Manchester UCI World Track Cup

 

Friday, 23rd February 2007 (Day 1)

Home Page, Manchester World Track Cup

Report Phil Ingham, Photos & Reactions from Larry Hickmott

 

Three Gold for the Brits on Day 1

Highlights of the first evening of the Track World Cup in Manchester were fine rides by Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton and Bradley Wiggins. Meanwhile, a spectacular crash in the Keirin final had the whole crowd on their feet with, thankfully, all the fallen riders, including Britain's Jamie Staff, eventually rising and walking away from what looked like a very bad accident.

 

The moment that defined the first day of the World Cup meeting - a huge 4 rider crash on the final bend of the Keirin Final. Photographer Andrea Ingram was in the right place at the right time to capture this great image!

 

Men's Individual Pursuit

 

Serov, Wiggins and McGee on the podium for the Mens Pursuit.

The Men's Pursuit final started with the two riders closely matching each other. Bradley Wiggins held a tenth of a second lead for the first 1500 metres or so. Serov fought bravely but from that point on he found himself dropping back by a tenth of second a lap.

 

The elastic then broke and Wiggins strode clear in that familiar relaxed style of his. Not content with winning the event, Wiggins then poured on the pressure in the last kilo to record a very impressive 4.17.864 to claim the gold, with Serov well beaten in second clocking 4.23.360. It was top class stuff from Wiggins who looks to have lost nothing of his pursuiting ability in the last couple of years he's spent furthering his pro Road career.

The ride-off for Bronze was something of a formality for Brad McGee, who produced a very smooth looking 4.22.862 to beat Mouris of Holland by over six seconds. It was a bit more like the McGee of old and a warning that with some specific preparation, he's likely to still be force in the event. We'll see come the worlds.

 

Bradley Wiggins. "It was really good. Conditions were like they have been in training really. If it had been like this in the afternoon, I would have run my 4.14 schedule because I feel I was capable of doing it. The effort I put this morning was my 4.14 ride and I tried to shut the conditions off. That was a big effort that 4.18. It was 20 degrees and the doors were open at the top for the spectators and so it was blustery inside and not very nice."

"To be able to back up and do the 17 after this evening pleases me. It has been two years and you can do as many dress rehearsals as you like in training but you can't recreate this atmosphere and it has been a really good return to the track."

"I wasn't really surprised Macca didn't make the final although I thought there was a chance he might. I certainly didn't expect that Russian. I don't know any of these faces, they're all different. Brad McGee is on a different agenda at the moment. He came here with the idea of getting the Aussie qualifying time and he's concentrating on the road after coming back from an injury year last year."

 

Later in the hotel, McGee described his ride as 'nice' and was not at all disappointed at arriving in Manchester the night before, have a small session on the track in the morning and then go out and almost make the final.

 

Result: Men Individual Pursuit 

 

Women's Sprint

 

Victoria Pendleton didn't allow any team-spirit enter into her Sprint Semi final against Anna Blyth, disposing of her GB Team-mate in two straight rides. Anna has a lot of skill, but not quite enough speed yet to really push the 2005 World Champion who rode round her in the first heat.

 

The second heat was closer, with Blyth pushing her rival all over the track, but she perhaps hesitated a second on the back straight when she might have pressured Victoria a little more. When she did finally try to go round Pendleton, she ran out of track and had to settle for a place in the ride off for Bronze.

In the other Semi Anna Meares and Guo of China produced a lot closer clash, with the Aussie just holding off her rival to take the first heat by half a wheel, with a clever flick in the final bend just stalling Guo enough to make the win a certainty.

 

Guo came back and won the second heat, going around Mears in the last half lap and holding a wheel-length lead for the last 50 metres to take it to a decider. Guo then took it in the third heat when Meares held off her a little too long and couldn't catch the Chinese woman over the last half lap.

In the ride-off for Bronze, Anna Meares had just a little bit too much speed for Anna Blyth, coming round her less experienced opponent in the first heat and holding off the young Brit to win the second heat.

The gold medal ride-off saw a superb first heat win for Victoria Pendleton (right) as she kept China's Guo exactly where she wanted her before holding her off to win by a bike length. Vicky was even better in the second heat riding clear in the last half lap with apparent ease to complete a great day at the office for the popular SIS rider.

 

Anna Blyth: "I had a PB today and finished 4th, in only my second World Cup. I can't really believe it to be honest. I learnt a lot today so there is a lot I can take away from this to work with Jan on and become a better rider. As soon as I got past the first round, I was in unknown territory and didn't know what to expect. Every race I get butterflys but I was pretty relaxed by the end so bring on tomorrow!"

 

Victoria Pendleton: "I 'm really happy because I PB'd for this track by about three tenths. So that is a great thing in itself but in terms of my racing today I didn't make as manytactical  mistakes as usual and perhaps thats the influence of Jan (van Eijden) and his tactical coaching. So I am very happy with that too."

"We (Victoria and the Chinese rider) trained together for two years so I know her quite well and her weaknesses and also she has never beaten me before so that gave me confidence to ride the race I wanted to ride. I was surprised Anna (Meares) never made the final and made a mistake because I had her down for being in the final whether I was there or not".

Asked what she puts her success down to lately, Victoria says "I have been working with smaller gears quite a lot and finding something that suits me as a slim sort of build sprinter and just consistent training where I've been chipping away and working hard in the off season and after giving myself a little time to sharpen up, I feel like I have made quite a few gains this year."

 

Result: Women Sprint 

Men's Kilo

 

 

Chris Hoy had to dig as deep as he has ever had to do to win the Kilo from the talented Frenchman Francois Pervis. The two were paired in the final heat and after one lap there was nothing between them, then Hoy moved a half a second clear before being pegged back by Pervis, who actually led with a lap to go.

 

With the home crowd baying in support, Hoy once again produced the goods on the last lap to win by just 35 thousandths of a second. For those who dismiss the Kilo as a time trial and not a race, this was a stirring reminder of just how close the event can be when two in-form athletes clash. Tim Veldt was third, over a second down.

 

Chris Hoy: That was really hard and I only just got it. That is the best I have ever done here and is a British record for me here at Manchester and I'm delighted with the time after having done little preparation for the Kilo yet. It is not going to be an easy ride at the Worlds by any stretch of the imagination after what Francois Pervis has just done. The crowd were fantastic and made all the difference.”

 

Result: 1km Time Trial

 

 

Mens World Cup Keirin
Craig MacLean made a very unlucky departure from the Keirin, getting himself boxed and finding no route out for the last two laps of a very hairy first heat of the second round, which was won by Aussie Leonard. The second heat saw Jamie Staff go through safely, behind Sireau of France. Staff was always in control and cleverly avoided committing himself until the last lap.

 

Talking about his second round defeat, Craig MacLean said “I didn’t gave myself enough room to race, and possibly being a little impatient and tried to do too much. There was nothing riding on this race for me. It was just a leg opener and wasn’t planning on riding it at the World Champs so its not that bad.” Craig then went through the race in slow motion with Jan van Eijden to look at where the mistakes were made prior to Craig winning the winor final.

 

Craig MacLean wins the minor final.

There was some consolation for MacLean as he took the ride-off for 7th to 12th with a stunning lap turn of speed, winning by half a bike length from Narita of Japan.

The final was hugely dramatic with massive crash bringing down four of the six riders, including Jamie Staff in the final corner. The Aussie Shane Perkins appeared to move up the track, meeting Sireau of France who was coming down. There was a collision and then all hell broke loose with bike and bodies everywhere. Staff was one of the first riders to get up, and within a couple of minutes miraculously all the riders were on their feet to the relief of everyone watching.

 

It was something of a surprise for some to see Perkins awarded the race, with the only other rider to stay up, Tang of China taking the silver. Hodei Mazquiaran Uria picked up the remains of his bike to walk over the line just ahead of Jamie Staff to claim the bronze.

 

Jamie Staff: “Everything is still working so that’s the main thing. I’m pretty experienced at crashing and as soon as it happened, I just relaxed and that’s the best chance you have of coming out of these things alive. It happened so quick. I was just unfortunate where I was when the Frenchman went down. If I had been a few inches in front I might have been able to get around him. It’s one of those things. I was really up for the win and my form has been really good recently. I’m in the position where I wanted to race everything which you do when you feel this good.”

 

"Tomorrow I’ll be coming here to see Shanaze and Anna ride the Team Sprint. “It’s really exciting watch her improve, coaching her. She is a phenomenal athlete and so strong its unbelievable. It’s just getting her used to the bike and she thrives in this environment. I know she is pretty nervous and I know they will do well.”

 

Footnote, it was only the second time ever the forks on the British team's SI bikes have broken in a crash, a huge credit the bikes designer. The forms are designed to break to save the frame but still have enough strength in them to last five years of the rough and tumble world of sprinting until a crash like this takes its expected toll. 

 

Result: Men Keirin

 

The two riders left standing fight out the finish in the Keirin final.

 

The Men's Scratch Race

 

The Men's Scratch Race rounded off the day's action and proved to be a fast, tightly fought affair, with 12 riders including Chris Newton and Russell Hampton, taking a lap on the rest of the field in dribs and drabs throughout the second half of the race.

 

The gallop to the finish saw a brave effort by Gerraint Thomas to lead out Chris Newton and Russell Hampton, but neither Chris or Russell quite had the gas left to capitalise and in a very close finish, Rafal Ratajczyk of Poland took the win. Roger Kluge of Germany was second and Charles Huff of the USA third (picture below).

 

Result: Men Scratch 

Women's Points Race

 

 

The Woman's Points race was a fascinating tactical battle, with no rider able to really stamp their authority on the race until the last 30 laps. At that point four different riders had all won one of the sprints and were tied on five points. It was then that Gonzalez of Cuba surged clear to claim her second sprint and jump into the lead with 10 points. She then marked her rivals and picked up a further three points in the final gallop for the line.

 

Goss of Australia left her move till late, winning the final sprint and jumping into second ahead of Lacotta, who claimed third. Britain's Lizzy Armistead showed well and looked comfortable, maintaining a position near the front of the field throughout but, like the combative Kate Cullen, she was unable to nail a sprint.

 

Result: Women Points

 

PHOTOS (Lots more to come later in the week)

 

Mens Scratch Race

 

Roger Kluge (Germany), Rafal Ratajczyk (Poland), and Charles Bradley Huff (USA)

 

Womens Points Race

Lizzy puts her down to try and score points in a sprint.

 

Lizzy Armitstead from Otley buries her head as she tries to stay away early in the race as the World Champion from Italy drags the field up to them. Although dissapointed, Lizzy can take comfort in her coach national Dan Hunt, telling her she rode well and considering she is still in school and unable to put in the time these full time riders are, she rode an excellent race.

 

 

Mens Keirin

 

With most of the field going down like nine pins, the crash was a heavy one. It happened when the Aussie winner Perkins saw a gap the Frenchman left in the final bend as he tried to take his rivals up such as Jamie Staff up the track. The Aussie Perkins went through said gap only to clash with the Frenchman as they both moved towards each other at full speed and the Frenchman went down, taking out Jamie Staff who in turn crashed in front of the other riders.

 

Qi Tang (China),  Shane Perkins (Aus) SouthAustralia.com/AIS and Hodei Mazquiaran Uria (Spain) who got the bronze by being the first to his feet and running to the line despite a broken collarbone.

Kévin Sireau (France) leads Jamie Staff prior to the mayhem on the final bend. 

 

Womens Sprint

A junior last year and this year giving a World Record holder a run for her money -- Leeds Anna Blyth has certainly improved and is a future star shining brightly already.