Young GB Sprinters in Germany

Out in Germany (Cottbus) at the moment is a team of young sprinters from the Great Britain Cycling Team competing in the Spakasse Sprint Cup and Cottbus ISGP as well getting in some training on the concrete track. The riders in Cottbus are:

Becky James (Junior 2nd year)

Kevin Stewart (Junior 2nd year)

Helen Scott (Academy, Under 23)

Dave Daniell (Academy, Under 23)

Chris Lyte (Academy, Under 23)

Pete Mitchell (Academy, Under 23)

The team, coached by Iain Dyer and Jon Norfolk also have Charlene Joiner from City of Edinburgh guesting with them as is Olympic Champion, Jason Kenny. The trip to Cottbus comes only a few weeks after most of the group had a near three week racing and training trip which took in Cottbus and Dudenhofen and allowed them to race in the highly competitive German series over no less than 6 days in total over the course of the camp.

During that trip, the Great Britain riders picked up three sprint wins (Dave winning three and Jason two events) and in Cottbus at the training and racing camp they're looking to further their racing experience and fine tune their form before tackling the European Track Championship's next month.

David Daniell on the rollers

In the racing last weekend, the Junior and Senior Women rode with the Under 16 boys.On the first day where they competed in the Keirin event, Helen lucked out in the round 1 rep, as did Charlene, but Becky made it through to the minor final where she finished third to make it 9th overall. Kevin was racing in the separate Junior men's category and also had the Keirin on the first day where he battled through to finish in 4th position. Pretty quickly he got used to the idea that there were so many competitive German riders everywhere he looked!

The senior riders had the Sprint competition on the first day and the fastest was Wittman in 10.44, then Enders; Stumpf; and Nimke with Dave qualifying highest of the GB lads in 5th with 10.51. A creditable time on this semi covered 333m concrete track. Sadly, he couldn't match his qualifying position and could only finish 10th overall. Pete and Chris fared less well, qualifying in 15th and 21st respectively out of 30, and weren't able to advance past the 1st round.

Everyone approached day two determined to improve their performances, and this paid off in their results and performances. It was Kevin and the girls turn to compete in the Sprint competition whilst the men turned their attention to the Keirin. Of the Academy male riders, Dave once again showed the class that has taken him to the podium at World Cup level and finished 2nd in the Keirin in some impressive company. That also left him 4th overall for the whole weekend.

David Daniell makes the podium in Germany

Chris and Pete meanwhile couldn't advance past the repechages and were left to rue those split second decisions made in the heat of battle that makes the difference racing in the company of World and Olympic champions.

Welsh rider, Becky James once again kept the flag flying for the British girls in the sprint on day 2. In the most impressive performance of the weekend, Becky produced an incredible personal best of 11.62 in the flying 200 to qualifying 2nd only to Miriam Welte (11.53).

There were a lot of under 16 boys left scratching their heads after being on the receiving end of that! The best Under 23 German girls were nearly half a second back too. Helen equalled her personal best with an 11.92, and Charlene took a sizeable chunk off her personal best with 12.38.

In the racing, Charlene progressed to the minor finals stage to finish 11th whilst Helen had earlier been relegated for an infringement, and her racing was over before the finals. Becky however progressed through the rounds with growing confidence and revelled in the racing, getting the better of the boys on several occasions, as well as one of the German Under 23 women riders several years her senior.

A slight tactical slip in the semi's put her in the minor final for 3rd-4th and despite her best efforts, Becky had to settle for 4th. She can certainly be extremely pleased with her weekend, and it was good enough for 4th overall for the weekend.

A great debut for Kevin Stewart in Germany

Kevin produced the result of the day however. After an emphatic personal best of 10.86 to qualify fastest from the 18 juniors, Kevin progressed well through the rounds; learning more and more as he went and benefitting from the feedback of coach Jon Norfolk along the way.

He rode confidently into the final to bring home first prize, which coupled with his 4th of yesterday was enough to win the overall weekend as well for his category. What a great way to finish his first 'Sprinter Cup' in Germany.

Once the competition finished, the riders had a day for recovering and then some gym and track work before tackling the ISGP for Sprint and Keirin on Friday and Saturday. Always a big local event in Cottbus, it's sure to draw a good knowledgeable crowd.

Coach Iain Dyer explained that he's heard of 60 men entering the main event, so it's sure to be as hotly contested as ever! Kevin has his own junior men's event to aim at, and after this weekend can draw a lot of confidence looking forward to that. Becky has no junior event, so will once again be mixing it with Welte and Gloss amongst the other elite women but this time with no Under 16 boys to contend with this time!

Further Results: http://www.rsc-cottbus.de/ Follow ‘aktuall' (news) then ‘ergebisse' (results).