Sydney Track World Cup - CDM

Sydney, Australia, May 14 - 16, 2004

Event program and results

Tales from the track

News and gossip from Day 1 of the 2004 Sydney Track World Cup

By Karen Forman in Sydney

Danes honor royal wedding with a midnight holiday

They may have been on the other side of the world with other things (like winning races) on their mind, but still the Danish cyclists contesting the UCI Track World Cup in Sydney tonight didn't escape their dose of Royal wedding fever.

With their Crown Prince Frederik marrying Australian Mary Donaldson at 4.30pm Friday their time (12.30pm Saturday Australian time) - and the whole country given a public holiday in celebration of the nuptials, national coach Tayeb Braikia, decided to give the riders a holiday as well.

Pity Braikia's "holiday" turned out to be a midnight holiday . . . and the team would sleep through it anyhow!

"Heheh," Braikia laughed. "There's not much we can do. We have the teams pursuit early in the morning." And while the riders, he said, do have as much interest as their countrymen in the royal wedding, given that "he will be our next king", the race had to come first. After all, they need to do well in the event because they want to qualify for the world championships in Melbourne in a fortnight… and they need top 10. But they will be rewarded for their efforts in Sydney.

Braikia is taking them to Tasmania - Donaldson's home state - for a week of training and "to see where she came from" next week.

"For us the wedding is important, because the Prince is our next king. If I was at home I would probably watch it on television. It is nice he is marrying an Australian. Most Danish like that he goes out and falls in love with a normal girl. I think it is more difficult for her, learning a new language and a new country."

The Danish men, he said, probably think she is pretty, "but they don't talk about it much. It is more that we admire her because she speaks already good Danish."

The team will train on the Launceston velodrome during their time in Tasmania, before heading north to Melbourne to prepare for the world championships.

Braikia said Alex Rasmussen, sixth at last year's world's and therefore already qualified for the scratch race at the Melbourne event, would probably be the team's standout performer.

More Day 1 News from the Sydney Track World Cup

By Karen Forman in Sydney

• Concussed and sore after keirin crash, brave Ford is determined to sprint Barbados rider Barry Ford has one chance and one chance only to gain qualification for the world track championships in Melbourne in a fortnight - tomorrow morning's sprint at the UCI World Track Cup in Sydney.
• Danes honor royal wedding with a midnight holiday They may have been on the other side of the world with other things (like winning races) on their mind, but still the Danish cyclists contesting the UCI Track World Cup in Sydney tonight didn't escape their dose of Royal wedding fever.
• Women carry the hopes of Italy, says coach The women's rather than the men's team would carry the hopes of Italy at the upcoming world track championships in Melbourne according to men's coach Marco Maccario.
• Sidelined Brown concentrates on healing Knocked out of his goal event for the year - the Giro d'Italia - with an Achilles tendon injury, Australian Panaria rider Graeme Brown was making the best of his unexpected return to Australia for treatment by supporting his countrymen at the UCI Track World Cup in his home town of Sydney on Friday night.
• Aussie results a credit to Walsh's base The top results being racked up by Australian cyclists at events like the UCI Track World Cup fixture currently underway in Sydney, had a lot to do with not only current coaching and a $4 million annual government investment, but also with the firm base established by former head coach Charlie Walsh.