2007 UCI World Track Championships

 

29th of March to 1st April
Palma de Mallorca

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Men's Individual Pursuit

 

Class of his own: Bradley Wiggins quickest by far at the 2007 Track Worlds.

Final: Bradley Wiggins was simply in a class of his own as he opened GB's account at the World Track Championships with a gold medal in the Individual Pursuit. The Cofidis pro was back to the sort of form which made him World Champion back in 2003 and Olympic Champion in Athens and he caught his rival for the gold medal, Robert Bartko of Germany, with over Kilometre to go to complete a very professional and convincing return to top class Track racing.

Finals

Bradley Wiggins (Gold) Great Britain 

caught
Robert Bartko (Silver) GER

Sergi ESCOBAR (bronze) ESP 4:23.417  

beat

Antonio TAULER LLULL (ESP) 4:29.536

 

Bradley Wiggins afterwards: “These are the sort of things you start to look back on when you’re old.” On not having to ride the full 4K as he caught his opponent, Brad explained “I never been in that position. I have always had to ride to the line but it’s a great feeling when you come bearing down on someone like that.”

 

“This is a triple project for me looking ahead to Beijing. I messed up in Athens and was too young and inexperienced and probably didn’t fully appreciate winning gold but the next two Olympics, and the Worlds in Manchester, its about three Golds. That’s the aim. I’ll this for a short time and then its back to bed and up with the boys in the morning for the next one.”

 

“It was a great time this morning. I knew I was capable of doing that. In training I knew I was capable and that’s all you can do and put a marker down to put a message out to the others that I mean business. I went into the final oblivious to the opponent on the other side of the track. When I got up, we had a schedule and Shane Sutton walked the line so the race was against myself regardless of where the other guy was”.

 

“The track is fantastic, a great track. Considering they didn’t have a rook a month ago, they have put a really good thing together and they said it wouldn’t be that fast because it was rained on but I think in the next 10 years this is going to become one of the fastest tracks in the world.”

 

“I was flat out in the final. I wasn’t thinking of the Team Pursuit. The team comes later but when you’re on that line, its about winning the World title in front of you. I emptied the tank this morning though. The way the seeding is now, like I was in the sixth heat, and there was no saying what anyone else was going to do and I wasn’t got to risk what the others were going to do. So I just had to go flat out.”

“I’ll probably put the road on the back burner next year. It works in cycles really. The way the season is for the track, after this, I’ll hit the road but next year it will be the other way round when it will be the road and then the Olympics.”

 

“The Tour de France this year is going to be fantastic and if I have form like that, I certainly feel I’ll be in the ballpark of the top six. To win it, I’ll need to be special on the day. I’ll be working closely with Chris Boardman this year and he really wants to assist me in that project. He can’t understand when I do what I did on the track this morning, I haven’t applied that to the road.”

 

 

 

Qualifying: Earlier in the day, and as expected, Great Britain’s Bradley Wiggins came out in heat 6 of the qualifying session and dominated the Men’s Individual Pursuit, recording a time of 4.15.976 to go fastest and straight into the final. Great Britain’s other world class pursuiter, Rob Hayles had one of those days and finished with the 7^th fastest time and missed out on a place in the medal ride offs.

 

 

Talking to Rob Hayles (above) he said “it was another one of those days!” He then added that it may be a good omen for the Madison as it was the same in Los Angeles. “There are the same kind of feelings there from that one. It started well in that the time was okay but not in the way the kilo was delivered mainly because I was frightened of doing what I did in Bordeaux where the track was running so fast that I was scared of popping out a 1.07 kilo and paying for it. So I intentionally went easier right from the very start instead of getting out on it and then pulling back.”

 

“The track wasn’t as fast as training but we knew that would happen and one of the reasons I rode it the way I did. Its obviously not running slow though looking at the other times but its not as it was in training. I’m going to go back now, get my feet up and get the last week out of the way.”

 

 

Media interest in the Olympic champion is high.

 

Bradley catches his rival during qualifying.

 

Manager Shane Sutton urges Wiggins on for the final lap.

 

Wiggins was giving it everything and afterwards is congratulated by Shane Sutton.

 

Problems with Brads bike at the start.

 

Ernie Feargrieve shows Rob Hayles the position of the pedals before placing the bike into the starting gate.

Results

Qualifying

1.  WIGGINS Bradley GBR 4m 15.976s
2. BARTKO Robert GER 4:20.487
3. ESCOBAR ROURE Sergi ESP 4:20.501
4. TAULER LLULL Antonio ESP 4:22.795
5.  HUIZENGA Jenning NED 4:25.020
6.  MOURIS Jens NED 4:25.094
7.  HAYLES Robert GBR 4:25.669
8.  JAMIESON Mark AUS 4:26.595
9.  SEROV Alexander RUS 4:27.222
10. SANCHEZ Fabien FRA 4:27.614
11. BECKE Daniel GER 4:27.622
12. DYUDYA Volodymyr UKR 4:28.919
13. CORNU Dominique BEL 4:29.093
14. POPKOV Vitaliy UKR 4:29.175
15. ALZATE ESCOBAR Carlos Eduardo COL 4:29.256
16. DEMPSTER Zakkari AUS 4:30.125
17. O'LOUGHLIN David IRL 4:30.595
18. BELL Zachary CAN 4:34.956
19. ERMETI Giairo ITA 4:35.572
20. VALYNIN Valery RUS 4:38.360
21. APIONKINAS Sergejus LTU 4:40.908