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Sprint Academy Race Cottbus in Germany
Story posted August 24
Great Britain's Olympic Academy Sprinters were in action on Sunday 22 August at the third round of the Sparkasse Cup in Cottbus, Germany. The Men's Flying 200m saw Pete Mitchell and David Daniell qualify fourth and fifth respectively with current Team Sprint World Champion Robert Forsterman qualifying fastest with a time of 10.16.
Pete and Dave each had a good first two rounds, winning them comfortably and putting them both through to the 1/8ths facing each other plus Engler (Germany). Pete won this race in a close finish from Dave to put him through to the Semi-Finals, consigning Dave to the repecharge. Dave lost the 1/8 repechage and went through to the race which determined positions 9 - 12 which he won, finishing the competition 9th overall.
Pete meanwhile lost his Semi-Final to Forsterman and went on to finish fourth overall. Second fastest qualifier, Sam Webster (NZ), got the better of Fosterman to become the overall winner.
The Women, Girls and Under 16 Boys were also in action that day, with GB's Becky James and Jess Varnish qualifying first and second respectively and Germany's Kristina Vogel qualifying in third. Both Becky and Jess made it through to the quarter finals without problems, each winning their first and second rounds.
In the semi-finals, Becky progressed to the finals by beating Under 16 boy Seelig from Germany whilst Jess was beaten by Vogel. In the finals, Vogel won the Gold medal, beating Becky who finished with the Silver medal. Seelig took the bronze medal with Jess finishing fourth.
The Sparkasse Cup Round 3 formed part of the Academy riders' training preparation for the forthcoming track season with the European Championships on the horizon. Great Britain Cycling Team's Olympic Sprint Coach, Iain Dyer said of their performances "I was encouraged by the performance of all the riders. The race experience will stand them in good stead for their upcoming championships and they all displayed excellent form at this stage in their preparations."
