2006 UCI Junior World Championships

Men's Points

 

August 5-13; Track & Road, Belgium
Report & photos by Larry Hickmott

 

Final

 

As his father acknowledges his medal from the stands, Jonny turns to his family and shows off his silver medal.

 

During their break, Jonny was clearly the stronger and was only caught out later when the Ukraine rider took advantage of Jonny being gassed after a sprint which Jonny had won.

 

Even when winning sprints, Jonny had time to look around and see where his rivals were.

I can honestly say, hand on heart, the strongest rider in the race got silver, Jonny Bellis. He was the only one of the top four not to get a lap but still did enough to get his medal. The early part of the race was dominated by small attacks, with riders looking for points and Jonny's strategy was soon evident as he sat in the wheels and waited for his moment.

The crucial moment for Jonny came before half distance when Martynenko of the Ukraine attacked and after a few laps, Jonny just exploded from the bunch to cross the gap to the leader and the two of them continued to lead the race for a long time, with Jonny taking two sprints along the way. They were soon joined by three more as riders as the bunch started to see the danger of them being out front picking up the points but that didn't stop Jonny getting more points in the next sprint.

He got more in the next one as well but it was getting second in this that gassed him and he was unable to respond to the attack by the Aussie Meyer who when Jonny wound it up in the sprints, was unable to hold his wheel. This didn't stop the Aussie taking the lap though as in a tandem with another rider and then on his own, he powered around the track and whilst the others wouldn't let other attackers get far, when Meyer got away, they were seemingly powerless to stop him.

The Aussie got his lap and so did the Mexican along with the Ukraine rider who when riding with Jonny didn't appear to be the strongest. It shows how there is always a little bit of luck involved and that isn't to say Jonny didn't have any. At times, his chances of a medal after earlier being on top of the leader board, looked dead and buried and he knew it but wasn't going to go down without a fight and fight he did. First he got three points in a sprint but then a group of five or six slid off the front and his chances looked well and truly buried at this stage. But lap by lap, the bunch brought them back and as the riders in front started coming backwards, Jonny started to move forward around the outside of the bunch getting into position for the crucial last sprint.

With a large group of Welsh riders being looked after by Julian Winn returning to Britain via Gent from the tour of Assen, cheering him on opposite me, and Jonny's parents in the stands, the Isle of Man rider's final sprint was an absolute delight to watch as he rode the rest off his wheel and after winning the final sprint by a street, his points tally equalled that of the Aussie. His final placing was taken into account on the count back and he had the Silver medal! Way to go Jonny.

 

Top three with Jonny getting the Silver.

Sure, he deserved Gold but Silver was compensation for the hard work he put in. I said to him as he came off he looked really gassed to which he replied "I am. I worked so hard to make sure I got in the medals at the end I'm so glad I done it."

"My strategy was to save as much energy as possible in the first 20 laps and see what's happening in the race and from then on feel go with what I thought were the right moves and go from there. I felt I was one of the strongest in the race but I went for a sprint a bit too hard and I had the win quite clearly (with one rider away) and then the Australian and Ukrainian went over the top of me and I was just gassed. It took me a few laps to recover and then I got on the front but no-one wanted to work with me."

"I didn't want to ream myself to get back up to them so I just thought I'd sit and wait. Once they got the lap, I knew I had to bury myself in the next few sprints to get in the medals."

And when that small group got away at the end, what was going through his head then? "I knew I was feeling good and could get them and luckily I did. I'm pleased and disappointed but this is my first world championships and hopefully we can go one better in the team pursuit on Monday."

Jonny and the Ukraine rider are joined by two more.

 

.. and then yet more get in on the act and join him at the front.

 

Jonny was in great sprint form.

 

.. and streets his rivals in this sprint.

Result
1. Martnenko (Ukr) 26
2. Jonny Bellis (GB) 23
3. Travis Meyer (Aus) 23
4. R Vaquera (Mex) 22
5. K Lovassy (Hun) 17
6. M Ito (Jap)11

Heats

There were two heats for this and we had to wait until the first heat had been decided before we got to see a British rider in action, Jonny Bellis. The race was 60 laps with sprints every 10 laps and in the first sprint, Jonny scored two points and then only a few laps later, when a break started to form, he was again there ready to keep his place at the front of the race.

That break failed but with 33 laps to go, a group of eight riders formed at the front and another three riders joined it a few laps later. Jonny then got himself in another move of three and the pace of the race saw the field splitting and Jonny and his break was soon lapping three riders. With 20laps to go, Jonny ensured his place in the final by winning the sprint and going to the top of the leaderboard. With no prizes on offer for winners of heats, Jonny wisely backed off and spent the rest of the race as a passenger in the lead group, finishing the event 4th.

Talking to Jonny Bellis, he admitted early on he felt pretty bad but as the race went on, he started to feel his usual self. "After getting a couple of points in the first sprint, I thought I'd wait until I had a good position for another one and just went full on for it and got the five which I needed to qualify. I just cruised round then."

 

Two points from Jonny from the first sprint.

 

Jonny turns on the gas...

 

... and gets 5 points

 

HEATS
Heat 1
1. S Steels, Bel
2. I Masakazu, Jpn
3. K Lovassy, Hun
4. T Meyer, Aus
5. R Maximov, Rus
6. Martynenko, Ukr
7. S Gensch, Pol
8. J O'Sullivan, Irl
9. B Nauleau, Fra
10. P Ligthart, Ned
11. J Manzano, Ven
12. L Schadlich, Ger

Heat 2
1. R Vaquera, Mex 20 (1 lap)
2. L Perizzolo, Sui 13
3. M Hacecky, Cze 11
4. Jonny Bellis, Great Britain 7
5. S Sakavets, Bel, 6
6. E Viviani, Ita, 5
7. T Bennett, NZ, 5
8. P Gelosky, Aut 5
9. J De Leon, Gua, 4
10. T Guardiola, Spain, 3
11. S Kuzin, Kaz 0
12. M Bester, RSA, -18