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Track World Cup 06-07 Round 1 - CDM
Sydney, Australia, November 17-19, 2006
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Stage
Stage 3 - November 19: Men: Madison, Team Sprint; Women: Scratch race, Keirin,
Reporting by Cyclingnews staff in Sydney
Men's Madison: Ignatiev continues blistering form with powerhouse Madison
By Gerard Knapp
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If the male endurance riders who lined up for the 40km Madison were hoping that yesterday's efforts had taken the sting out of Russian Mikhail Ignatiev's legs, they may have been encouraged by the fact that he and partner Nikolai Trussov didn't score any points at all in the morning qualifying session.
The only problem, of course, was that they decided to concentrate on shortening their personal race distances, and succeeded in lapping the field in-between the intermediate sprints.
So while there were no points recorded against their names in qualifying, it was irrelevant as they had lapped the field (any team that laps the field is automatically ahead, regardless of points), and dealt a psychological blow to any team that thought it may have been in with a chance.
The Russian duo didn't bother with contesting the sprints in qualifying, because as Ignatiev said afterwards, "in qualification it was hard [due to yesterday]. Nikolai Trussov and I we not have good finish, er, speed, in the morning [qualifying], so I say go for the lap and only the lap. So we make one lap and it is good."
It would appear that the morning's effort helped free up the legs a little for Ignatiev, as he and Trussov then went on to a commanding win in the Madison final; and just as he had done the previous evening in the points race, he contested all the sprints – except the final one because he didn't need to - and chased down anything that looked remotely threatening.
Their morning tactic of going for a lap was duly noted by the Danish duo of Michael Mokov and Alex Rasmussen, who went into the final thinking that would be the plan of the Russians, and they would be waiting for the big move.
Except it never came, Mokov told Cyclingnews afterwards. Instead, the Russians started quickly and accumulated points in the intermediate sprints faster than any other team – they had reversed their approach from the morning session.
The mistake of the Danish pair – who did look very good – was to wait too long before changing tactics and contesting the sprints, once it became apparent that Ignatiev and Trussov were going to contest everything.
"We expected them to take a lap," Mokov said, "but by the end of the race we were too many points behind and we knew we couldn't take a lap; Ignatiev is too strong."
The Russians’ relentless pursuit of any rider who ventured off the front was, as one of the commentators said, "Just like taking a dog to the park and hitting a ball – he just keeps on chasing everything and doesn't get tired of it".
As in the points race the previous evening, while he lacked serious competition, he provided the audience with a display of an exceptional young rider in excellent form.
Special mention should be made of the young Australian duo of 17 year old Travis Meyer and partner Mitchell Docker, who put in a serious attempt to lap the field and gained over half a lap as they buried themselves. They timed their move perhaps a bit too late, or took a little too long, as the field really ate away at their lead as they wound it up for an intermediate sprint, especially when it was the teams from Russia, The Netherlands and France working to bring them back.
While the Russians were prowling the front of the field, rarely drifting further back than fifth wheel, it was Meyer again who attacked with 55 laps remaining. The teenager doesn't lack for courage and it was enough to make the Spanish team bridge across and join the young Australian duo. The next team to make contact with the leaders was the Iranians, Mehdi Sohrabi and Amir Zargari, who may have finished out of the points, but won respect and applause for their attacking efforts.
The Iranians had worked hard early on in the Madison to try and make a break work, and this time they also contributed to the attack with smooth changes and well-timed throws. Back in the field it was Denmark and The Netherlands who made the effort to bridge and by now, the main field was beginning to splinter badly, the tempo so high that several teams, including the other Australian team of Nic Sanderson and Zak Dempster were struggling to maintain contact.
But the blistering pace could not be maintained and the field did come back together. It was at this point that the New Zealand pairing of Greg Henderson and Wes Gough – who'd done nothing at that stage – launched a strong attack in a last-ditch effort to try and secure a lap, as that was their only chance of victory.
By that stage, the Russians had once again amassed more than double the points of the next-placed team, and again, Ignatiev patrolled the front with authority. Even with two sprints remaining, they 21 points while the next team had 10, such was their dominance.
Once again, Drapac-Porsche's Meyer flew off the front and put in one last effort to lap the field, but the constant blue shadow of Ignatiev and Trussov always maintained contact and indeed, helped another handful of teams bridge to the Australians.
Seven teams contested the final sprint, taken out by Argentina's Sebastian Donadio and Jorge Pi, who leapt three places up the leader board to secure the bronze over The Netherlands and Italy, who both finished with 11 points.
The field completed the 40km in 45.19, at an average speed of 52.94kmh.
Women's 10km scratch: A virtual IP seals victory for Dutchwoman
By Gerard Knapp
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Vera Koedooder from the Netherlands put in a solid attack that caught the bunch unaware and she rode away to take the gold medal in the women's 10km scratch race at Dunc Gray Velodrome on Sunday. The Dutch rider was followed across the line by Germany's Charlotte Becker, while Russia's Alena Prudnikova was third, also finishing ahead of the main field.
It was the first gold medal in track World Cup competition for Koedooder, who is a former junior world champion on the track in the points race (2000) and individual pursuit (2001). Despite her success as a junior, Koedooder has not enjoyed similar results as a senior, due to what she said was a sequence of injuries that had prevented her from riding to her potential. Last year, she required serious vascular surgery to address a blocked artery in her left leg.
Even after arriving in Sydney, poor health followed, as she even caught a fever and stomach virus from the long trip from Europe. She said this affected her performance in the women's individual pursuit, where she only qualified 10th-fastest.
But by Sunday she was clearly feeling very strong, and she put her pursuiting skills to good use in the scratch race, as she launched a serious attack with 10 laps remaining in the 40-lap event. The only rider to react was Germany's Becker, who initially worked with the Dutchwoman but then was content to mainly follow her wheel, as the taller and more powerful Koedooder rode a virtual individual pursuit to stay clear of the field.
"Yes, she was not so strong," Koedooder said of the German rider, who showed respect to the effort put in by the Dutch rider and did not contest the final sprint.
"My plan [in racing] is attacking as much as possible. Sometimes it works; sometimes it does not, but every time you try it makes your stronger."
Koedooder and Becker were active early on in the scratch race, attacking the bunch and trying to lift the pace. They were joined by Fang Ju I of Chinese Taipei and then the emerging Australian rider Tess Downing (Drapac-Porsche) and Yulia Arustamova also bridged across. It was a serious move that generated a reaction from race favourite, Australian Katherine Bates, who did most of the work to bring the field back up to the leaders. Then Bates herself decided to attack and quickly built a half-lap lead that she maintained for over 10 laps.
Bates' move didn't go unnoticed and it prompted a reaction from almost all riders in the field, as they worked to close it down. This provided the perfect opportunity for the Dutchwoman, Koedooder, to make her move and once again, the German Becker was paying close attention and quickly followed.
But with Bates recovering in the bunch from her previous effort, there were no riders willing to seriously commit to chasing the duo, until with seven laps remaining, another of the Russians, Prudnikova, took off in pursuit. However, she was unable to bridge and she maintained a 100-metre lead on the field to take the bronze.
A further 100 metres ahead and pumping her legs away towards her first senior competition gold medal, Koedooder towed Becker along and showed that the old motto of 'attack hard, early and often' paid off for one rider prepared to make the effort.
Women's keirin: Guo outfoxes the competition
By Ben Abrahams
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China's Shuang Guo took home the women's keirin gold with a hard fought win over the USA's Jennie Reed and Dana Gloss of Germany. In a typically tense and tactical final, Guo waited mid-pack as several riders, including Gloss and Anna Meares, hit out for the line before taking the Australian's wheel and storming through in the home straight for a narrow but well deserved victory.
Guo, a product of the UCI's World Cycling Centre in Switzerland, overcame an altercation in qualifying where Kerrie Meares crashed out with a burst rear tire, and Guo received a warning for 'entering the sprinter's lane when the opponent was already there.' Despite the speed at which she fell, Meares was not seriously injured, managing to walk from the track side with scrapes to her legs and back.
During her warm down, a delighted Guo told Cyclingnews about the need for varied tactics in keirin racing "every time it depends on the track," she said. "I was scared [when Meares crashed in qualifying] and stopped a little bit, but you have to focus because only the top three go to the final."
In the final for places 7 to 12, world sprint and 500m champion Natallia Tsylinskaya was far too strong for the rest. The Belarusian sat calmly at the back of the line during the paced laps before blitzing past with 500 to go, and easily holding off France's Clara Sanchez and German team sprint silver medalist Jane Gerisch.
Men's team sprint: Brits show their class
By Ben Abrahams
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The men's team sprint was a truly world class affair, featuring 17 teams, including the heavy weights from Great Britain and Holland plus UCI continental outfits Scienceinsport.com and SouthAustralia.com-AIS.
Warm conditions during the afternoon session at Dunc Gray produced some seriously fast qualifying times. The GB trio of Chris Hoy, Craig Mclean and youngster Ross Edgar were quickest in 44.561. "That's my best ever lap," Hoy explained afterwards, "my best before was 13.38 and that was 13.36."
Keirin world champion Theo Bos led his Dutch team to second in qualifying, just 0.055 behind Great Britain, leaving Scienceinsport.com and SouthAustralia.com-AIS to fight out the bronze.
The final saw an exceptionally close battle as Mclean clocked a first lap of 17.669 to put the Brits ahead. Not to be outdone, the Dutch team responded with the fastest flying lap of the entire competition, a sub-13 second 250 metres, but Hoy was just too powerful on lap three and carried Great Britain home for victory.
"I was so sore after yesterday's racing [in the men's sprint], I just wanted to get on with it," Mclean told the crowd in post-race interview.
Silver medallist Theo Bos was also satisfied with a successful Sydney world cup, "I felt good today," he said, "tiredness wasn't a problem, I recovered well from the keirin. Now I will fly home to train hard and concentrate on the sprint and team sprint for Moscow."
In the battle of the continental teams, Jason Queally added a bronze to his kilo silver as Scienceinsport.com showed the depth of British sprinting with a convincing win over SouthAustralia.com–AIS.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by John Veage
- Start of the Womens Keirin final.
- China's Shuang Guo beats American Jennie Reed across the line.
- Shuang Guo and Yvonne Hijgenaar fight out a finish.
- Kerrie Meares gets assistance track side after a fall.
- Netherlands Vera Koedooder wins the womens scratch.
- Women’s Scratch race winner Koedooder
- The field on the track during the womens scratch race.
- Podium from womens scratch race Netherlands, Germany and Italy take the spoils.
- Australia wins the overall points at the Sydney World Cup - Kate Bates & Anna Meares hold trophy.
- Great Britain wins the Men's Team Sprint. Ross Edgar, Chris Hoy and Craig McLean.
- Netherlands finish runners up.
- Great Britain team.
- Rider gets assistance from trackside medical help.
- Men's Madison finalists, Russia, Denmark and Argentina.
- Russian team of Mikhail Ignatiev and Nikolai Trussov.
- Russia’s Men’s Champions.
Images by AFP Photo
- Jennie Reed of the US (front) looks around in the lead position as she competes in heat three of the first round for the Women's Keirin
- Dutch riders Teun Mulder (front), Theo Bos (C) and Tim Veldt (top) start in their qualifying event for the Men's Team Sprint 2006. The
- Dutch riders Theo Bos (front) and Tim Veldt (top) power down the straight after dropping off teammate Teun Mulder during the qualifying event for the Men's Team Sprint
- Australia's Kerrie Meares (2nd L) grimaces after she fell heavily in the second round of the Women's Keirin 2006. The gold medal of the Keirin was won by Shuang Guo (China)
- Australia's Kerrie Meares is helped from the track after she fell heavily in the second round of the Women's Keirin 2006. The gold medal of the Keirin was won by Shuang Guo (China)
- Australia's Kerrie Meares, with her jersey badly torn, is helped from the track after she fell heavily in the second round of the Women's Keirin 2006. The gold med
- Russia's Mikhail Ignatiev (L) and Nikolai Trussov (R) compete in the Men's Madison 2006. The Russian pair won gold with a points tally of 22.
- Russia's Mikhail Ignatiev (L) and Nikolai Trussov (R) make a victory lap after winning in the Men's Madison 2006. The Russian pair won gold with a points tally of
- China's Shuang Guo (C-front) races to the line in a close finish to win the final of the Women's Keirin 2006. Guo won gold with Jennie Reed of the US taking silver
- China's Shuang Guo (front) smiles after crossing the line in a close finish to win the final of the Women's Keirin 2006. Guo won gold with Jennie Reed of the US ta
- Great Britain's Ross Edgar (front) and Chris Hoy (behind) power down the straight after teammate Craig McLean was dropped off in the gold medal race for the Men's Team Sprint
- Great Britain's Chris Hoy (top) waves to spectators over the top of Dutch rider Theo Bos after the gold medal race for the Men's Team Sprint 2006.
- Dutch rider Vera Koedooder (L) leads Germany's Charlotte Becker (R) in the Women's Scratch race 2006. Koedooder won gold with Becker taking silver.
- Dutch rider Vera Koedooder waves to her team after winning the Women's Scratch. Koedooder won gold with Charlotte Becker of Germany taking silver.
Results
Afternoon session Team World Cup Standings 1 Australia 103 2 Netherlands 99 3 Russia 90 4 Germany 75 5 France 54 6 Great Britain 50 7 Belarus 43 8 Italy 42 9 Scienceinsport.com 38 10 China 37 11 New Zealand 31 12 Korea 31 13 Ukraine 29 14 Denmark 25 15 Lithuania 22 16 Southaustralia.com - AIS 21 17 United States 18 18 Poland 18 19 Argentina 14 20 Drapac-Porsche 12 21 Spain 12 22 Switzerland 10 23 Greece 9 24 Czech Republic 7 25 Japan 7 26 Malaysia 6 27 Duranguesado 5 28 ISD-Sport Donetsk 4 29 Canada 3 30 Hong Kong 2 31 Chinese Taipei 1 Men's Team Sprint finals 1 Great Britain 44.286 (60.967 km/h) Ross Edgar Chris Hoy Craig McLean 2 Netherlands 44.511 (60.659 km/h) Theo Bos Teun Mulder Tim Veldt 3 Scienceinsport.com 44.873 (60.169 km/h) Matthew Crampton Jason Queally Jamie Staff 4 Southaustralia.com - AIS 45.483 (59.362 km/h) Ryan Bayley Shane Perkins Scott Sunderland 5 Germany 6 France 7 Poland 8 Australia 9 China 10 Japan 11 Greece 12 Malaysia 13 United State 14 Ukraine 15 Spain 16 Russia 17 Catalunya Women's Keirin Final Classification 1 Shuang Guo (China) 2 Jennie Reed (United States) 3 Dana Gloss (Germany) 4 Oksana Grishina (Russia) 5 Anna Meares (Australia) 6 Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 7 Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus) 8 Clara Sanchez (France) 9 Jane Gerisch (Germany) 10 Lyubov Shulika (Ukraine) 11 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands) 12 Kerrie Meares (Australia) Women's Scratch Final 1 Vera Koedooder (Netherlands) 2 Charlotte Becker (Germany) 3 Alena Prudnikova (Russia) 4 Yulia Arustamova (Russia) 5 Rochelle Gilmore (Australia) 6 Theresa Cliff-Ryan (United States) 7 Leire Olaberria Dorronsoro (Spain) 8 Pascale Jeuland (France) 9 Wan Yiu Wong (Hong Kong) 10 Lada Kozlikova (Czech Republic) 11 Uracca Leow Hoay Sim (Malaysia) 12 Gina Grain (Canada) 13 Tess Downing (Australia) 14 Debora Galvez Lopez (Spain) 15 Hee Jung Son (Korea) 16 Catherine Cheatley (New Zealand) 17 I Fang Ju (Chinese Taipei) 18 Marllijn Binnendijk (Netherlands) 19 Katherine Bates (Australia) DNF Kelly Benjamin (United States) Men's Madison Final 1 Russia 22 pts Mikhail Ignatiev Nikolai Trussov 2 Denmark 15 Michael Mokov Alex Rasmussen 3 Argentina 12 Sebastian Donadio Jorge Pi 4 Netherlands 11 Jens Mouris Niki Terpstra 5 Italy 11 Angelo Ciccone Fabio Masotti 6 France 5 Mathieu Ladagnous Nicolas Rousseau 7 Drapac-Porsche 5 Mitchell Docker Travis Meyer 8 Germany 4 Guido Fulst Karl-Christian Konig 9 Spain 0 Antonio Miguel Parra Carlos Torrent Tarres 10 New Zealand 0 Westley Gough Gregory Henderson 11 Australia 2 Zakkari Dempster Nicholas Sanderson 12 I. R. Iran 0 Mehdi Sohrabi Amir Zargari 13 Poland 1 Lukasz Bujko Rafat Ratajczyk DNF Duranguesado Aitor Alonso Granados UnaiElorriaga Z DNF Chinese Taipei Keng Hsien Chen Po Hung Wu Women's Keirin First Round - heat 3 1 Jennie Reed (United States) 2 Kerrie Meares (Australia) 3 Hee Jung Son (Korea) 4 Jinjie Gong (China) 5 Dana Gloss (Germany) 6 Virginie Cueff (France) 7 Tamilia Abassova (Russia) Women's Keirin First Round - heat 2 1 Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus) 2 Anna Meares (Australia) 3 Oksana Grishina (Russia) 4 Lyubov Shulika (Ukraine) 5 Annalisa Cucinotta (Italy) 6 Jane Gerisch (Germany) 7 Shuang Guo (China) Men's Team Sprint Qualifying 1 Great Britain 44.561 (60.591 km/h) Ross Edgar (Great Britain) Chris Hoy (Great Britain) Craig Mclean (Great Britain) 2 Netherlands 44.616 (60.516 km/h) Theo Bos (Netherlands) Teun Mulder (Netherlands) Tim Veldt (Netherlands) 3 Scienceinsport.com 44.675 (60.436 km/h) Matthew Crampton (Great Britain) Jason Queally (Great Britain) Jamie Staff (Great Britain) 4 Southaustralia.com - AIS 45.054 (59.928 km/h) Ryan Bayley (Australia) Shane Perkins (Australia) Scott Sunderland (Australia) 5 Germany 45.156 (59.792 km/h) Carsten Bergmann (Germany) Matthias John (Germany) René Wolff (Germany) 6 France 45.175 (59.767 km/h) Mickaël D’Almeida (France) François Pervis (France) Arnaud Tournant (France) 7 Poland 45.566 (59.254 km/h) Maciej Bielecki (Poland) Lukasz Kwiatkowski (Poland) Damian Zielinski (Poland) 8 Australia 45.653 (59.141 km/h) Daniel Ellis (Australia) Mark French (Australia) Joel Leonard (Australia) 9 China 45.689 (59.095 km/h) Feng Lin (China) Yong Feng (China) Lei Zhang (China) 10 Japan 46.125 (58.536 km/h) Takashi Kaneko (Japan) Kazuya Narita (Japan) Yusho Oikawa (Japan) 11 Greece 46.141 (58.516 km/h) Vasileios Reppas (Greece) Christos Volikakis (Greece) Panagiotis Voukelatos (Greece) 12 Malaysia 46.298 (58.317 km/h) Mohd Nasir Junaidi (Malaysia) Josiah Ng On Lam (Malaysia) Mohamed Rizal Tisin (Malaysia) 13 United States 46.679 (57.841 km/h) Adam Duvendeck (United States) Gideon Massie (United States) Kevin Selker (United States) 14 Ukraine 46.707 (57.807 km/h) Yevgen Bolibrukh (Ukraine) Andrei Vynokurov (Ukraine) Yuriy Tsyupyk (Ukraine) 15 Spain 46.711 (57.802 km/h) Alvaro Alonso Rubio (Spain) Hodei Mazquiaran Uria (Spain) Salvador Melia (Spain) 16 Russia 46.813 (57.676 km/h) Anton Rudoy (Russia) Mikhail Shikhalev (Russia) Stoian Vasev (Russia) 17 Catalunya 47.537 (56.797 km/h) Angel Sixto Garcia (Spain) Itmar Esteban Herraiz (Spain) Jose A. Clua (Spain) Women's Keirin First Round - heat 1 1 Clara Sanchez (France) 2 Elisa Frisoni (Italy) 3 Jin A You (Korea) 4 Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania) 5 Svetlana Grnkovskaya (Russia) 6 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands) 7 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) Morning Session Womens Scratch qualifying - heat 1 1 Alena Prudnikova (Russia) 2 Rochelle Gilmore (Australia) 3 Theresa Cliff-Ryan (United States) 4 Catherine Cheatley (New Zealand) 5 Marllijn Binnendijk (Netherlands) 6 Gina Grain (Canada) 7 Debora Galvez Lopez (Spain) 8 Wan Yiu Wong (Hong Kong) 9 Uracca Leow Hoay Sim (Malaysia) 10 Tess Downing (Australia) 11 Lesya Kalitovska (Ukraine) 12 Min Hye Lee (Korea) 13 Giorgia Bronzini (Italy) 14 Katarina Uhlarikova (Slovakia) 15 Yan Li (China) Womens Scratch qualifying - heat 2 1 Vera Koedooder (Netherlands) One lap behind 2 Yulia Arustamova (Russia) 3 Hee Jung Son (Korea) 4 Leire Olaberria Dorronsoro (Spain) 5 Charlotte Becker (Germany) 6 Pascale Jeuland (France) 7 Kelly Benjamin (United States) 8 Lada Kozlikova (Czech Republic) 9 I Fang Ju (Chinese Taipei) 10 Katherine Bates (Australia) 11 Karen Verbeek (Belgium) 12 Alessandra D’Ettorre (Italy) 13 Noor Azian Alias (Malaysia) 14 Jianling Wang (China) Men's Madison Qualifying - heat 1 1 Russia 0 pts Mikhail Ignatiev Nikolai Trussov One lap behind 2 Denmark 12 Michael Mokov Alex Rasmussen 3 Drapac-Porsche 7 Mitchell Docker Travis Meyer 4 France 7 Mathieu Ladagnous Nicolas Rousseau 5 Argentina 6 Sebastian Donadio Jorge Pi 6 I. R. Iran 5 Mehdi Sohrabi Amir Zargari 7 Duranguesado 4 Aitor Alonso Granados Unai Elorriaga Zubiaur 8 SouthAustralian.com-AIS 3 Peter Dawson Michael Ford 9 Ukraine 0 Lyubomyr Polatayko Volodymyr Rubin Men's Madison Qualifying - heat 2 1 Germany 8 pts Guido Fulst Karl-Christian Konig 2 Australia 8 Zakkari Dempster Nicholas Sanderson 3 Poland 6 Lukasz Bujko Rafat Ratajczyk 4 Italy 6 Angelo Ciccone Fabio Masotti 5 Netherlands 6 Jens Mouris Niki Terpstra 6 Chinese Taipei 5 Keng Hsien Chen Po Hung Wu 7 Spain 3 Antonio Miguel Parra Carlos Torrent Tarres 8 New Zealand 0 Westley Gough Gregory Henderson 9 ISD-Sport Donetsk 2 Denys Kostyuk Oleksandr Polivoda 10 Hong Kong 0 King Wai Cheung Kam-Po Wong
