British Cycling's Olympic Track Sprint Academy travelled out to Germany for a two week training and racing camp, based around two major competitions in the East and West of Germany – the Sprint Cup meeting in Cottbus and the Drei Bahn Tournee, a three day race series around the Frankfurt region.
It is a vital building block for their long term development as well as a tool to gauge their progress towards the European Championships in Anadia, Portugal in July. Riders on the trip included Pete Mitchell, Dave Daniell, Lewis Oliva, Kian Emadi, Callum Skinner and first year U23 John Paul.
WEEK TWO
Week two of the Sprint Academy race series was based in Dudenhofen near Frankfurt. This is the home track of British Cycling’s Olympic Sprint coach Jan van Eijden and provides an ideal training camp base, finishing off with three days of racing.
Although many of the top Germans weren’t present for the competition, a heavy training week for the team leading up into the competition restored a level playing field and made for a keenly fought race series.
Day one was based at Oberhausen, a shallow 333m concrete outdoor track. Qualification went well, with the British Cycling Olympic Academy riders qualifying in the first four positions. Racing saw a competitive series of racing in very hot conditions with the challenge of a strong head wind down the back straight to add into the riders’ tactical plans. Pete Mitchell came out the eventual winner after beating John Paul in the final with a strong late run from behind. Lewis Oliva beat Stefan Botticher for bronze medal position.
Day two moved to Ochelbronn, a small 200m semi covered wooden track. Part of the challenge of the series is to test the riders’ ability to adapt their racing styles and tactics to a different track every day. The ability to do this provides them with these tools at higher level competition so they can race effectively on different tracks and against different competition. Kian Emadi qualified in first position in 10.75 and rode well all day to take the win, beating Pete Mitchell in the final.
Day three finished off the series at the Dudenhofen track, which has been the riders’ training base for the previous week. Kian Emadi again qualified quickest in 10.72, but failed to back this up during the sprint competition. John Paul, having shown strong form all week finally took top spot on the podium, making it all the way to the final and beating Lewis Oliva into silver medal position with a precise well executed ride. Alexander Reinalt beat Pete Mitchell into bronze medal spot.
All in all a solid two week racing block interspersed with challenging racing for the Olympic Academy group, providing them with a sound base as they move towards the under-23 European Championships in Anadia, Portugal.
WEEK ONE
Cottbus, Eastern Germany. The famous 333m concrete track was built by the German federation in their preparation for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. The Cottbus sport school which is based there is the perfect training venue with quality gym facilities and a physically and tactically challenging track. The week finished with the two day Sprinter Cup competition (Sprint - Saturday, Keirin Sunday) featuring many of the top German riders. The Great Britain Academy athletes squeezed into the top 10 qualification positions in the sprint competition behind the on form German riders who were using the event for U23 European and 2012/2013 National team selection, the Great Britain riders backed their qualifications up with aggressive and positive riding throughout the day.
The following day’s Keirin action saw all Great Britain riders apart from John Paul progressing through the first round comfortably. After a long day of rounds and repechages, Kian Emadi, Lewis Oliva and Pete Mitchell found themselves in the Keirin minor final, with Dave Daniell the only British representative in the main final. After a bold move from Dave, he was overtaken by a strong finishing German bunch to eventually finish sixth.
Results:
Sprint Qualifying Day 1:
1. Niederlag (GER) 10.25
2. Thiele (GER) 10.33
3. Wachter (GER)
other
6. Kian Emadi (GBR) 10.59
7. Pete Mitchell (GBR) 10.60
8. Callum Skinner (GBR) 10.63
9. Lewis Oliva (GBR) 10.67
10. Dave Daniell (GBR) 10.67
17. John Paul (GBR) 10.81
Keirin Day 2:
1.Wachter (GER)
2. Dohrer (GER)
3. Thiele (GER)
4. Schroder (GER)
5. Balzer (GER)
6. Dave Daniell (GBR)
7. Kian Emadi (GBR)
8. Lewis Oliva (GBR)
9. Peter Mitchell (GBR)
Week two of the Sprint Academy race series was based in Dudenhofen near Frankfurt. This is the home track of British Cycling’s Olympic Sprint coach Jan van Eijden and provides an ideal training camp base, finishing off with three days of racing.
Although many of the top Germans weren’t present for the competition, a heavy training week for the team leading up into the competition restored a level playing field and made for a keenly fought race series.
Day one was based at Oberhausen, a shallow 333m concrete outdoor track. Qualification went well, with the British Cycling Olympic Academy riders qualifying in the first four positions. Racing saw a competitive series of racing in very hot conditions with the challenge of a strong head wind down the back straight to add into the riders’ tactical plans. Pete Mitchell came out the eventual winner after beating John Paul in the final with a strong late run from behind. Lewis Oliva beat Stefan Botticher for bronze medal position.
Day two moved to Ochelbronn, a small 200m semi covered wooden track. Part of the challenge of the series is to test the riders’ ability to adapt their racing styles and tactics to a different track every day. The ability to do this provides them with these tools at higher level competition so they can race effectively on different tracks and against different competition. Kian Emadi qualified in first position in 10.75 and rode well all day to take the win, beating Pete Mitchell in the final.
Day three finished off the series at the Dudenhofen track, which has been the riders’ training base for the previous week. Kian Emadi again qualified quickest in 10.72, but failed to back this up during the sprint competition. John Paul, having shown strong form all week finally took top spot on the podium, making it all the way to the final and beating Lewis Oliva into silver medal position with a precise well executed ride. Alexander Reinalt beat Pete Mitchell into bronze medal spot.
All in all a solid two week racing block interspersed with challenging racing for the Olympic Academy group, providing them with a sound base as they move towards the under-23 European Championships in Anadia, Portugal.
