Manchester UCI World Track Cup
UCI Manchester World Track Cup, February 23-25, 2007
(Tickets now available on the door at the Manchester Velodrome)
by Larry Hickmott
Day 1: Training, Tuesday Manchester World Track Cup
Day 2: World Track Cup Training Days, Wednesday, 21st of February
Today, Wednesday, saw the first official day of training for the World Track Cup before the competition kicks off on Friday. The day started quiet with the Dutch notable by their absence for the first slot for the days training sessions as they spent the morning in transit on the way to England. They did however turn up in the afternoon and in a team packed with World Championship winners and medallists, we spoke to double World Champion from 2006, the remarkable Theo Bos.
Rugged up after just coming from the airport to the Velodrome, Bos was quickly onto the track with fellow sprinters Teun Mulder and Tim Veldt and going through the routine practised for many a year. "Very important" was how he described the Manchester World Cup, adding, "it is a last big test before the World Championships to see how our form is. You have to be good because in four weeks you can't improve so much but you can lose a lot so you have to get the balance right".
Having qualified for two events by right being the World Champion in the Sprint and Keirin, we asked Theo why else the World Cups were important to him because for most, they are used as a way of qualifying for the Worlds, something he has already done.
"The World Cups are very important, especially the one in Manchester, because we get a lot of media attention and for me, that is really important for my sponsors. And to test my form too. I am good at the moment but the races here will show which points I am good at and which ones I am not so good at."
Theo then explained he will be racing in the Sprint (Saturday) and the Japanese Keirin (Sunday) where he will chase the big bucks in what is always a major spectacle during the Manchester World Track Cup. On his preparation for Manchester, Theo says "it has gone well. I have not got any injuries and have not become sick so I am right on schedule. After this World Cup we go full gas in training in Holland where I have a good track next to where I live. We don't need to go to warm countries because we just go more and more on the track in the last weeks before the Worlds."
Finally, I asked, having won World titles for each of the Sprint events, Kilo, Sprint and Keirin, how important the Team Sprint is for them? "Yes, it is really important and this year we are focusing more on the Team Sprint. So we train more together now and because we are young team, we have to use this opportunity to learn and become better because we have a lot of potential."
Asked about the Bejing Olympics and whether that was uppermost in his mind now it is so close, Theo replied, "yes but first I am focusing on the World Championships and try to improve myself and not focus too much on the medals."
Great Britain
It was a quiet day for GB and a quick call to the Womens Endurance coach Dan Hunt revealed a troubled time for the Womens Team for the World Cup. In a major blow for Katie Curtis, who the coach says was riding really strong recently, the Cardiff based rider crashed during a track league where the only riders to actually fall, were those involved in the Manchester World Track Cup. Katie's crash was serious enough to prevent her from riding at Manchester and the young rider will have to wait for another opportunity to make her debut in World Track Cups.
In the Women's Pursuit, first year senior Jo Rowsell is still finding her level in this demanding event and will not ride Manchester and nor will Nikki Harris. Which means the Womens Endurance riders racing will be Rebecca Romero, Wendy Houvenaghel (both Pursuit) and Lizzy Armitstead who is down to ride the bunch races.
Of the three riders, Wendy is said to be in great form, recording a personal best in training at Newport whilst Rebecca has not fared as well, picking up a nasty cold recently which has slowed her a little but the coach says she is still producing the goods in training and is expected to do well at Manchester in the heat of battle.
After a very intensive training session on the Tuesday, the British ranks were quite light in the track centre as the majority of the team took a break either at the team hotel or at home. The endurance riders were on the road while the sprinters either on the road or doing roller work to freshen up for the final training session on Thursday when the track is expected to be very busy.
Above: Jamie Staff getting his track legs after a recent BMX event in Holland.
Above: Jason Queally making one of many efforts on a quiet days training for the Brits.
Jamie Staff, fresh from his BMX test at the European Indoor championships, was one of the riders present in the track centre today along with and Jason Queally. Both riders had plenty of track space to do what they needed to do before departing for the hotel to rest up. 
Also at the track was a certain Russell Hampton, surprise winner of the Scratch race in Los Angeles less than a month ago. Russell has been a little unwell since returning and was at the track to see the team doctor but says he does intend to celebrate his 19th birthday on Friday in style with a good ride in the Scratch race which is one two events he is riding. The other being the Points race.
"I didn't go into the World Cup in LA with any expectations really" he told us. "The only pressure I had was the pressure I put on myself just to make the final where I knew a chance may come my way to do something."
"We went into the race with a strategy which I rode to. I didn't have great legs before so I just gave it everything and that was all I could ask of myself. I have to say that Ben (Swift) helped me out a lot in the last 20 laps when there was a break away so he played a really important role in that win as well. He too could have won the race had he been in my position."
Talking about the first break which helped set up his momentous win, he says "I have been reviewing other Scratch races in World Cups and seen a lot of moves going early on so I was always looking for that early move. It just so happened I rolled off the front with a few others and the move formed fairly quickly. It wasn't planned but nothing really is planned in Scratch racing. You just go with the flow."
"Then later on the race, Rod was telling me I'm going to need to get another lap because there were quite a few riders on the same lap. So there were a few attacks going and eventually, when the Ukraine guy got away, I thought what the hell, lets go for it. I got across to him and was probably doing a bit more work than him but felt confident I could get that lap."
Russell then explained that he wasn't sure at the end whether he had actually won the race. "The last 20 laps was just chaos for me and once I got over the confusion I felt, I just hit out and went for it."
The result was a great win for Russell and he says that it was a great moment standing on that podium and hearing the national anthem. "I couldn't stop smiling then and am still smiling now when I think about it. Hearing that national anthem was just amazing."
Russell also explained how he has actually had harder races than the one in LA. "Of course it was hard, but I think I was in good shape going into it and admit I did have a little doubt as to whether I would be up to it. Looking back, I have had harder races, even the Senior Nationals here felt harder, but that could have been because the adrenalin was pumping and I knew I was doing well which got me round."
Asked does he feel he is still trying to prove himself on the track, which is still quite a new discipline to him, Russell replied "the road is certainly my main goal for the future but I still want to prove myself on the track. The stuff you learn on the track is real help on the road and when you look at the likes Mark Cavendish for example you can see how their track work is helping them. I started my track racing quite late so I am always learning but I think everyone on the academy is in the same boat."
The win by Russell in LA was also the first major win for a rider in the 100% ME colours. Russell says that when they arrived, nobody was actually sure what the team was about including the commentator but his win seem to get the message across to them. After his win in LA, Russell and the team travelled down the coast a bit for a training camp.
"It was a nice place to stay and I can see why the pro teams were out there this year. We were able to go from there out into the mountains and did long hours around there. We had quite a few split days where we would do two and half hours in the morning and then another two and half in the afternoon. We did a lot of speed work and lead out sessions because although we were away from the track, we wanted to keep the speed aspect up. On top of that we also did some long rides, six and half hours with a few Team time trial efforts which got pretty grippy towards the end."
Russell then left to see the team doctor and his first big goal before settling down on the road again as he and the Endurance Academy get ready to head back to Italy in early March. We wish Russell and all the team lots of luck at the World Track Cup and hope his birthday presents him with a special present - another World Cup win!
More Photos
The Aussies get to grips with the Manchester Track during training today.
The New Zealand Team, who had flown in the night before, were pleasantly surprised at how quiet the track was enabling them to get in some quality sessions after the long flight where they told us the jet leg is less of a problem on the way to the UK than it is on the way back.
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