Womens Scratch Race

Great Britain had Nikki Harris, bronze medallist from the Points race in this event and she began her quest for another medal in the heats which was the only event of the morning. Nikki was in the first heat which was run over 5 kilometres or 20 laps of the track. As races go, the heat was quite pedestrian to start with as the riders settled on the places being decided in a sprint finish. As the race moved into the second half, the pace started to rise as riders started to try and position themselves for the sprint.

Nikki Harris bit by bit made her way to the front of the race and being on the inside, made sure of her place by continually rising out of the saddle to push harder on the pedals when riders started to come past her. Nikki though still found herself being boxed in a little but in the final lunge for the line, she finished eight and booked her place in the final with only the top 10 going through.

Nikki Harris has had a great World Cup and here she's stringing them out in the Scratch Race

FINAL
Whilst the heats were distinctly quiet races with little action, the final was not much better except for one rider who constantly attacked the field trying to get away - Nikki Harris. I ended up giving up counting the times she attacked as it was every three or four laps she had a go but no-one else wanted to a break to succeed and in the final 15 laps, the bunch seemed resigned to a sprint finish.

Knowing what was coming, Nikki did her best to again make sure she was in the right place and had even decided on the wheel she needed for the sprinter, that of a sprinter. What Nikki didn't bargain on was the sprinter parking up in the sprint and instead of having a rider to take her up to where the medals would be decided, the wheel she was following more or less stopped her race in its tracks.

Afterwards, talking to Nikki she explained "Right from the start I wanted to be as aggressive as I could and try and make a few of the other riders tired. I was also hoping a break got away which I would have stuck with but no-one seemed interested so I had to keep attacking."

"With 15 laps to go I wanted to be as near to the front as possible and the pace kept going up and up and wanted to get up the inside of someone but it wasn't until five laps to go the door opened and then I got on the New Zealand girls wheel I think it was, and she's a good sprinter, so my plan then was to hang on to that and I'd get a good run at it in the sprint. But I think she must have been tired."

"Even though I didn't get a result, I did enjoy it and it gives the confidence to keep attacking and stuff. I made a few mistakes but I learnt stuff as well."


Results
Heat
1. Adrie Visser, Holland
2. Sung Eun Gu, Korea
3. Lyudmyla Vypyralo, Ukraine
8. Nikki Harris, Great Britain

Final


Men's Madison
Great Britain's World Champion Mark Cavendish lived up to his reputation as one of the World's top Madison riders with a Bronze medal ably supported by Geraint Thomas. The 160 lap race was fast for the first half but the main moves revolved around riders looking to get away to take points in the sprints.

The GB team of Cavendish and Thomas were fairly quiet in the first half as well but when the move was made 80 or so laps to go, the GB duo were in there along with the strong Danish pairing, the Italians with six day star Marco Villa and the Ukraine's who started the whole thing. The pace of the race as the break tried to gain a lap went through the roof and the chase behind was doing more damage to the peloton than anything else with a number of teams pulling out of the race as the high speed of the event continued to be relentless.

Cavendish (right) slings in Thomas during the Madison

The break eventually did get the lap and after that the focus of the GB boys was to get some points. They were picking up the odd point here and there, and were denied for some reason more points in a sprint when the Germany pairing were off the front. Those lost points were to cost them the silver medal but the highlight of the race was the final sprint when Geraint Thomas threw Mark Cavendish into the race and he proceeded to blitz the rest winning the final sprint by a street and a half.

I got my skates on as the riders wound down and caught up with Mark as he came into the track centre and he was not a happy bunny! The mix up in one of the sprints which cost them the silver was the source of his frustration. Talking me through where he felt the error occurred, Mark said "With three sprints to go, the Germans were away and we were going for three points behind and we the sprint for the bunch but we were given one point. If we had got the points we deserve, we would be in second place."

"I had a bad race yesterday in the Points (where he did lead it at one stage but missed the lap taking move) and was determined to make amends here. Me and Geraint were a bit ropy not having ridden a lot together but we went into the race wanting to sit in for half of it and then go for a lap and then get the sprints at the end. I felt just so zippy on the bike today."

Medal time for the young GB duo

"I think it was the Dutch who went, and the Danish went with them and they seemed to have the same plan as us so we thought we'd go with it. I'm pleased with how my form is especially after yesterday."

I then spoke to Geraint Thomas who didn't fair so well at Manchester in the World Cup there but he was a different bike rider today. "To be honest I didn't feel right on it today. It was the first time on the upright since the Manchester World Cup and it just felt really alien. I could have done with a few days on it. The plan worked really well when we got a lap and I'm sure they messed up one of the sprints. It wasn't as tough as we expected it would be really. The last time Mark and I rode together was in Bremen but he has come out of the sixes with loads of experience and I was just trying to learn off him. I was a bit sketchy and really chuffed to have got the medal and shows we're improving all the time."

Dave Brailsford: GB Team Boss Reflects on the World Cup

"As always we had some targets and markers laid down for the younger guys and for the older riders we wanted to see where they were at. So it was kind of a two tier world cup for us. First of all we got some confirmation of where we are at with the senior riders which is where we want to be and for the younger lads we have seen progression."

"We wanted to see a sub 4.10 in the Team Pursuit which they failed to do in the first round but they sat down, analysed it, went back out and achieved it which is always a good sign. Then the young lads in the Madison , it was good to see them back on the podium which shows progression and Nikki was on the podium which also shows progression. That was a really pleasing ride and despite the result in the scratch race, she rode tremendously well."

So all round we are happy with where we are at, have good morale and its mission accomplished and its on to the Commonwealth Games."