Track worlds - U.S. team preview
Carson, Calif. (March 17, 2005)—As the United States prepares to host the UCI Track Cycling World Championships March 24-27 for the first time in 19 years, the 10-member squad that will wear the stars and stripes are hoping for strong performances on their home turf. Five days out from the start of competition, the U.S. National Team is making their final preparations and sizing up the competition that includes 78 riders that competed in last summer’s Olympic Games in Athens alone. Factor in Olympic and world champions, Olympic medalists, world cup leaders and an overall powerful field of athletes and one could see why this is the sport’s annual marquee event.
How does the U.S. squad match up against the world’s best track cycling athletes? Here’s a quick look at the individual U.S. athletes and the top competition in their respective events.
Erin Mirabella (La Habra, Calif.) Women’s Points Race, Women’s Individual Pursuit
Mirabella has been fairly consistent in what has traditionally been one of the most unpredictable events on the track. Mirabella’s bronze medal in the 2004 Olympic points race behind winner Olga Slyusareva (RUS) and Belem Guerrero Mendez (MEX), both of whom will be competing at the world championships, was easily the best moment of her career and the confidence that comes along with an Olympic medal should give Mirabella an extra edge. The Southern California resident will also rely on a home field advantage that helped guide her to a points race win in December’s UCI World Cup race at the ADT Event Center just three months ago. No stranger to the top step of the podium, Mirabella also has a world cup win to her credit from earlier in 2004 with a points race win in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Slyusareva has won the last four world championship points race competitions (2001-2004) and will be a marked woman. Guerrero is always dangerous while other top challengers include Katherine Bates (AUS) and Lyudmyla Vypyraylo (UKR) who also have world cup wins to their credit this season. Consistent riders like Giorgia Bronzini (ITA), Vera Carrara (ITA), and Marlijn Binnendijk (NED) are also likely to factor into the mix. Mirabella in the points race gives the U.S. one of its best hopes for a medal.
Mirabella is also scheduled to compete in the women’s 3km individual pursuit. The points race is the stronger of her two endurance-based events but the absence of some of the world’s best pursuit riders could aide her in achieving a better result. Mirabella’s ridden one pursuit this season, a fourth place effort at the world cup in Los Angeles. The world’s top riders, Sarah Ulmer (NZL) and Katie Mactier (AUS) who went 1-2 respectively at both the 2004 world championships at the Athens Olympics will be absent in L.A., as will perennial powerhouse and recently retired Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel, (NED) opening the door for a new group of medalists. Vypyraylo, Binnendijk, Bates and Emma Davies (GBR) are ready to post podium performances and Athens individual time trial bronze medalist Karin Thurig (SUI) could be a threat.
Colby Pearce (Boulder, Colo.) Men’s Points Race, Madison
Like Mirabella, Pearce has been consistently at the top of the standings in world-class points race competitions and gives the U.S. another strong possibility at a medal. Second at the world cup in L.A. and third in the Manchester, Great Britain world cup a month later, Pearce is coming off a successful international season that saw him hold the overall world cup lead until surrendering it to 2004 Olympic gold medalist Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS) after forgoing the final round in Sydney. Challenging Pearce in the points race will be Ignatiev and endurance specialist Sergi Escobar (ESP). Peter Schep (NED) and Vlodymyr Rybin (UKR), both of whom have world cup wins to their credit this season, are also considered early favorites. Petr Lazar (CZE) and Loannis Tamouridis (GRE) have also flirted with victory this season, each placing second in a world cup, giving Pearce another two strong riders to keep an eye on.
Pearce will also team with Marty Nothstein for the madison. The duo was fifth at the world cup in Manchester this year – their best result of the season. Belgium, Ukraine, France and Germany have all won world cups and are strong teams, but in another event where anything can happen, Pearce and Nothstein have as good a shot as anyone in cracking the podium.
Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash.) Women’s Keirin, Women’s Sprint
The first world championship medalist since 1998 at last year’s event in Melbourne, Australia, Reed enters this year’s world championships with promising performances in the keirin under her belt. With two third-place finishes at the last two world cups in Manchester and Sydney, Reed also has medal potential. Dropping the 500 meter time trial from her repertoire, Reed is focusing on the head-to-head events that could often times be considered full-contact sports. The early favorite on paper is Anna Meares (AUS). The world record-holder in the 500m time trial and two-time medalist at last summer’s Olympic Games, Meares has a silver and a gold to her credit at the last two world cups respectively and is coming into worlds on form. Susann Panzer (GER) has also finished first and second in keirin events at this year’s world cup series and will challenge. The consistent Elisa Frisoni (ITA) and L.A. world cup winner Victoria Pendleton (GBR) are also top-level keirin riders.
A good qualifying time will help Reed’s chances in the sprint amongst a field that is traditionally stacked with excellent talent. With Olympic champion Lori-Ann Muenzer (CAN), world cup champion Tamilia Abassova (RUS), Meares, Frisoni and Natalia Tsylinskaya (BLR) all toeing the line, Reed will have her work cut out for her. Reed’s fifth place finish in the final round of the world cup shows that she is close to the upper echelon of track sprinters.
Christian Stahl (Bethany, Conn.) Men’s Keirin
Before the 2004/05 world cup series, Stahl had never ridden a top international-level keirin. To date, he’s still only ridden two, but has shown considerable improvement. Eleventh in his first-ever world cup keirin in L.A., Stahl improved upon that to post a seventh place effort at the world cup finale in Sydney. A member of the team sprint squad in Athens and the reigning Pan-American champion in the one kilometer time trial, Stahl has shifted his focus away from those events with an eye on the keirin. The usual suspects of top sprinters – Theo Bos (NED) Rene Wolff (GER), Teun Mulder (NED), Jose Antonio Villanueva (ESP), Arnaud Tournant (FRA), Shane Kelley (AUS), Mickael Bourgain (FRA) and Jamie Staff (GBR) – are all scheduled for the keirin in L.A. and will certainly push Stahl to his limits.
Also qualified for the kilometer time trial as the Pan-American champion, Stahl will skip that event to focus his efforts solely on the keirin.
Giddeon Massie (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Men’s Sprint, Men’s Keirin
Like Stahl, Massie will have his work cut out for him in the top-heavy keirin. Also a member of the U.S. team sprint trio in Athens, Massie has what it takes to compete at the highest level of track cycling, but doesn’t have the results in the keirin this season to support that. That’s because he only competed on one world cup keirin this season – the third round in Manchester – and crashed out in the first round. Hungry to redeem himself at home, Massie will have to face the same talented field as Stahl in cycling’s best impersonation of NASCAR.
Unfortunately for Massie, he will have to face a similar field in the sprint as all of the top keirin riders will likely double up. Massie is the Pan-American champion in both the keirin and the sprint, but when the field expands to include the European talent, it’s a whole new ball game.
Marty Nothstein (Orefield, Pa.) Madison
The 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships will be Nothstein’s swan song as it relates to standard international track cycling competition. The most decorated U.S. track cyclist with an Olympic gold in the 2000 sprint and a silver in the 1996 games, Nothstein also has three world titles, 17 world cup victories, and 35 U.S. National Championships to his credit. Turning his focus to road racing and limited track appearances at European six-day events and select keirin and madison competitions, Nothstein has announced that this will be his last world championships. Teaming up with Colby Pearce in the madison, Nothstein hopes to end his stellar career on a high note.
Pearce’s endurance abilities and Nothstein’s lingering sprint give the duo a promising outlook in another unpredictable event. Argentina is returning ½ of their world championship duo from a year ago, Juan Curuchet, and teams from the Czech Republic, Belgium, Ukraine, France and Germany will pose the biggest threats. The American duo’s top finish in a madison this year was a fifth place effort in the Manchester world cup. Factor in Pearce’s strong season and Nothstein’s intent to finish his career on top and the pair could find themselves on the podium.
Bobby Lea (Mertztown, Pa.) Individual Pursuit
In an event where the U.S. has not had much success in recent years, Bobby Lea brings potential to the U.S. National Team in the endurance-based event. An eighth-place performance at the Sydney world cup marks his best individual result of the season and the field in Los Angeles will feature key riders with a history of strong results stacking the cards against Lea.
Defending world champion Sergi Escobar (ESP), Olympic silver medalist Robert Hayles (GBR) overall world cup winner Levi Heimans (NED) are the heavyweights here. Volodymyr Dyudya (UKR) and 2000 Olympic gold medalist Robert Bartko (GER) have each won a world cup this season and increase the depth of the men’s individual pursuit pool.
James Carney (Durango, Colo.) Men’s Scratch Race
No stranger to success, the 1992 and 2000 U.S. Olympian opened the 2004/05 world cup season with a win in the scratch race in Moscow and finished the world cup series third overall. A tactically savvy rider with loads of experience, Carney could also find himself on the podium in an event that favors those who have just that.
Carney’s competition is pretty wide open although defending champ Greg Henderson (NZL) will be on hand looking to repeat. Alex Rasmussen (NED), Wim Stroetinga (NED) and Jerome Neuville (FRA) took wins in the other three world cups this year and represent the strongest challengers to Carney.
Rebecca Quinn (Quakertown, Pa.) Women’s Scratch Race
Like her U.S. male counterpart, Quinn has had a respectable world cup season that included a silver medal performance at the Manchester world cup. Another top-ten finish in L.A. left Quinn with a fourth-place overall standing the world cup series. Narrowly missing a medal at last year’s world championships with a fourth-place finish in the scratch race, Quinn will have a hometown crowd behind her this time around to help give her that extra edge needed to crack a world championship podium.
Katherine Bates (AUS) finished her world cup season strong with a first and second-place finish respectively at the final two world cups in Manchester and Sydney and looks to be the top contender in an otherwise wide open race.
Rebecca Conzelman (Cincinnati, Ohio) Women’s Sprint, 500 Meter Time Trial
With a pair of seventh-place finishes to her credit in world cup competition this season in the 500 meter time trial, Conzelman will be looking for a breakthrough ride at worlds against a strong women’s sprint field. With not much strategy involved in the 500 meter time trial, that leaves the event open to the fastest of sprinters like Frisoni, Tsylinskaya, Pendleton, Muenzer and Yvonne Hijgenaar (NED).
A veteran on the track, Conzelman has an experience edge that could be valuable against some of the younger world-class sprinters like Meares, Frisoni, Pendleton, Guo Shuang (CHN) and Clara Sanchez (FRA) in the sprint event, but veterans Tsylinskaya, Muenzer and Grishina have both the talent and experience making them tough to beat.
For more information on the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, visit www.usacycling.org.
How does the U.S. squad match up against the world’s best track cycling athletes? Here’s a quick look at the individual U.S. athletes and the top competition in their respective events.
Erin Mirabella (La Habra, Calif.) Women’s Points Race, Women’s Individual Pursuit
Mirabella has been fairly consistent in what has traditionally been one of the most unpredictable events on the track. Mirabella’s bronze medal in the 2004 Olympic points race behind winner Olga Slyusareva (RUS) and Belem Guerrero Mendez (MEX), both of whom will be competing at the world championships, was easily the best moment of her career and the confidence that comes along with an Olympic medal should give Mirabella an extra edge. The Southern California resident will also rely on a home field advantage that helped guide her to a points race win in December’s UCI World Cup race at the ADT Event Center just three months ago. No stranger to the top step of the podium, Mirabella also has a world cup win to her credit from earlier in 2004 with a points race win in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Slyusareva has won the last four world championship points race competitions (2001-2004) and will be a marked woman. Guerrero is always dangerous while other top challengers include Katherine Bates (AUS) and Lyudmyla Vypyraylo (UKR) who also have world cup wins to their credit this season. Consistent riders like Giorgia Bronzini (ITA), Vera Carrara (ITA), and Marlijn Binnendijk (NED) are also likely to factor into the mix. Mirabella in the points race gives the U.S. one of its best hopes for a medal.
Mirabella is also scheduled to compete in the women’s 3km individual pursuit. The points race is the stronger of her two endurance-based events but the absence of some of the world’s best pursuit riders could aide her in achieving a better result. Mirabella’s ridden one pursuit this season, a fourth place effort at the world cup in Los Angeles. The world’s top riders, Sarah Ulmer (NZL) and Katie Mactier (AUS) who went 1-2 respectively at both the 2004 world championships at the Athens Olympics will be absent in L.A., as will perennial powerhouse and recently retired Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel, (NED) opening the door for a new group of medalists. Vypyraylo, Binnendijk, Bates and Emma Davies (GBR) are ready to post podium performances and Athens individual time trial bronze medalist Karin Thurig (SUI) could be a threat.
Colby Pearce (Boulder, Colo.) Men’s Points Race, Madison
Like Mirabella, Pearce has been consistently at the top of the standings in world-class points race competitions and gives the U.S. another strong possibility at a medal. Second at the world cup in L.A. and third in the Manchester, Great Britain world cup a month later, Pearce is coming off a successful international season that saw him hold the overall world cup lead until surrendering it to 2004 Olympic gold medalist Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS) after forgoing the final round in Sydney. Challenging Pearce in the points race will be Ignatiev and endurance specialist Sergi Escobar (ESP). Peter Schep (NED) and Vlodymyr Rybin (UKR), both of whom have world cup wins to their credit this season, are also considered early favorites. Petr Lazar (CZE) and Loannis Tamouridis (GRE) have also flirted with victory this season, each placing second in a world cup, giving Pearce another two strong riders to keep an eye on.
Pearce will also team with Marty Nothstein for the madison. The duo was fifth at the world cup in Manchester this year – their best result of the season. Belgium, Ukraine, France and Germany have all won world cups and are strong teams, but in another event where anything can happen, Pearce and Nothstein have as good a shot as anyone in cracking the podium.
Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash.) Women’s Keirin, Women’s Sprint
The first world championship medalist since 1998 at last year’s event in Melbourne, Australia, Reed enters this year’s world championships with promising performances in the keirin under her belt. With two third-place finishes at the last two world cups in Manchester and Sydney, Reed also has medal potential. Dropping the 500 meter time trial from her repertoire, Reed is focusing on the head-to-head events that could often times be considered full-contact sports. The early favorite on paper is Anna Meares (AUS). The world record-holder in the 500m time trial and two-time medalist at last summer’s Olympic Games, Meares has a silver and a gold to her credit at the last two world cups respectively and is coming into worlds on form. Susann Panzer (GER) has also finished first and second in keirin events at this year’s world cup series and will challenge. The consistent Elisa Frisoni (ITA) and L.A. world cup winner Victoria Pendleton (GBR) are also top-level keirin riders.
A good qualifying time will help Reed’s chances in the sprint amongst a field that is traditionally stacked with excellent talent. With Olympic champion Lori-Ann Muenzer (CAN), world cup champion Tamilia Abassova (RUS), Meares, Frisoni and Natalia Tsylinskaya (BLR) all toeing the line, Reed will have her work cut out for her. Reed’s fifth place finish in the final round of the world cup shows that she is close to the upper echelon of track sprinters.
Christian Stahl (Bethany, Conn.) Men’s Keirin
Before the 2004/05 world cup series, Stahl had never ridden a top international-level keirin. To date, he’s still only ridden two, but has shown considerable improvement. Eleventh in his first-ever world cup keirin in L.A., Stahl improved upon that to post a seventh place effort at the world cup finale in Sydney. A member of the team sprint squad in Athens and the reigning Pan-American champion in the one kilometer time trial, Stahl has shifted his focus away from those events with an eye on the keirin. The usual suspects of top sprinters – Theo Bos (NED) Rene Wolff (GER), Teun Mulder (NED), Jose Antonio Villanueva (ESP), Arnaud Tournant (FRA), Shane Kelley (AUS), Mickael Bourgain (FRA) and Jamie Staff (GBR) – are all scheduled for the keirin in L.A. and will certainly push Stahl to his limits.
Also qualified for the kilometer time trial as the Pan-American champion, Stahl will skip that event to focus his efforts solely on the keirin.
Giddeon Massie (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Men’s Sprint, Men’s Keirin
Like Stahl, Massie will have his work cut out for him in the top-heavy keirin. Also a member of the U.S. team sprint trio in Athens, Massie has what it takes to compete at the highest level of track cycling, but doesn’t have the results in the keirin this season to support that. That’s because he only competed on one world cup keirin this season – the third round in Manchester – and crashed out in the first round. Hungry to redeem himself at home, Massie will have to face the same talented field as Stahl in cycling’s best impersonation of NASCAR.
Unfortunately for Massie, he will have to face a similar field in the sprint as all of the top keirin riders will likely double up. Massie is the Pan-American champion in both the keirin and the sprint, but when the field expands to include the European talent, it’s a whole new ball game.
Marty Nothstein (Orefield, Pa.) Madison
The 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships will be Nothstein’s swan song as it relates to standard international track cycling competition. The most decorated U.S. track cyclist with an Olympic gold in the 2000 sprint and a silver in the 1996 games, Nothstein also has three world titles, 17 world cup victories, and 35 U.S. National Championships to his credit. Turning his focus to road racing and limited track appearances at European six-day events and select keirin and madison competitions, Nothstein has announced that this will be his last world championships. Teaming up with Colby Pearce in the madison, Nothstein hopes to end his stellar career on a high note.
Pearce’s endurance abilities and Nothstein’s lingering sprint give the duo a promising outlook in another unpredictable event. Argentina is returning ½ of their world championship duo from a year ago, Juan Curuchet, and teams from the Czech Republic, Belgium, Ukraine, France and Germany will pose the biggest threats. The American duo’s top finish in a madison this year was a fifth place effort in the Manchester world cup. Factor in Pearce’s strong season and Nothstein’s intent to finish his career on top and the pair could find themselves on the podium.
Bobby Lea (Mertztown, Pa.) Individual Pursuit
In an event where the U.S. has not had much success in recent years, Bobby Lea brings potential to the U.S. National Team in the endurance-based event. An eighth-place performance at the Sydney world cup marks his best individual result of the season and the field in Los Angeles will feature key riders with a history of strong results stacking the cards against Lea.
Defending world champion Sergi Escobar (ESP), Olympic silver medalist Robert Hayles (GBR) overall world cup winner Levi Heimans (NED) are the heavyweights here. Volodymyr Dyudya (UKR) and 2000 Olympic gold medalist Robert Bartko (GER) have each won a world cup this season and increase the depth of the men’s individual pursuit pool.
James Carney (Durango, Colo.) Men’s Scratch Race
No stranger to success, the 1992 and 2000 U.S. Olympian opened the 2004/05 world cup season with a win in the scratch race in Moscow and finished the world cup series third overall. A tactically savvy rider with loads of experience, Carney could also find himself on the podium in an event that favors those who have just that.
Carney’s competition is pretty wide open although defending champ Greg Henderson (NZL) will be on hand looking to repeat. Alex Rasmussen (NED), Wim Stroetinga (NED) and Jerome Neuville (FRA) took wins in the other three world cups this year and represent the strongest challengers to Carney.
Rebecca Quinn (Quakertown, Pa.) Women’s Scratch Race
Like her U.S. male counterpart, Quinn has had a respectable world cup season that included a silver medal performance at the Manchester world cup. Another top-ten finish in L.A. left Quinn with a fourth-place overall standing the world cup series. Narrowly missing a medal at last year’s world championships with a fourth-place finish in the scratch race, Quinn will have a hometown crowd behind her this time around to help give her that extra edge needed to crack a world championship podium.
Katherine Bates (AUS) finished her world cup season strong with a first and second-place finish respectively at the final two world cups in Manchester and Sydney and looks to be the top contender in an otherwise wide open race.
Rebecca Conzelman (Cincinnati, Ohio) Women’s Sprint, 500 Meter Time Trial
With a pair of seventh-place finishes to her credit in world cup competition this season in the 500 meter time trial, Conzelman will be looking for a breakthrough ride at worlds against a strong women’s sprint field. With not much strategy involved in the 500 meter time trial, that leaves the event open to the fastest of sprinters like Frisoni, Tsylinskaya, Pendleton, Muenzer and Yvonne Hijgenaar (NED).
A veteran on the track, Conzelman has an experience edge that could be valuable against some of the younger world-class sprinters like Meares, Frisoni, Pendleton, Guo Shuang (CHN) and Clara Sanchez (FRA) in the sprint event, but veterans Tsylinskaya, Muenzer and Grishina have both the talent and experience making them tough to beat.
For more information on the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, visit www.usacycling.org.
This Article Published March 21, 2005 For more information contact:
