2007 UCI World Track Championships
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Men's Team Sprint
Report
Final: Absolutely sensational riding by the French and GB trios produced the fastest and closest Team Sprint final of all time. In qualifying the Brits had it by a tenth of a second, but in the final the French won by 2 thousandths of a second as both teams went well inside the magical 44 second barrier. And so, for the second year running GB had to give best to the dynamic French, with whom we are now locked in a deadly rivalry for the crown of world's best sprinting nation. It looks like the French still have the edge, but the gap is, literally narrowing year-by-year.
Craig leads the World Cup champions at the end of lap 1 in the final.
Rider reactions
Craig MacLean “so close but so fast!” The Highlander still had a sense of humour after losing the final to the French by two thousandths of a second. “We broke the world record in the qualifying round and then went faster again and you can’t ask for much more than that. The French were just awesome.”
Ross Edgar (first world championship medal) “When we made the final I was really delighted at the chance of my first medal and confident we could raise our game which we did. To lose by that much is a shame. On the day, the better riders won. I am dead chuffed though to get a medal”.
“I am really happy with my performance today (quickest lap 2 in qualifying) and was better than what I expected. It is definitely encouraging for the events I have to follow, the Keirin and Sprint. I know I have the legs and its now down to whether I can do it tactically.”
“On the start line, I was focused and knew what I had to do. I wasn’t shaking in my boots and just really up for it. I don’t think I have ever been up for something as much as this. Craig threw me in at a real good pace and it was technically better the second time. The first quarter, you give it full gas and then as soon as you drop in behind, it just takes off that edge and you can just cruise and leave that gap and run at him”.
Now I have a medal, I know its not a dream and something that is far far away. I can really step up to it and hopefully there will be more to come.”
Chris Hoy who did a PB for man 3 told us “You got to be realistic about this. If you had said to us before that we could a 43.8, we would have taken your hand off. It was a world class performance, broke the World record twice and lost to a better team. That is the bottom line. We have nothing to be down about. The one negative was we didn’t win but there are so many positives to take away from this.”
“I’m really proud of the boys who did a good ride.”
“It is better for this to happen now and get the shake up this year and realise that we have taken a step forward but so have the French and again, the difference between winning and losing is down to the minute details. I have won a World title by a thousandth of a second, and my first ever World Cup kilo by two thousandths of a second to a Frenchman and won the Olympics by under two tenths, you have to realise you are with those sort of margins going to win and lose some. The bottom line, is we have yet again been beaten by a World record.”
Jamie Staff: Reserve for the Team Sprint, Jamie was at the track, warming up in the same way as the others and the only difference is he didn’t get the ride in the actual race. He said to us afterwards “There are mixed emotions. I am disappointed for the team, they tried really hard and just missed the Gold. Two thousandths of a second is pretty much a draw in my eyes. Bauge, there starter had an amazing first lap with a 17.3. Chris did a phenomenal ride to bring us back to two thousandths.”
“I’m still up for the kilo on the last day. I am figuring I can start quick enough, and I’m just going to go balls to the wall and if I die a sudden death on the last lap, so be it. I reckon I’ll be fastest until half a lap to go and then you’ll see me sliding down the table!”
“I am still in their fighting for a place in this team for Beijing. I think the BMX will help me because the thing I have been lacking is some speed and that’s down to focusing too much on the starts. So if I do some speed work it will definitely bring me up there and I have no doubt I can get back in the team for man 1. Mentally I am in a good place and happy where I am at.”
Jamie also coaches Shanaze Reade (World Team Sprint Champion) and had this to say about her success “seeing Shanaze up there was fantastic. Watching her win that after seeing the journey she has had, and its been quite rapid. It was harder work watching her than racing and I am really happy for her. It will be first of many medals I am sure.”
Finals
Gold/Silver
France 43.830 (BAUGE Gregory, BOURGAIN Mickael, TOURNANT Arnaud)
beat
Great Britain 43.832 (EDGAR Ross, HOY Chris, MACLEAN Craig)
Bronze
Germany 44.240 (FORSTEMANN Robert, LEVY Maximilian, NIMKE Stefan)
beat
Netherlands 44.286 (BOS Theo, MULDER Teun, VELDT Tim)
French
Dutch
Germany
Qualifying: The all Scot trio of Hoy, MacLean and Edgar slipped under the magical 44 second barrier to qualify fastest and go into a final against the French in the Team Sprint. Germany and Holland will contest the bronze medal ride-off.
Results
Qualifying
1 Great Britain 43.917s (EDGAR Ross, HOY Chris, MACLEAN Craig)
2 France 44.036 (BAUGE Gregory, BOURGAIN Mickael, TOURNANT Arnaud)
3 Germany 44.138 (FORSTEMANN Robert, LEVY Maximilian, NIMKE Stefan)
4 Netherlands 44.456 (BOS Theo, MULDER Teun, VELDT Tim)
5 Australia 44.589
6 Spain 44.740
7 Japan 45.451
8 China 45.487
9 Poland 45.756
10 Russia 46.121
11 Ukraine 46.196
