Elliott and Wallace Win Gold For GB
UCI World Masters Track Championships:
Day 3 - Wednesday 13 September 2006
Wednesday 13th September saw the third day of the 2006 UCI World Masters Track Championships at the Manchester Velodrome. These are the official championships for riders over 30 years of age. Today saw the 2006 World Masters titles awarded in Men's Pursuit, Points & Sprint and Women's Sprint events. Great Britain won two of the eight titles on offer with winning performances from Ben Elliott (Men's 30-34 Sprint) and Shaun Wallace (Men's 45-49 Points). Mancunian Elliott took his second title of the week on home turf, previously winning the Men's 30-34 Individual Time Trial on Monday.
The USA overtook Great Britain at the top of the medal table. At the end of the third day the top three Countries are as follows:
- 1st: USA (9 Gold, 8 Silver and 4 Bronze),
- 2nd: Great Britain (9 Gold, 5 Silver and 12 Bronze),
- 3rd: Australia (4 Gold, 7 Silver and 4 Bronze).
The remaining World Masters titles were collected by Darren King, Australia (Men's 35-39 Sprint), Mike Zwingenberger, Germany (Men's 40-44 Points), Scott Butler, USA (Men's 50-54 Pursuit), Woody Cox, USA (Men's 55-59 Pursuit), Denis Fahey, Australia (Men's 60-64 Pursuit), Elizabeth Reap, USA (Women's 30-39 Sprint).
Particular mention should go to Ben Elliott of Great Britain, Darren King of Australia and Elizabeth Reap of USA, who have all made it two titles out of the two events (Sprint and Individual Time Trial) in their age categories. Woody Cox of USA, who set a new World Masters Best Time during the qualifying heat of the Men's 55-59 Pursuit. Denis Fahey of Australia, who defended his title from 2005 in the Men's 60-64 Pursuit. Shaun Wallace of Great Britain, who won the Men's 40-44 Points title in 2005 and successfully moved up an age category this year.
UCI World Masters Track Championships: Day 3 Race reports
Men's 45-49 Points Race
Shaun Wallace narrowly beat Malcolm Elliott by 1 point in the Men's 45-49 Points Race this evening. Wallace knew the title was his with one sprint still to go, but Elliott showed his determination by picking up full points in the final sprint. In a race that was dominated by these two British riders and their consistency in finishing in the points, Bernardo Figueroa from Colombia was the only other rider to lap the field and so score well ahead of the rest of the field.
1st: Shaun Wallace, GBR 41 points
2nd: Malcolm Elliott, GBR 40 points
3rd: Bernardo Figueroa, COL 28 points
Men's 60-64 Pursuit
Denis Fahey from Australia dominated this event to defend his 2005 title in the Men's 60-64 Pursuit. Michael Allen from Great Britain came back to narrowly beat Jukka Oksanen from Finland to the Bronze medal.
1st: Denis Fahey, USA 2.30.495
2nd: Sean Bannister, GBR 2.36.748
3rd: Michael Allen, GBR 2.37.491
Women's 30-39 Sprint
In a closely fought contest, Elizabeth Reap held off the challenge from Michelle King and Siobhan Mullan to take her second Gold medal of these Championships.
1st: Elizabeth Reap, USA 12.818
2nd: Michelle King, AUS
3rd: Siobhan Mullan, GBR
Men's 40-44 Points
Mike Zwingenberger of Germany dominated this race tactically to score in all but one of the sprint laps and finish 17 points clear of the rest of the field. In a race that featured several attempts, no group of riders could get clear of the field, so the only points gained were in the sprint laps. The contest for Silver and Bronze medals went down to the last sprint, with Graeme Allbon finishing two positions ahead of Roberto Mattei to claim it on the line.
1st: Mike Zwingenberger, GER 28 points
2nd: Graeme Allbon, AUS 11 points
3rd: Roberto Mattei, ITA 11 points
Men's 50-54 Pursuit
Scott Butler lead all the way and gradually increased his lead over Christopher Hunt throughout his ride to claim the Gold medal by five seconds.
Ian Humphreys overhauled the earlier advantage of Bart Nel of South Africa with one lap to go in the race for the Bronze medal.
1st: Scott Butler, USA 2.23.084
2nd: Christopher Hunt, AUS 2.28.622
3rd: Ian Humphreys, GBR 2.27.980
Men's 55-59 Pursuit
Woody Cox dominated the ride off for the Gold medal, pulling away all the time from fellow compatriot Patrick Gellineau, and repeating the form in the earlier round of heats where he set a new World Masters Best Time of 2.24.370.
In a closely fought competition, Chip Berezny gradually pulled away from Kevin Gill of Great Britain in the second half of the race to claim the Bronze medal in a USA clean sweep.
1st: Woody Cox, USA 2.27.174
2nd: Patrick Gellineau, USA 2.31.300
3rd: Chip Berezny, USA 2.29.465
Men's 35-39 Sprint
In another very closely fought Sprint final, Darren King held off the challenge from Alex Harris and Olaf Schnaar to take his second Gold medal of these championships.
1st: Darren King, AUS 12.067
2nd: Alex Harris, RSA
3rd: Olaf Schnaar, GER
Men's 30-34 Sprint
Ben Elliott held off the challenge of the other two competitors to take his second World Masters title so far this week. He added the Sprint title to Monday's Time Trial event.
1st: Ben Elliott, GBR 12.349
2nd: Gael Gautier, FRA
3rd: Brett Perez, AUS