National Track Championships Preview

 

2006 National Senior & Disability Track Championships
Manchester Velodrome
3rd - 7th October 2006

It's always a hard championships to preview, but we've taken our annual stab at the runners and riders for the National Track Championships. Whoever wins what, the strength of all the fields is amazing and testament to the progress we've made as a nation on the track in the past few years. For those of you wishing to spectate, tickets are absolutely free.

 

Programme of events & full entry list >>>>

 

Women's 500 TT
Should be a cake-walk for Victoria Pendleton, but it will be interesting to see how some of the younger sprinters like Anna Blyth and Lucy Ayres measure up.

Kilometre TT
Again, it's hard to see beyond one name, Olympic and World champion Chris Hoy, who should have too much class for the rest of the field. And again, it will be the performance of younger riders like Junior stars Jason Kenny, Christian Lyte, David Daniell and Shane Charlton which will be arousing the most interest as they push for senior medals.

 

 

Victoria Pendleton & Chris Hoy

Open Sprint - Men
It's always a lottery as to who will actually start this event. The top riders tend to give it a miss if they feel they are at all below par. Having said that, if everyone competes, it could be a cracker as in Craig MacLean, Ross Edgar, Matt Crampton, Chris Hoy and Jamie Staff we have genuinely world-class sprinters. Back them up with the talents of our best juniors like Jason Kenny and it's a mouth-watering prospect.

 

 

Aileen McGlynn & Darren Kenny

Disability Championships
It'll be great to see perhaps the strongest ever domestic disability cycling field ever assembled in this country contesting an intriguing championships, with all performances rated against world best times for their categories. Darren Kenny and Aileen McGlynn are the household names, but don't expect them to dominate. And of course, don't miss the tandems, they are a sight seldom seen indoors and all the more spectacular on the tight Manchester curves.

4000m Pursuit
Bradley Wiggins is the stand-out here. After a long and tough Road season, he could be in the form of his life and rumour has it he's after producing something special. He'll need to be in top form to maintain his customary dominance over a domestic field which includes the Commonwealth champion Paul Manning and former junior world champion Andy Tennant. Also in the mix could be Ed Clancy, Steve Cummings, Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas, all young and improving pursuiters. And finally, don't discount Dave Millar, a surprise entry who has all the attributes of a top pursuiter.

 

Lizzie Armistead & Nikki Harris

Women's Scratch Race
Another intriguing race, with lots of contenders. Plucking a few names out of a talented list isn't easy, but Nikki Harris and Lizzie Armistead are two of the younger riders with class, whilst Kate Cullen has an enviable record of consistency in recent years. Finally, don't discount holder Vitoria Pendleton - she may be a sprinter, but she can hang in all but the fastest races and her presence alone should guarantee an animated race as the slower finishers try to draw her sting.

Women Sprint
Victoria Pendelton is again the sensible pick - she's world class in this event and the major interest should lie in who can make the final against her. Look out again for the youngsters Blyth and Ayres.

 

 

Rob Hayles & Geraint Thomas

Men's 20km Scratch
Wow, what a difficult one to pick. We have one of the best pools of endurance Track rides in the world and the majority of them line up for this event. If you were to pick three young riders to watch, defending champion Geraint Thomas and the aggressive Ben Swift and Peter Kennaugh would be my choices. Of the more experienced riders, Rob Hayles, Chris Newton and Tony Gibb have the credentials to win, however the race pans out.

Women's Points Race
This is another tough one to call. In the absence of Nicole Cooke, who brought raw aggression to last year's race, it might be another case of Victoria Pendleton against the rest. Will the better endurance qualities of the likes of Kate Cullen and Nikki Harris prevail or will Victoria's sprinting hold sway? It all depends on whether the endurance riders have the guts to risk everything on a fast race.

 

 

Kate Cullen & Paul Manning

Team Sprint
If Hoy, MacLean and Queally get to the start line together there's only one chance of them being beaten - and that's the French national side securing a late entry. It's not going to happen! Watch out for the composite team of Daniell, Kenny and Lyte for a glimpse of the future.

Men's 40km Points Race
Paul Manning's win was a surprise last year - Paul's style is generally better suited to pursuiting than the repetitive sprinting usually required to win this event. There's no better specialist at this event than Chris Newton, but some of the younger riders are now beginning to look pretty adept at the challenges of the Points Race. Look out for Geraint Thomas and Ben Swift in particular. Also worth a punt are Rob Hayles and Evan Oliphant. The presence of Brad Wiggins will have a big influence on the event. He's unlikely to win it, but his bursts of pure speed to really shake the race up and limit the number of likely winners.

Men's Keirin
A really classy field of sprinters who aren't afraid to mix it spells good news for the spectators. Ross Edgar, Jamie Staff and Craig MacLean all know the ropes and have the speed, cunning and sheer physical bravery to make a mark. A totally committed Chris Hoy could figure too as could junior world champion Jason Kenny.

 

 

Jason Kenny & Ross Edgar

Women 3000m Pursuit
An interesting one this. Wendy Houvenhagel is the class act of this field, with a World Cup title behind her. However, she was beaten at the National Time Trial Championships recently by Rebecca Romero as former rower turned cyclist and GB squad "Fast-Track" member. The Pursuit is a more technical discipline, so it will be interesting to see how Rebecca copes.

Women's Keirin
See Women's Sprint, as in don't bet against Victoria Pendleton.

Team Pursuit
There's an encouragingly large field for this event, but hard to see anyone getting close to the Composite A squad of Manning, Wiggins, Newton, Cummings and Clancy, which is pretty close to the full-strength GB team. The Recycling youngsters, including Andy Tennant, Ross Sander, Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas might disagree with that assessment, but this is an event where tactics and guts can't overcome experience, technique and pure speed.