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2007 UCI Track Cycling World Championships - CM
Spain, March 29-April 1, 2007
Men's sprint
Bos is the boss again
By Shane Stokes in Palma
Flying Dutchman Theo Bos added to his haul of world championship gold medals this evening, beating French rider Gregory Bauge 2-0 in the final of the men's sprint.
Bos, who also took the sprint crown in 2004 and 2006 and the keirin last year in Bordeaux, proved too good for his competitor, although the first round was very close. He jumped with a lap and a half to go and got a gap, but Bauge clawed him back all the way to the line and almost got by.
Heat two was more straightforward. Bauge went from a long way out, distancing the Dutch rider by two lengths, but Bos showed an impressive burst of speed to get by on the final bend and win comfortably.
France took a second medal when Mickaël Bourgain beat Craig Maclean (Great Britain) in two rounds. Bourgain led out in the first heat; Maclean drew alongside him and briefly clashed shoulders, earning him a warning from the judges after he finished second.
Round two was also close but Bourgain was again marginally quicker, making sure of bronze and thus joining countryman Bauge and the gold medallist Bos on the podium.
Semi final action
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Double world sprint champion Theo Bos moved a step closer to defending his title when he beat Briton Craig Maclean in two rounds of the sprint semifinals on Sunday morning.
The big Dutchman had few problems dealing with last year's runner-up, taking the first heat in a time of 10.966 seconds and then uncorking the fastest semifinal time of 10.476 seconds in the second.
Gregory Baugé had a tougher time of it, going to three races with fellow Frenchman Mickaël Bourgain. He won the first one in a photo finish, overtaking Bourgain after he led out. The second was a little more decisive, with Bourgain posting a time of 10.535 seconds and coming out on top by half a wheel.
The decider was a very tight affair, with both riders neck and neck and flat out for over a lap. Baugé was half a wheel down heading into the final bend but his position on the inside line saw him exit from the turn slightly ahead and he edged the win.
1/4 and 1/16 finals
Defending champion Theo Bos (Netherlands), last year's silver and bronze medallists Craig Maclean (Great Britain) and Stefan Nimke (Germany) plus the 2005 runner up Mickaël Bourgain (France) were among the eight riders who progressed through to Saturday evening's quarterfinals of the men's sprint. Also in the running for a medal at this point were Gregory Bauge (France), Maximilian Levy (Germany), Ross Edgar (Great Britain), and Italy's Roberto Chiappa, with he and Nimke moving forward thanks to the repechages.
Bourgain was up against Mark French in the first heat and recorded the second fastest time of 10.484 seconds en route to beating the Australian. He was the fastest in the morning qualifiers, doing a 9.968 seconds, and used the same speed to win, looking in impressive form.
Last year's winner went even quicker when disposing of Ryan Bayley in heat two. The Australian led out, and Bos looked like he was going to dive below him, but he switched up and went around on the outside, then turned on the afterburners to post a time of 10.432 seconds.
Also looking sharp for Saturday evening's showdown was Craig Maclean. The Briton easily came around Arnaud Tournant (France) with about 100 metres to go. Tournant's compatriot Gregory Bauge was best in heat four attacked at the beginning of the second lap and used his speed to hold off Roberto Chiappa (Italy).
Two Germans went head to head in the next heat. Maximilian Levy took on Nimke. The former took it easily, with Nimke sitting up and staking his hopes on the repechage.
Race five got things going for the home crowd but even with the Spaniards willing him on, José Antonio Escuredo Raimondez was no match for Ross Edgar (Great Britain).
He had a second chance in the repecharge but Chiappa was taking no prisoners, jumping from third place to first at the bell. Mark French came from the back of the trio to try to get by but didn't have the power to do so, and Chiappa also had the measure of Escuredo Raimondez's finishing straight surge.
Prior to the three-way fight, there was a moment of light relief when Frenchs' skinsuit popped open on the line. He was doing deep breathing immediately before the start and the zipper failed, making for an Incredible Hulk-type moment and some laughs in the velodrome.
Nimke, Tournant and Bayley had their second chance in the other repechage and here the Frenchman wound it up from the front. Nimke was lying second and had the horsepower to charge by, while Bayley was left stuck in third.
In the earlier 1/16 finals, Italian veteran Chiappa had an easy ride-off against Tim Veldt. The Dutchman strained a muscle in the qualifiers and opted not to sprint, rolling around the track and saving himself for the kilo tomorrow.
Results
Qualifying
1 Mickaël Bourgain (France) 9.968 (72.231 km/h)
2 Theo Bos (Netherlands) 10.045
3 Craig Maclean (Great Britain) 10.110
4 Gregory Bauge (France) 10.134
5 Maximilian Levy (Germany) 10.163
6 Ross Edgar (Great Britain) 10.191
7 José Antonio Escuredo Raimondez (Spain) 10.254
8 Stefan Nimke (Germany) 10.264
9 Tim Veldt (Netherlands) 10.271
10 Lukasz Kwiatkowski (Poland) 10.286
11 Teun Mulder (Netherlands) 10.303
12 Mark French (Australia) 10.324
13 Damian Zielinski (Poland) 10.344
14 Ryan Bayley (Australia) 10.352
15 Arnaud Tournant (France) 10.353
16 Roberto Chiappa (Italy) 10.383
17 Shane Perkins (Australia) 10.414
17 Andriy Vynokurov (Ukraine) 10.414
19 Matthew Crampton (Great Britain) 10.431
20 Scott Sunderland (Australia) 10.433
21 Matthias John (Germany) 10.474
22 Michael Seidenbecher (Germany) 10.480
23 Tsubasa Kitatsuru (Japan) 10.482
24 Ricardo Lynch (Jamaica) 10.492
25 Denis Dmitriev (Russian Federation) 10.506
26 Lei Zhang (People's Republic of China) 10.507
27 Adam Ptacnik (Czech Republic) 10.535
28 Kazunari Watanabe (Japan) 10.541
29 Sergey Borisov (Russian Federation) 10.573
30 Kiyofumi Nagai (Japan) 10.634
31 Qi Tang (People's Republic of China) 10.684
32 Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia) 10.732
33 Mohd Rizal Tisin (Malaysia) 10.751
34 Maciej Bielecki (Poland) 10.788
35 Denis Spicka (Czech Republic) 10.794
36 Mikhail Shikhalev (Russian Federation) 10.841
37 Ivan Vrba (Czech Republic) 10.869
38 Itmar Esteban Herraiz (Spain) 10.878
DNS Travis Can Smith
1/16 Finals
Heat 1
1 Mickaël Bourgain (France) 11.255
2 Ricardo Lynch (Jamaica)
Heat 2
1 Theo Bos (Netherlands) 10.814
2 Tsubasa Kitatsuru (Japan)
Heat 3
1 Craig Maclean (Great Britain) 10.860
2 Michael Seidenbecher (Germany)
Heat 4
1 Gregory Bauge (France) 10.851
2 Matthias John (Germany)
Heat 5
1 Maximilian Levy (Germany) 10.627
2 Scott Sunderland (Australia)
Heat 6
1 Ross Edgar (Great Britain) 10.846
2 Matthew Crampton (Great Britain)
Heat 7
1 José Antonio Escuredo Raimondez (Spain) 10.942
2 Andriy Vynokurov (Ukraine)
Heat 8
1 Stefan Nimke (Germany) 10.747
2 Shane Perkins (Australia)
Heat 9
1 Roberto Chiappa (Italy) 18.444
2 Tim Veldt (Netherlands)
Heat 10
1 Arnaud Tournant (France) 10.956
2 Lukasz Kwiatkowski (Poland)
Heat 11
1 Ryan Bayley (Australia) 10.739
2 Teun Mulder (Netherlands)
Heat 12
1 Mark French (Australia) 11.039
2 Damian Zielinski (Poland)
1/8 Finals
Heat 1
1 Mickaël Bourgain (France) 10.484
2 Mark French (Australia)
Heat 2
1 Theo Bos (Netherlands) 10.432
2 Ryan Bayley (Australia)
Heat 3
1 Craig Maclean (Great Britain) 10.726
2 Arnaud Tournant (France)
Heat 4
1 Gregory Bauge (France) 10.988
2 Roberto Chiappa (Italy)
Heat 5
1 Maximilian Levy (Germany) 10.724
2 Stefan Nimke (Germany)
Heat 6
1 Ross Edgar (Great Britain) 10.871
2 José Antonio Escuredo Raimondez (Spain)
Repechage
Heat 1
1 Roberto Chiappa (Italy) 10.885 (66.146 km/h)
2 José Antonio Escuredo Raimondez (Spain)
3 Mark French (Australia)
Heat 2
1 Stefan Nimke (Germany) 10.783 (66.771 km/h)
2 Arnaud Tournant (France)
3 Ryan Bayley (Australia)
Quarter finals
Heat 1
1 Mickaël Bourgain (France) 10.644 10.892
2 Stefan Nimke (Germany)
Heat 2
1 Theo Bos (Netherlands) 10.706 10.633
2 Roberto Chiappa (Italy)
Heat 3
1 Craig Maclean (Great Britain) 10.678 10.874
2 Ross Edgar (Great Britain)
Heat 4
1 Gregory Bauge (France) 10.553 10.922
2 Maximilian Levy (Germany)
Race for fifth to eight
5 Maximilian Levy (Germany) 11.474 (62.750 km/h)
6 Stefan Nimke (Germany)
7 Roberto Chiappa (Italy)
8 Ross Edgar (Great Britain)
Semi finals
Heat 1
1 Gregory Bauge (France) 10.555 10.608
2 Mickaël Bourgain (France) 10.535
Heat 2
1 Theo Bos (Netherlands) 10.966 10.476
2 Craig Maclean (Great Britain)
Finals
Gold & Silver Medal Match
1 Theo Bos (Netherlands) 10.400 10.606
2 Gregory Bauge (France)
Bronze Medal Match
3 Mickaël Bourgain (France) 10.765 10.493
4 Craig Maclean (Great Britain)
The rest
5 Maximilian Levy (Germany)
6 Stefan Nimke (Germany)
7 Roberto Chiappa (Italy)
8 Ross Edgar (Great Britain)
9 José Antonio Escuredo Raimondez (Spain)
10 Mark French (Australia)
11 Ryan Bayley (Australia)
12 Arnaud Tournant (France)
13 Tim Veldt (Netherlands)
14 Lukasz Kwiatkowski (Poland)
15 Teun Mulder (Netherlands)
16 Damian Zielinski (Poland)
17 Shane Perkins (Australia)
18 Andriy Vynokurov (Ukraine)
19 Matthew Crampton (Great Britain)
20 Scott Sunderland (Australia)
21 Matthias John (Germany)
22 Michael Seidenbecher (Germany)
23 Tsubasa Kitatsuru (Japan)
24 Ricardo Lynch (Jamaica)
25 Denis Dmitriev (Russian Federation)
26 Lei Zhang (People's Republic of China)
27 Adam Ptacnik (Czech Republic)
28 Kazunari Watanabe (Japan)
29 Sergey Borisov (Russian Federation)
30 Kiyofumi Nagai (Japan)
31 Qi Tang (People's Republic of China)
32 Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia)
33 Mohd Rizal Tisin (Malaysia)
34 Maciej Bielecki (Poland)
35 Denis Spicka (Czech Republic)
36 Mikhail Shikhalev (Russian Federation)
37 Ivan Vrba (Czech Republic)
38 Itmar Esteban Herraiz (Spain)
