839 (56.391km/h) 4 Tim Veldt (Netherlands) 1.03.854 (56.378km/h) 5 Hiroyuki Inagaki (Japan) 1.04.134 (56.132km/h) 6 Tomasz Schmidt (Poland) 1.04.550 (55.770km/h) 7 Alvaro Alonso Rubio (Spain) 1.04.880 (55.487km/h) 8 Dong Jin Kang (Korea) 1.05.487 (54.972km/h) 9 Wilson Meses Gutierrez (Colombia) 1.05.636 (54.847km/h) 10 Cam Mackinnon (Canada) 1.05.997 (54.547km/h) 11 Mohd Hafiz Sufian (Malaysia) 1.06.277 (54.317km/h) 12 Roman Kononenko (Ukraine) 1.07.098 (53.652km/h) 13 Luis Carlos Toussaint (Mexico) 1.07.919 (53.004km/h) 14 Daniel Kreutzfeld (Denmark) 1.08.174 (52.806km/h) 15 Kin Chung Wong (Hong-Kong) 1.08.483 (52.567km/h) |
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