UCI Sydney Track World Cup 2006
March 3, 2006; Day 1; >Return to Sydney World Track Cup Home Page
British Cycling's Larry Hickmott reports | Full Results >>>>
| Gold for Hayles and First Medal For Nikki Harris |
Men's Individual Pursuit
Rob Hayles did his confidence a power of good with an impressive win in the Individual Pursuit. He had been ill in the lead-up to leaving for Sydney but his form was there and he was a clear five seconds better than anyone else in morning qualifying. First, he caught his opponent in the qualifier, and then sat on the rollers sweating a lot more whilst his rivals rode their own races to try and make the final. The rider who rode the next fastest time, Alexander Khatuntsev from Russia, did 4.30.821 whilst a rider many expected a lot of, Levi Heimans was down in 5th.
Rob was almost lost for words when he realised the size of the gap between himself and the next rider. However, he was wary that the Russian might have been holding back something and the man in SIS black certainly wasn't going to make the mistake of taking the final for granted - qualifying over, he promptly sat down with the mechanics and coach (Simon Jones) to talk position and gears for the final.
In the event, come the evening, the Pursuit final was a foregone conclusion. Hayles took the Gold medal and, though technically it wasn't the best ride he's ever done, he still went quicker than in the morning.
Coming off the track, his first words were "That was horrible! I'm pleased with the result but that wasn't a very nice ride like this morning. I'm really pleased that the two times are consistent but it felt like a different World out there tonight. I got a better catch this morning and in the final, when I caught him, I didn't know whether I was going to continue but eventually decided I would and it was really starting to hurt then."
This morning I kind of cruised a little bit and this evening it felt a lot harder. The ride here was more about the exercise and the effort and although I am really pleased with the win, I just hope today bodes well for the next couple of weeks and then the World Championships."
Rob had earlier received a picture text from six week old daughter Maddie saying 'go daddy go' - "although she didn't spell it right I'll let her off as she's only six weeks old!" said the proud dad.
Results
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)Gold Ride off
1 Rob Hayles (GBr) Science in Sport 4.24.805 (54.379km/h)beat
2 Alexander Khatuntsev (Russia) OVL
Bronze Ride off
1 Michael Ford (Australia) 4.33.169 (52.714km/h)beat
2 Vitaliy Shchedov (Ukraine) 4.34.500 (52.459km/h)
Women's Points Race
The last time Nikki Harris rode a World Cup Points Race qualifier, back in Manchester January 2005, she missed the final by a point and both Nikki and her coach Dan Hunt had talked a lot about what she needed to do to improve. Even so, her qualifier was a real nail-biter for the promising young rider.
In the first sprint, Nikki just sat in the string, but for the second sprint, she went from about three laps out, lining the bunch out lap after lap and still had enough speed to hold off all but three riders in the sprint for points. But the single point she won was not going to be enough, so in the closing 10 laps, leading to the final decisive sprint, Nikki positioned herself at the front end of the group.
Whilst the other riders played musical leader at the front, Nikki continued to duck and dive to stay in the second row of riders and had a great position for the final sprint where she scored another point to give her 2, and 10th place - she was in the final by the skin of her teeth.
The smile says it all for Nikki Harris
The final was a totally different race and one which saw the young Derbyshire girl come away with a medal. The first 40 laps saw a number of riders attacking alone, staying clear until the sprint and then dropping back. Whilst the attacks for sprints continued at the front, Nikki Harris was noticeably quiet. She'd worked out a strategy with Dan Hunt and her plan was soon evident when she attacked after the sprint at 40 laps to go.
It was an awesome attack and even better, coming with her was none other than the World Champion Vera Carrara plus two others. The four steadily made ground and within five laps they had half a lap lead.
Just as they were catching sight of the bunch, there was a dramatic moment when a Chinese girl attacked and rode straight into her team-mate, with one of them crashing in the process and bringing at least two others down. The race continued as the medics cared for the Chinese girl who was unconscious, and Nikki's group eventually got their lap with the result Nikki was now 4th in the race.
An American girl then attacked and minutes after she did and had half a lap, the race was neutralised and the riders taken off the track for a break whilst the injured girl was taken to an ambulance. Once she was off the track, the American was told to go to the other side of the track so she had half a lap lead and then the race was re-started. The American started fast, attacking the chase with everything she had and soon, she too was a lap up.
This was the signal for a great fight by Nikki to get points. She grabbed a couple in a sprint and moved up to third and although some other sprints came and went, her nearest rivals also failed to score and it was like this all the way to the end where she ducked and dived at the front of the race and was there in the sprint at the head of affairs, just failing to pick up the final points on offer but luckily her rivals also came away pointless.
Nikki's smile said it all as she came around saying "I don't believe it!" She just couldn't grasp the fact that she had won a medal in a World Cup race!
As she came off the track she said "I am so pleased with that. The plan was to sit in for the first 40 laps and then show myself in the race and keep attacking and stuff. The first attack I did, I went away with the World Champion, Visser and the Spanish girl and after I did a lap and a half on the front, we just went on team pursuit style."
"I knew I had to get some points and I didn't really follow anybody because if you do that things can go wrong so I stuck to my plan and it worked."
Asked if she knew she was in third in the closing stages and did that make her nervous, she said: "I didn't panic but at the same time I didn't want to do anything stupid and fall off so I tried to be as safe as possible and looked around. After the Manchester World Cup in December, I was so annoyed with myself and I wanted to really show what I am capable of."
Results
1. Vera Carrara, Italy, 33 ponts
2. L Olaberrai, Spain, 25
3. Nikki Harris, GBr, 24
4. Adrie Visser, Hol, 21
5. Lauren Franges, USA, 20
Men's Scratch Race
A great night's racing had begun with the Men's Scratch race which had GB represented by Olympic Academy rider, Ross Sander. The event was full-on from the start with four riders getting away not long after the smoke from the starting pistol had cleared. Ross missed the break but he wasn't alone.
Ross bided his time until the moment came when he did make a chase group of three but with the World Champion on the front of the chasing bunch and eating into the trio's lead, their freedom bid was soon dashed. And whilst Ross's break never stuck, a number of others that followed did and soon there was a coming together at the front of three chase groups, who were ahead ahead of the still active bunch.
The pace was relentless and soon riders started to get shelled from the bunch. Ross meanwhile was still in the bunch but not able to break free of it. Up until 23 laps to go, the race had been a series of non-stop attacks but at this point, it changed as one final do or die effort was made by Dane Alex Rasmussen and he drew two riders with him.
From this point on the frantic action evolved into a steady battle between the three leaders and the chasing peloton and this went on for more than 15 laps. As the finish approached, the three leaders had been caught and another three attacked - their that move was countered by one from the Polish rider Rafal Ratajczyk, who went on to take the race from Korea's Sun Jae Jang and Alexander Khatuntsev of Russia.
Afterwards Ross said of the race, "It was really fast and my first individual bunch race at this level. I didn't tactically do too well and I think I was doing too much at the start. I was on a smaller gear for the finish and so I needed to be further up for the sprint at the end. With five or six to go when they were winding it up, I was thinking 'how much faster can these guys go?'".
"I haven't been going to well lately either and keep getting ill which is why I am in this race. I'm the fifth man for the Team Pursuit so I had to ride the Scratch race."
Results
1 Rafal Ratajczyk (Poland)
2 Sun Jae Jang (Korea)
3 Alexander Khatuntsev (Russia)
4 Robert Lea (USA)
5 Christian Lademann (Germany)
other13 Ross Sander (Great Britain)
Other News
Elsewhere, Thoe Bos blew away a strong field to win the Keirin. Home darling Anna Meares won the Women's Sprint with typical style - her confrontation with Victoria Pendleton at the the Commonwealths should be worth watching! Meanwhile, Yong Feng took China's first ever Kilo World Cup win and whilst the time - just over 63 seconds - wasn't too stunning, the Chinese are clearly working hard to ensure they have a competitive team in time for Beijing Olympics in 2008.
